By Juan Montoya
One of our posts pointing out the antipathy of local Hispanics toward their southern brethren from across the river struck a nerve.
Our post dealt with the historical nature of the negative attitude some local Hispanics have against other Hispanics who may have a residence and work in Mexico but are American citizens and live here, too. We pointed out that some of those folks or their relatives are now running for local political office and welcomed it.
Blogger Jerry McHale identified City of Brownsville commissioner At-Large "A" candidate Carlos Guerrero as a member of the "Matamoros elite" who he said are trying to take over Brownsville. He also accused him of using the "race card" against another At-Large contender for the seat left vacant by commissioner Cesar de Leon, John Cowen. He even went as far as calling Guerrero a racist.
This is simplistic at best, and malicious at worst and doesn't become Jerry, a California transplant who happens to have an Irish background and just happens to be white. When they got here, they suffered a bit of discrimination from their fellow whites, too. When he arrived in Brownsville - as others have before him - he was welcomed by a tolerant populace.
We have searched high and low on Guerrero's Facebook page and campaign site and cannot find one reference to Cowen's race. In fact, Guerrero doesn't mention his opponents at all. Local attorney Ismael Hinojosa is also running in that race.
Our offensive post dealt with the socioeconomic divide that has fostered a dislike by local Hispanics toward the "Mexican elite" who are now among us as a result of fleeing the violence and insecurity in Matamoros. This is not a supposition. One read of the comments to the post shows that antipathy is alive and well, unfortunately.
But Guerrero was born and raised in Brownsville, attended schools here, and over the past 24 years he claims he has provided over 500 jobs for his fellow Brownsville residents through his company.
Before the knee-jerk howls of "racism" are emitted, please read my post again Jerry and show me where the issue of race is raised. It isn't. Accusing someone of being a racist and playing the "race card" is a serious issue.
No one - except you - is doing it. It's not only highly unfair, but also dishonest on your part. https://rrunrrun.blogspot.com/2019/01/blog-post_19.html
Running for office - as you well know - is something not everyone undertakes for this very reason. We applaud Guerrero, Cowen and Hinojosa for offering their service to this city for the At-Large "A" position. This city badly needs new blood and leadership to make it a better community.
Stirring the pot to create a controversy for controversy's sake is not the way to help it progress.
10 comments:
You, Montoya? You are the worst offender of the lot, dude! Jerry has a right to his opinion. You defend the Mexican too-much, bro.
its true he is not elite anything
he went to public school in brownsville
lived in brownsville
and invests in brownsville
I will say this, regardless of reason for running every candidate deserves a hats off for putting their name out there and to have to deal with the blogs and other social media.
I will also say, many, not all, wealthy Mexican Nationals are robbing us blind. The fact is the same is happening with foreign nationals all over the U.S. I go to Matamoros at least once a month. I walk across about the time the high school gets out. There is a line of high school children crossing back into Mexico. They are not residences of Brownsville. I personally know people who claim these kids as child tax credits in exchange for the wealthy Mexican Nationals being able to use their Brownsville address. This cheats our local school district, and the federal government out of tax dollars. I have always supported charging a tuition rate to these children, but a free ride no.
I want to be clear, off of central in the Mexican National enclive there are a lot of wealthy Mexican Nationals who in some cases abandoned their mansions in Matamoros to avoid the drug war and built million dollar homes on our side of the border. Many are active in the community with charity, art, and are good neighbors. These people I welcome. They are contributing to our community. But we have a major problem with many bad wealthy Mexican nationals robbing us blind and it has to stop.
Laredo stopped the school scam. Why can't BISD. We need to be more vigilent in checking these wealthy Mexican Nationals and their motivation. Some will do great things for Brownsville, others will rob us blind.
I do not know why this honest issue is such a problem.
Bobby WC
Shut the fuck up, Blimp! Any one of these kids from Mexico would be an improvement over your fat as, bro! Just sit down, sit the fuck down!
he's not a kid
but also he has not owned a company for 24 years!
again he is not wealthy
doesnt come from money
he is new money
I am sure juan did not post the second comment 17 minutes after you posted so the following post at 17 minutes must be yours. Look at the time 10:40 yours and 10:57 the next.
brilliant or stupid?
All of these posts are within a hour Juan could not have posted within a hours time.
Juan has FAKE comments. Blimp has written that!
Why would BISD want to stop the students living in Mexico from coming to school here in Brownsville? If they did that, enrollment would plummet. We need those numbers to justify all those administrative jobs BISD has.
Juan you know better you don't stir the pot you smoke it...
Post a Comment