MEXICO CITY, May 17, 2005
Fox: Race Remarks 'Misinterpreted'
Mexican President Says Comments On U.S. Blacks Have Been Clarified
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Mexican President Vicente Fox (AP)
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Mexicans are frequently themselves the victims of discrimination in the United States and are smarting over the U.S. crackdown on illegal immigrants.
The Mexican government delivered a diplomatic letter to the United States on Monday protesting laws requiring driver's license applicants to prove they are in the country legally and clearing the way for an extension of a border barrier wall along the California-Mexico border.
Many Mexicans did not see Fox's remark about blacks as offensive. Blackface comedy, while demeaning to many Americans, is still considered funny here and many people hand out nicknames based on skin color.
"This is an exaggeration," said Manuel Espino, leader of the conservative National Action Party. "There have been a lot harsher comments that come from north of the border, and we don't scream and shout about it."
Even Cardinal Norberto Rivera Carrera, the archbishop of Mexico City, criticized U.S. immigration policy as ridiculous and defended Fox's comments, saying: "The declaration had nothing to do with racism. It is a reality in the United States that anyone can prove."
While Mexico has a few, isolated black communities, the population is dominated by descendants of Mexico's Spanish colonizers and its native Indians.
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