Hotel mistakes Nobel laureate for bag lady
She was wearing a Mayan dress, the traditional attire of indigenous people in central America, and the hotel's response was also traditional: throw her out.
The woman was Rigoberta Menchu Tum, who was asked in an interview before receiving her Nobel Peace Prize in 1992,
Q: Do you personally feel the effects of racism?A: Definitely. During the last summit in San Jose in Portugal, with all the Central American Presidents present, the Guatemalan delegation threatened to leave the summit if I entered the main session to present a document on the development of Guatemala.
It was inconceivable to them that an indigenous woman, self taught, born to a humble family in the mountains, who ate roots and leaves, didn't go to school and who has no professional title would appear there. It was the greatest shame. The racists won't stand for the presence of a person who is not of their race and convictions.
She also said, in the same interview, "We are not myths of the past, ruins in the jungle, or zoos. We are people and we want to be respected, not to be victims of intolerance and racism."
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Did her attire comply with their dress code?
First of all, this pisses me off. Second of all, noname are you really asking if her attire complied with their dress code? It's a friggin resort. When I go to resorts I wear a bikini and other such things. She was wearing clothes, but the clothes weren't Western looking, so they figured she was a beggar. Did you even read the article?
I read the article. This is a 5 star hotel. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if they had a dress code in some areas of the hotel. This article assumes why they kicked her out, but this is never confirmed in a credible manner. Even if she didn’t comply with the dress code, it would seem strange to kick someone out as opposed to simply asking them to change clothes or move to another area, but mine is still a relevant question.
By "strange", I mean "incredibly inapropriate".
That's the whole point of the article. They didn't even try to speak with her first. I mean, I can quote the article back and forth, but I think it explains the outrage pretty well. There was no reason for her to be kicked out other than them assuming she was a beggar because of her traditional clothing.
As for a 5 star hotel? So what? It's really not a big deal. It's still a hotel and people usally wear what they want (especially at a resort). It's really a matter of racism and these resorts catering to wealthy tourists. That's all it comes down to.
I love that it points out the irony/hypocrisy of a hotel that thrives on promoting touristy "Mayan culture" but throws someone out for wearing ACTUAL Mayan clothing.
I love the book Rigoberta Menchu wrote about her experiences in Guatemala. It's insane that they threw her out on the basis of appearance. If she wasn't someone who is known world wide this would have gotten no mention at all, which makes it that much worse.
"I love that it points out the irony/hypocrisy of a hotel that thrives on promoting touristy "Mayan culture" but throws someone out for wearing ACTUAL Mayan clothing."
They really just want watered-down Mayan culture and history, the kind where there were no massacres, forced conversions, or torture.
9/10 westerners can't tell the difference!
the kind where there were no massacres, forced conversions, or torture.
Kind of like our historical tourism that rarely/never mentions slaughtering the indigenous people. We don't want to know about their plight, we just want cheap gas and casinos!
Traditional Mayan dress I think is absolutely GORGEOUS and by western standards, is fairly modest. This had absolutely nothing to do with dress codes, it had to do with the assumption that anyone who would wear such is poor and uneducated.
My cousin spent her junior and senior year of high school as an exchange student in a city on the Yucatan penninsula about 10 years ago. Her host family was MORTIFIED when she approached a 'native' shop at the open air market and was going to buy one of the colorful, traditional native dresses. They pulled her away and went on and on about how they were dirty and she catch something from it. She went back just before flying home and bought one, hiding it amongst other things so her host family wouldn't see. The next year was easier for her, all of her friends back home wanted one and made a point of calling to remind her, which made her host family relent. They still wouldnt be seen going to the shop with her though :(
http://www.latina.com/latina/entertainment/entertainment.jsp?genre=ourstars&article=rigoberta07
According to this article, the reporter in question made the whole thing up.
I just read it on this latina blog.