That's not a beehive, that's tacos al carbon: see http://tinyurl.com/2l8xee. But still, ew.

It's a two-way street. I remember a stand called Loco Taco, run by Asians, complete with crazy Mexican caricatures.

Actually, the beehive is a "trompo." It's a cylinder of pork meat with a pineapple slice on top used in preparing "tacos al pastor." I believe the process was brought to Mexico by Lebanese immigrants and resembles Shawerma grill.

"Lebanese immigrants in Mexico," you say? Well, actually, Mexico has had a lot of interesting waves of migration into the country including a prominent Lebanese community. Mexico's richest man, Carlos Slim Helu is of Lebanese descent.

So, it is sad that in a country with a multi-ethnic past these kinds of stereotypical images can persist.

its really admirable that you took time out from your much needed vacation at a popular all-inclusive resort town to explain to us how ignorant the poor people who live there year round are.

Harsh, abraham. Very harsh.

I'm studying abroad in México this semeter (in Puebla) and unfortunately that sort of thing passes for normal here. There's a lot of racism, but the machismo and homophobia in particular is incredibly common. A girl can't walk down the street without being cat-called or whistled at, and its pretty much impossible for people to be openly gay (it's a safety issue). While México City has recently been enacting reforms concerning abortion and domestic partnerships, the majority of the population still leans heavily on gender stereotypes and is really conservative on social issues.

abraham, charming. and yes, i'm sure it's poor people who are designing logos and own chain restaurants.

jessica-

right as you may be about who owns the restuarant, the fact is you said you "want to throw something" at the billboard, and take it as you may that kind of language implies an act of senseless, meaningless aggression against the operators who I guarantee are not wealthy. The point is, you are supporting that system while drawing potentially harmful attention towards locals, which is none of your business.

Abraham, racism is not excused by income.

Also, shut up.

um, abraham...i said it made me want to throw something. but instead i took a picture and posted it here - which i would argue is certainly spreading awareness and doing no harm to anyone but the chain owners. so i'd respectfully ask that you chill out.

"...the fact is you said you "want to throw something" at the billboard, and take it as you may that kind of language implies an act of senseless, meaningless aggression against the operators who I guarantee are not wealthy. The point is, you are supporting that system while drawing potentially harmful attention towards locals, which is none of your business."
After all, you are female, and not entitled to express emotions that might make real people uncomfortable.
And if someone in a country that isn't yours is promoting a damaging stereotype against a group you don't belong to, you shouldn't point it out. People should only point out injustice when it affects them personally, so no one has to wonder about whether you have a Secret Agenda. Keeping up with real conspiracies is hard enough!

Sunder

(Purveyor of 'Aluminum Hats for Real People.' Order yours today--guaranteed to stop deadly, thought-causing Q-Rays!)

Mexico has a history of anti-Asian racism that is almost as bad as the United States. Particularly in the northern part of the country during the Revolutionary era there were large-scale anti-Chinese actions, including a lot of murders. So this is not surprising to me in the least.

"to explain to us how ignorant the poor people who live there year round are."

Wow Abraham, way to distort that post!
Mexico was the one that defended the "Sambo" stamp let us not forget! I also hear theyre highly asiatic and Jewish racist down there.

I don't think that these arguments of "it's a two-way street" or "they're poor and you're an outsider" are particularly helpful, though I can see some sense in the latter - though I would add that Abe's concerns regarding the town's decline into a tourist economy seem to be at odds with his concerns that such negative press will hurt the owners - isn't it better than positive press which would promote more tourism and thus a worse life for locals? Though I'm not sure what can be done for a place once it's gotten past a certain point...

However, I think this would be a good starting point from which to look more critically at advertising locally - where people can do more than take note of it, and possibly communicate their grievances through letters, calls, complaining in person or such - tangible actions which could effect change locally.

Ahem, Abraham, Acapulco is a tourist haven. As such, it is far less poor than many, many places in Mexico.
And why should poverty be an excuse for bigotry? I may be a gringa now, but I grew up in Mexico City, which contains some of the richest people in the country, and the racism, sexism and anti-semitism were rampant. Telenovelas and commercials always featured blondes, or "gueras," as the ladies of the house, and dark-haired "indias" as maids, also charmingly known as "criadas." And anyone Asian was always considered "un chino," even if they were not Chinese. Africans were a minority, and were invariably referred to as "negritos."
So in conclusion, not calling Mexico out on its prejudices is actually pretty damn patronizing, since it implies they are too backward to get it.

"And why should poverty be an excuse for bigotry?"

Lemme guess, he thinks that you're oppressing poor people if you don't automatically agree with everything every person in poverty thinks no matter how bigoted... o_O

This photo doesn't really surprise me. What I really wanted to respond to was this:

"I'm studying abroad in México this semeter (in Puebla) ... A girl can't walk down the street without being cat-called or whistled at..."

I only spent a little bit of time in Puebla, but I disagree with you here. Perhaps you meant "a white girl who is obviously studying abroad - from the USA" but even then I disagree. Part of while I was in Puebla I was with a coupla white American girls and their Spanish was iffy. (I can sort of pass for Mexican if I keep my mouth shut.) They were not cat-called or whistled. In every city you can probably find an area where "outsiders" can expect some catcalling, which I don't condone. But in general in Puebla (and MC and Guadalajara and other places) you're not going to get cat-called in any old area.

Not to say that Mexico doesn't have its problems, it certainly does.

I'm really not surprised at this. Yes, Mexico does have a history of anti-Asian sentiment. At one time they had a pretty substantial Chinese community, I believe, in Mexicali, in the early 20th century. Well, I think sometime then they started instituting some anti-Asian policies, directed at driving the "chinos" out.

Thank you for posting this. Bigotry is not acceptable anywhere. Perhaps when there are more Asian tourists to Mexico perceptions will change.