It’s Not “Way Too Early” to Learn the “ABC” of Diversity, ¡Olé!
By Elio Leturia, Huffington Post Latino Voices
When the media use images of ethnic groups to entertain their audiences, they take many risks. Two TV stations took those risks on Cinco de Mayo. This week, MSNBC “Way Too Early” featured a supposedly drunken Mexican wearing a sombrero and swigging tequila. Good Morning America showed us a blonde lady wearing a sombrero, having a margarita for breakfast and shouting Olé!
I welcome jokes, as long as they are made among friends with the intention of having a collective good time. You could joke about me, and I am fine with it. But when made before a mass audience, it’s not necessary to have graduated from elementary school to know that these are harmful stereotypes, not original, and not that funny.
That’s what MSNBC’s “Way Too Early” and NBC’s “Good Morning America” did, in 2014. This is not about being politically correct. It’s about not being ignorant. When the so-called journalists use these stereotypes to entertain, what they may actually be doing is perpetuating ignorance while distorting reality.
Cinco de Mayo is not about Mexico’s independence. There are no parties or celebrations in Mexico as elaborate as the ones we have in the United States. It is not only about imbibing alcoholic beverages. As “Way too Early” host Thomas Roberts accurately said, Cinco de Mayo is actually the anniversary of the Battle of Puebla where Mexicans defeated the French in 1862. Even though this was important information to disseminate, I don’t think that Mexicans “have to drink the whole thing [tequila} and eat the worm” as he told Louis Burgdorf, who was playing the Mexican.
The ordinary American does not know about this. They hardly know that Mexico is in North America. So when a TV “news” program shows a gringo wearing a sombrero …
This article was originally published in Huffington Post Latino Voices.
[Screenshot courtesy of ABC/Good Morning America]