Last week, The New America Media recently posted an illuminating interview with Lorenzo Armendariz, a 62-year-old street musician from Zacatecas, Mexico, who performs on Valencia St. He tells his tales of obtaining fake documentation, paying taxes, missing amnesty in the 1980′s, how 9/11 effected tips and immigrant’s optimism surrounding Obama:
I think el negrito [Pres. Barack Obama] is going to help us. He’s going to give us amnesty before 2010 because la raza supported him and, if other black candidates want to run again, and he doesn’t fulfill his promises, well, we won’t vote for them again. In 2010, I will be turning 64, almost 65. And if I get my citizenship, well, the problem is solved.
Wait, huh? That’s optimism??
Might just be me, but it sounded vaguely racist: “if other BLACK candidates…we won’t vote for THEM again.” (emphasis added)
Eh?
“I think he’s going to help us.”
That is optimism, even if it is marred by pretty racist language.
Well Obama may try and give you amnesty but the rest of America will say once again, no gracias.
Psst… might want to fix the first link in the article.
Whoops, thanks for pointing that out!
“We won’t vote for them again…”, uh, his ass can’t even vote, so what the hell is he talking about? BTW, el negrito means little black boy. He is referring to the president of the United States. If he claims to want citizenship, a little respect for the chief of state wouldn’t hurt.
An impressive compendium of errata in one short paragraph:
1. The general “recently” used after the specific “Last week” in the same sentence;
2. The indefinite article “the” capitalized in the middle of a sentence;
3. The curious claim that tips were precipitated by 9/11 (maybe “affected” was meant?);
4. Another curious claim that 9/11 had something to do with “immigrant’s optimism surrounding Obama” (a claim which would be obviated by a humble and appropriately-placed comma);
5. Referencing one “immigrant’s optimism surrounding Obama,” when it seems that the plural possessive is intended (which would be amended by a more appropriately placed apostrophe);
…and a minor quibble (okay, these are all minor quibbles): can an abstract concept like “optimism” really surround an animate object?
Sincerely,
Your Internet Pedant
Thanks for the tips!
I know I’m going to get flamed for this but in MY experience and GENERALLY speaking, Mexican people (born and raised in Mexico) and other Latin Americans are just not very politically correct. Apparently, it’s just part of the culture. If you take the time to speak at length with your rank and file, blue-collar Mexicans (who are recent arrivals) you will hear many other many other “colorful” racially and sexually insensitive terms. That’s just how they communicate and they don’t think twice about it. They can get confused because they don’t understand why the gabachos get their chonas in such a twist over these things. So it sounds funny but you have to, sort of, be sensitive about their apparent insensitivity, or at least run some of their comments though a cultural filter.
Ok. I know many here are just going to ignore the words ‘MY experience’ and ‘Generally’ and tell me that I don’t know shit about shit but that’s ok. I can take it.
I knew this was gonna come up. Yep us Mexicans with call you fatty, shorty, old one leg, whitey. backie, you name it. No there is not a lot of cultural sensitivity. Yes we tend to lump all Asians into one monolithic group they call Chinese. It’s so outrageous even I won’t go to great lengths to defend it or explain it except to say that I don’t think most of it is born of hostility or outright racism but more a lack of knowledge (i.e.ignorance). But uh, in this case I don’t think the “-ito” at the end of “El negrito” is a diminutive, rather I believe it denotes affection. So he is not in fact calling him a little boy but a more or less a term of endearment. Also in spite of the fact that Negrito looks suspiciously like the “N word” it is not and is considered acceptable- in a culture that will call you fat to your face that is!
P.S. He can’t vote so don’t worry. Also he pays taxes but will never see a bit of it when he retires but you will.
Good to know he’s declaring all that income he is bringing in. Wouldn’t want to cheat on his taxes.
Yes Glenparker because he’s probably rolling it. At the end of the night he takes his Guayabera off and tucks it into one of those palm trees at Dolores Park before he trudges on over to his modest home in Pac Heights to kick off his boots and put his feet up by the fireplace.
Excuse me but can you tell me what taxes he is paying that citizens will benefit from but as an illegal alien he wont?
Retirement. Most people who work here illegally use a fake social security number. So while taxes are taken out they can’t claim them of course. So they actually put money into your retirement and mine.
That is if we ever get to retire. At the rate we’re going it’s doubtful.
OK right there: FAKE SSN. That I believe is a crime. I would be happy to forgo the money you claim they put into to have them deported back to their home country.
Do you actually expect us to believe that a street musician is declaring the money he makes?
I don’t believe that you and I will ever see eye to eye on this. But when you buy inexpensive fruits and vegetables, inexpensive garments and inexpensive food at restaurants, cheap childcare/gardening or called over one of those dudes to sing La Cucaracha at your table- then you(yes you) are in tacit compliance in this little business model. And if you can honestly say that you have never been a beneficiary of this or have honestly sought to subvert it somehow then I stand corrected. But I can bet money that if you own a home or even rent then cheap immigrant labor was used to build, paint or fix it thereby ensuring that the costs don’t trickle down to the owner or the renter.
So you see if you believe this is a problem (and I respect the fact that you do) the you can also see that you and I and everyone you know is a part of the problem. People want cheap and then complain. You cannot possibly have it both ways. This is illogical, hypocritical, nonsensical and inconsistent.
As many before me have said I would be happy to pay the cost of whatever the product is if it was produced by legal Americans. I have never, do not now and will never hire an illegal alien. I do all the “work Americans won’t do” on my house myself.
Yes I believe illegal alien immigration is a big problem and as our economy goes down the toilet (which I clean and fix myself) I think more citizens will see what the true cost of supporting these aliens amounts to.
Our government is supposed to secure our borders and I think the average citizen would rather have those laws enforced then to get their lawn trimmed or their oranges picked by an illegal alien, even if it saves them a few bucks.
There is a process to becoming a citizen of the US and jumping the line and illegally crossing is not part of the process.
Sorry but any time you buy just about anything, you are a part of this system. The only way to not support it is to grow all your own food, sew all your own clothes and do all your own gardening/child care. It would take a major overhaul of the entire economy to accomplish what it is you say your goals are. I hope your are up to the task.
Also you should probably learn all the words to Guantanamera and La Bamba so you can sing it to yourself next time you go get margaritas.
Oh wait you probably won’t be able to go out to Margaritas either so here’s a good recipe. You can make with the limes you grow in your backyard.
http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/perfect-margarita
It’s from Martha Stewart. She’s American. But her mama is from Poland. I can’t tell you if her mama was legal or not.
I will bet you $10,000 that if Martha Steward’s ancestors (her mom was born in the US) came here from Poland they went through Ellis Island LEGALLY. Do we have a bet?
I can bet you $10,000 the pilgrims didn’t.
A couple of data points that may be of interest:
“Our assumption is that about three-quarters of other-than-legal immigrants pay payroll taxes,” said Stephen C. Goss, Social Security’s chief actuary, using the agency’s term for illegal immigration.”
“…the estimated seven million or so illegal immigrant workers in the United States are now providing the system with a subsidy of as much as $7 billion a year….”
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/05/business/05immigration.html
As the economy tanks, Mexican migration to the US is slowing, down 25% this year.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/15/us/15immig.html
Any bets as to when laid-off hipsters start cleaning houses or picking fruit?
I loved the recent South Park where Americans from an economically and environmentally devastated future come back through a rift in time and take the jobs of current Americans for little pay. (I do not know what show will be more valuable to historians 1000 years from now, South Park or The Simpsons…)