Baldo by Hector D. Cantú and Carlos Castellanos for October 25, 2011

On another note, a few years ago, the Sunday edition of “Baldo” had the Feds bursting into Sergio’s home and seizing his Tia after making patronizing remarks to Baldo This was a one-issue arc and I wrote a letter to the Miami herald, which publishes “Baldo” because I failed to see the humor or any conclusion to this one-issue strip. The week before, baldo’s illustrator drew the family in “real life” as opposed to cartoonish style to explaine how Tia entered her nephew’s home and a possible romantic angle to Tia’s life. Perhaps some of you remember this issue..

It’s simple. It’s easier to blame others for problems rather than look at themselves or actually get around to doing something about the problems. Well, lets face it. It ain’t easy to fix em.

Did that kid learn taunting from Nancy “Guilty! Guilty! Guilty!” Grace? He sounds more like a “Firing Line” panelist than a kid..Someone please tell me – are there really kids in the Southwestern United States (the strip’s setting) who assume that every single Hispanic they come across is here illegally? I can imagine such an extreme prejudice in a town with just a handful of Latinos, but – come on!.The way this is going, it won’t surprise me if Gracie makes some remark to the next bully she comes across, and the bully responds, “Whoa! You speak English?”

(AP) BIRMINGHAM, Alabama

October 22, 2011 6:19 PM PrintText After Alabama law, Hispanic kids being bulliedSpanish-speaking parents say their children are facing more bullying and taunts at school since Alabama’s tough crackdown on illegal immigration took effect last month. Many blame the name-calling on fallout from the law, which has been widely covered in the news, discussed in some classrooms and debated around dinner tables.

No human is illegal, to use that term is dehumanizing and unChristian to say the least. If you have to use description the correct term is undocumented. After all, being in the US without papers is a civil not a criminal offense. Check out “9500 Liberty St.” on youtube. Tells a similar story.

How about working on WHY people cross the border instead of forcing families to be split apart? Do you even know how messed up the Mexican economy is, especially since NAFTA forced American agricultural products onto the Mexican market, thus savaging their own farmers? And you are clearly unaware that when adults cross the border together, they both wind up working. And the “drain” on social services would be far worse if undocumented immigrants were completely blocked from what they manage to get. Welfare NOT being one of those things,by the way. And as far as what immigrants would or wouldn’t learn in their own country, have you even looked at the crime rate in Mexico? Are you aware of the border war between Mexico and Guatemala?

Bullying is bad enough. racist bullying is something else altogether.

I will also note that the focus on brown undocumented immigrants only proves racial bias on the part of those screaming about “illegals.” There are many white Europeans who come over on temporary visas and overstay them, but since they’re white, they’re less likely to be suspected of violating immigration law. And nobody who protests “illegals” ever discusses the problem of undocumented au pairs being a drain. But then, the au pairs are assisting the rich in a visible fashion. The migrant workers and other such manual laborers are treated as sub-human for the work they do and their origins. Nevermind the fact their ancestors arrived here long before the first settlements in Virginia, and that’s only counting the Spanish ones.

Gracie is smart enough to come up with a good retort or at least put these kids in some sort of legal bind.

Corque and BlueRaven – excellent comments. Thank you both.

so is she an illegal or not, that is the question.

@BlueRavenI am very much aware of the mess in Mexico – I visit Mexico annually. True, NAFTA did mess up the Mexican economy, but people were crossing the border long before NAFTA came into effect.. I worked for the “Welfare” Dept. and non-residents were not allowed to receive assistance. True, the cartels are a significant factor in crime in certain parts of Mexico, but I have observed that the high school teenager in Mexico is far better behaved than many high school kids in the US. As far as the corruption that leads to a bad economy in Mexico – that’s something the Mexicans must fix themselves – US army tanks can’t do it.,And it’s true the drug cartels and the attendant crime would be lower people north of the border didn’t have such a craving for drugs or sell weapons to Mexicans, but long before the cartels Mexicans were crossing the border to find work.

I like this story line because it is edgy. How many other strips talk about prejudice ?

Not them too!

This one is breaking my heart. I live forty miles from the border, and the best most hardworking family-oriented people I know are…yeah, you know. They could actually save our culture if we’d let them, but I have to allow jerks with no hearts who were born here behave like chicken-killing dogs…?

Awwwww, Gracie what do they know?

Boys are stupid.

xxx

Uh huh. And of course the homosexual has no recourse with the law. This has not been my experience. All one has to do is just look like you don’t want to submit to the homosexual agenda and you will be investigated for threats. I know, it happened to me. Of course, we all know that you cannot simply be standing on your principles, the only reason that you will not accept having your values trashed is because you are full of hate.

I’m glad this strip is opening up that wound. We need to be reminded just how ugly bigotry really is. Of course only the stupid bigots are open about it. Most of them look for ways to hurt others subtly and out of view so they can always look innocent and say “Who, me???”

I was raised in the Orange groves of Southern California surrounded by “braceros” – temporary workers from Mexico – some of who managed to avoid being temporary. My National Guard unit was 90+% Hispanic. Never since have I seen such a caring, hard-working bunch and I’m as Anglo as they come!

Save it for the editorial page.

To a child – even one as wise as Gracie – all it takes is just a few bad eggs and it can seem like EVERYONE is after you.