| Tacos,
Burritos and Surf
To
many southern Californians, the thought of taco shops bring a soft smile to
their faces with spices and texture enough to cause one to salivate at the
thought of biting through a soft tortilla into perfectly grilled beef or
chicken. However bring up the topic of illegal immigration directly after, and
you could very well get a dirty look. What many do not realize is the strength
of the correlation between the two contrasting topics. With such different
responses, I believe that this correlation should be analyzed to see not just
the impact on Southern Californians, but more importantly, to the immigrants.
Taco shops allow for Mexican immigrants, legal or illegal, to be the authority
on the cuisine and lifestyle. And in this era, where people are constantly
searching for the best of everything, this is authority is extremely important.
Who could know the culture and cuisine of taco shops than Mexicans? The main
concept of globalization also lies searching for who around the world can
provide the best. Russia holds the
largest collection of oil, Japan has the future of technology, and China has
human resources to spare. These are all characteristics that the U.S. needs to
be in touch with in order to succeed economically. This appointment to
immigrants as being the authority on Mexican food shows the US reaching out
into this realm of globalization. The global exchange here is obviously through
the cuisine that Southern Californians can now enjoy thanks to Mexican
population. And with taco shops becoming so popular, one would ask, have many
of the southern Californians who are aware of this correlation struggle with
the topic of illegal immigration more since they can clearly see the benefits
of the immigration? Clearly there have been other positive aspects of
immigration available before, however none of them have been as apparent as
they are now. Taco Shops have allowed southern Californians to gain insight
into the Mexican culture, and with that acceptance and gained respect, have
incorporated themselves into the mixed pot culture of Southern California and
complicated its’ stance on immigration.
America,
as an extremely corporate society, has picked up on the Mexican food popularity
as early as 1952 when Glen Bell, a native Southern Californian, started to sell
19 cent tacos. Now, Taco Bell is a huge corporation with 5,800 restaurants in
the U.S. alone. Taco Bell’s recent growth can be partially attributed to the
influx of Mexican immigrants since the 1900’s. (http://memory.loc.gov) Taco
Bell represents the fast food district and actually outdates the McDonalds
conglomerate. Another company that has also used the popularity of Taco Shops
and marketed it to Americans is Chipotle.
A company based in Denver, CO, it is unique because it promotes its’
health aspect as well as its taste factor. This marketing strategy is clearly
tailored towards southern California, because of the image conscious culture
that exists due to a variety of reasons. These reasons may include being a
highly marketed and advertised beach region, as well as the high concentration
of successful sports franchises, which allow some to label Southern California
as the “sports and fitness capital of the world” (wikipedia.org). This contrasts with the unhealthy contents
in Mexican food, however its’ consistent popularity despite its unhealthiness
shows its resilience as more than just a guilty pleasure but actually
integrated into Southern Californian culture.
The
category of Mexican food is extremely broad and ranges from corporate Mexican
food to family owned taco stands.
Generally, the latter smaller taco shops could not survive against
larger competitions such as the chains of Taco Bell and Chipotle. However, each
small taco shop brings its own variation to the spices and meats, which creates
a unique yet familiar taste that allows each taco shop to fend for themselves
and compete with major establishments. The nature of Mexican food is also one
that does not need large advertising deals or a flashy appearance, but rather
its’ popularity is due to other more practical things such as cleanliness, but
most importantly: taste. This is why taco shops are lesser known and publicized
aspect of Southern California, because their popularity is due to word of mouth
alone, thus making Mexican food an acquired local taste and enjoyment. Unlike
Tex-Mex, Southern Californian Mexican tastes are not tailored to the locals,
trying to create a hybrid of the two and fitting in, the dishes here remain
true to their origins, making a stronger impact on the culture here. Also, by
not conforming to American styles, but also by not disassociating from American
culture, this most importantly creates an exchange between Mexicans, Mexican-
Americans, and Americans. The exchange occurs in an overlooked area of cuisine.
This common ground was essential to acceptance and harmony among cultures.
If America is the golden
land of opportunity, then California is definitely the capital, even being
labeled the golden state. Southern California is a microcosm of cultural
exchange, and would be highly incomplete without a Hispanic aspect. One way in
which there is this sharing of information of cultures is more than just the
different races of people who live here. When moving out of the private realm,
we can see that every culture celebrates and shares itself through their
different foods. The type of restaurants generally reflect the density of
ethnicities that exist in the given area, such as Monterey Park having many
Chinese and Taiwan eateries. Likewise, the many Mexican eateries and fast food
establishments reflect the influx of Mexican immigration, legal as well as
illegal that has proliferated in the past two decade, showing a clear
correlation. To the Southern Californians who are living in the microcosm and
are experiencing different cultures through their marketed food, many of them
are highly impacted and interested due to the fondness they develop towards
Mexican foods. Ernest Lam, a senior at Rancho Bernardo High School, is one such
victim and describes this interest simply: “Mexican food is my religion”. Like
countless other San Diegan high school students, Ernest began his surge into
Mexican culture through the high school’s offered Spanish classes to fulfill
his foreign language requirement. He was encouraged to pursue another three
years of Spanish in high school after discovering this passion for Mexican
food. Located in north county San
Diego, Rancho Bernardo High School has five available taco shops within a five-mile
radius. Ernest is a firm believer of the essential nature of Mexican food,
making claims that it is facet of Southern California living and that “everyone
here has tried some sort of Mexican food”, which makes it’s impact across a
very broad audience. The experience of trying Mexican food isn’t simple and
fleeting as just a meal but “they’ll remember the taste and feeling of it”. To
many locals, Mexican food not only a pastime, but also creates a higher quality
of living to those who can appreciate the fine tastes. By incorporating
burritos and tacos into every day life, southern Californian natives gives
Mexicans further reason to emigrate across the borders, aside from the original
reasons of a healthy economy and strategic location in terms of launching into
the rest of the U.S..
A clear impediment to the
growth of taco shops lies in the clear topic of immigration, which President
Bush addressed very recently. In his oration, he announced a comprehensive five
part plan to fix the problems presented with illegal immigration. President
Bush aims to protect the roots of Americans, which is a nation founded through
immigration, however, he states that problem is that “They are a part of American life but they are beyond the reach
and protection of American law”(Bush). This statement holds especially true in
Southern California where they are a very large part of everyday life. With
this new proposition adding a total of 12,000 Border Patrol members to the
total in manpower, the future of illegal immigrants looks increasingly grim,
and Southern Californians can only hope that this will not cause a lapse in the
quality of Mexican cuisine now available. The quality of Taco Shops’ products must
be kept high with the amount of immigrants in Southern California who have a
tongue for their native foods. However, not all hope is lost because President
Bush also supports a temporary worker program, which would allow foreign
workers to come and work for American employers in jobs that Americans are not
now doing. One of these such jobs is clearly working in taco shops. Seen here
is another benefit of such taco shops. Taco shops provide a place where
Mexicans can come and work to build a better life in America. Bush also
acknowledges the melting pot metaphor as correctly representing America and
its’ culture. Apparently the current blend of races is too strong with Mexican
taste, and by confining the current influx of Mexicans, it will also have a strong
impact on Taco Shops. Ramifications of minimizing immigration will have clear
positive impacts for the nation for issues such as regulation, and giving the
government a better idea of who is in their borders, however it takes away from
the balance in diversity in America. For taco shops, the decline in Mexican
natives could affect the authenticity of the food, partially by not being in an
environment that is as densely concentrated with Hispanic as before, but the
amount of ready help is also lower. It’s not secret that many workers in taco
shops are illegal immigrants, as it helps maintain its authentic taste and
feel. Just as people expect Japanese sushi artists preparing one’s food at a
sushi bar, just as you would expect Mexicans to be working at a Mexican
restaurant.
It
is clear that the topic of immigration has been used as a scapegoat because the
difference of opinion concerning the topic is minimal compared to other
controversial topics such as war or abortion. McFeatters points out why this
is, “Illegals can’t vote, so there’s no danger they’ll take it out on
politicians at the ballot box. They hold low-paying jobs, so there’s no danger
of them donating a whole lot of campaign cash to your opponent”. There blatancy
of this statement also shows that McFeatters is unafraid of any public backlash
at noting and reinforcing the low position in American society that immigrants
hold. Unlike specifically targeting other groups of people in America such as
Republicans or the low- income population, addressing illegal immigrants is one
that has very little voice in America, and cannot retaliate because they
technically have no rights in America.
Without being citizens, the benefits of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights
do not apply to illegal immigrants, which limits the amount of response they
can have such as freedom to speech and peaceful gatherings in protest. This is
partially due to why illegal immigration acts can be used to boost the
popularity of presidents because both parties are rather unified on this topic,
which allows parties to find common ground among the crazy argumentation of
other controversial topics.
Immigration is important to many American citizens because all Americans
were immigrants at one time or another, however to those who have only recently
immigrated into America, or are residing illegally, it is a topic that worries
them. Latin American immigration was the root of the taco shop trend in
southern California therefore the two walk hand in hand.
Figure
1.1 has a semi- joking tone, but consequently, it is also semi- serious. This
is because immigrants know that burritos are not a significant enough factor to
alter the face of domestic politics, however, at this protest, he reminds
America of not necessarily the burritos, but also the many other small things
that Mexican Immigrants do that help run the country and make the lives of
Americans easier or more enjoyable. Mexican fasts food and cuisine is
definitely one of those things. If examining the hats that are located in this
picture among those who are rallying, the first is a green and white one that
has the words Mexico firmly printed onto it, the next is a Saint Louis
Cardinals baseball cap, and finally a humungous sombrero. In the first hat we can see clear Mexican pride,
and though you cannot see his face, you can tell that they are Mexican, and
with the baseball cap, that he has become subject of a hybridity of his Mexican
roots but also been Americanized. However, the second hat is one that also
carries two American flags, and shows that the wearer is an avid fan of
baseball, one of America’s greatest pastimes, and the only reason we have to
assume that this man is also Mexican is due to the fact that he is present at a
protest to Mexican immigration policies, however we could very well just be a
big fan of burritos. The largest hat is a clear support of Mexico and the old.
A traditional sombrero is worn to show that he is conscious of where he comes
from and doesn’t want to hide it, confident that Mexicans have made a
significant enough impact on American society.
As a country that is in
constant search of the best of any product, or the best of any resource, it
makes sense that illegal immigrants are seen as the authority on legitimate
Mexican delights, in Southern California and in any region of America. However,
this authority has a strong influence than one would expect, as you can see
through this paper. The exchange as well as of Mexican culture through food has
become an innate part of Southern California living, and consequently Mexican
immigrants as well. Threatened by U.S. immigration laws, taco shops will
continue to thrive due to its popularity. Just as they say you can take the boy
out of from the beach, you can’t take the beach out from the boy, same is with
Mexican food and its delectables, because Mexican fast food has become an equal
attraction of southern California.
http://www.chattablogs.com/colrus/archives/r2048252209.jpg |
,
i thought it would be helpful if i posted some tips for the most
nervewrecking part of the night, dinner, to ensure every guy out there
a positive senior prom experience. Why is dinner the most difficult
part to being a gentleman? Dinner is when social contact is
unavoidable, and no, stuffing your face with filet mignon to avoid
talking to your date is not smooth. How do i crack open these crab legs
without squirting my date in the eye? Sip the soup, don't slurp. Resist
the temptation to just pick the floating object out of the soup, wave
your hand around with it clenched tightly between two fingers and ask
"how did this one die?" for each of the shrimp in your soup. and no you
cannot just forget about it, barbaric eating habits and tuxedos don't
go together. Admist all these mental reminders, how is one supposed to
carry on a humane, much less enjoyable, conversation with poise and
ease? 