Recently in Cosas Latina Category

From the Obvious Department, Latinos seem to have a growing distrust of the Republican Party.

Gee, I wonder why?

Here's one example of the toxic environment the GOP has created. An American citizen (born in Puerto Rico) was held by La Migra for three days on suspicion of being an illegal alien. Sure, he was busted for possibly committing a crime, but he got out on bail for that. That doesn't make him an illegal. He even had all his papers and they held him over a weekend.

But, hey, the cops and conservatives couldn't possibly be racist because they didn't believe his paperwork was real. Right? Just like they can't believe Hawaii issues legal birth documents I suppose.

Right?

Gustavo Arellano is collecting the nation's regional racial slurs for Mexicans.

It's kind of in good fun and also an indicator of how low some folks can be.

More on how Major League Baseball is getting an earful for it's silence on the issue.

Granted, the Player's Association has made it's disgust known and that's a good thing. But scumbag Bud Selig is as silent as he is bereft of morals on any other issue.

I don't expect anything I want to hear from him, but just say something dirtbag!

Gustavo Arellano weighs in on Aryzona's Down on Brown law.

Also, a quick blurb from him concerning Cinco de Mayo.

There are a ton of misconceptions about Cinco de Mayo. Hopefully this addresses some of them.

More on the day at Wikipedia.

Honestly, it's basically Mexican St. Paddy's Day to me. Still, a good excuse for a drink is not one to easily pass up.

I like Eugene. Here he is telling it like it is.

Activists for Latino and immigrant rights -- and supporters of sane governance -- held weekend rallies denouncing the new law and vowing to do everything they can to overturn it. But where was the Tea Party crowd? Isn't the whole premise of the Tea Party movement that overreaching government poses a grave threat to individual freedom? It seems to me that a law allowing individuals to be detained and interrogated on a whim -- and requiring legal residents to carry identification documents, as in a police state -- would send the Tea Partyers into apoplexy. Or is there some kind of exception if the people whose freedoms are being taken away happen to have brown skin and might speak Spanish?

Gustavo Arellano lays down the cultural legacy of Taco Bell as he reflects on the death of it's founder.

This past week's Latino USA focused on the town of Siler City, NC and the growing pains it has had since becoming a terminal point for Latino immigrants.

Yes, there is racism, fairly extreme even. And also a lot of fear from the locals. This is no fairy tale, but it is life as it increasingly exists in much of the nation.

Hopefully I can catch the series online or something but this is a good writeup as to why CNN actually produced a relevant piece of reporting.

Maybe they can fire Lou Dobbs, put Larry King out to pasture, fix Alex Castellanos, muzzle Wolf Blitzer and maybe be a reputable news organization again.

I'm not sure how I missed this, but I am damn glad to report it now. Astronaut Joe Hernandez called for legalizing undocumented migrants during his stint on the space station. In his words:

"The American economy needs them....I believe it's only fair to find a way to legalize them and give them an opportunity to work openly, so they can also retire in a traditional U.S. system."

Or as Gustavo says:

CONGRATS TO: Astronauts Danny Olivas and José Hernández, for recently eating burritos in space, and especially to Hernández, who spoke out in favor of amnesty for illegal immigrants. From the deserts of Sonora to the Bering Sea, to now outer space, the Reconquista not only is real, it's COSMIC. To quote that other famous illegal alien, the Borg: Resistance is futile, Know Nothings!