One thing that irks me to no end is the political correctness, the ‘code words” that pollute and make talk radio irrelevant and boring…

Let me digress.

About a year ago, one of my friends, a Latino, asked a favor of me, if I would consider hiring his cousin Miguel to work for me. He said he was an admitted gang banger who had been out of jail for three months and just needed a break. He had been convicted in the beating of a rival gang member, but was trying hard to turn his life around, and needed a job to feed his two kids and to give him some hope…

I agreed to meet with him and I have to tell you, scary is kind to describe him. The skinhead, the tattoos on his neck, arms, and back. He had a hard look from a rough and violent life that made him look much older than the 28 years that told his age on his driver’s license. Honestly, if you were in a restaurant or any public place he’s the guy you don’t look in the eye, or if you see him walking you cross the street to avoid. But I listened to his story and decided to give him a chance, and while there have been a couple of bumps in the road, he has been a great employee, worked a lot of hours, and has tried hard to rehabilitate himself and adjust to an honest life…

The point of the story here is that last year I had a couple of tickets to an Angel game and he wanted to take his son, so he came by my place to pick them up. My 10 year old next door neighbor was there borrowing something and to say he was a little taken back by Miguel’s appearance. When I told him Miguel had come by to pick up some tickets for a baseball game, the youngster, a white kid, said he thought the Dodgers were out of town. I told him he was going to the Angel game, and with the honesty that only youth knows, he said he thought he was a Dodger fan because “he looked like one”. Obviously in his house and the crowd he was around, Miguel was prototypical of what is the present day symbol of a Dodger fan is…

As a Mexican American, someone who is anything but a Dodger fan, I have become sad and embarrassed that the once proud Dodger organization has become the latest reincarnation of “Raider Nation” and that my race is associated with the “lowest type of human being you could want to be around.”…
What used to upset me is the term “Raider Fan”, code for Mexican American thug. Hen Dave Smith had his radio show, and he talked Raider fan, he used to have his cronie Corn Dog play the old War song, “Low Rider”, an obvious shot at the “Cholo” gangsters with the Raider tattoos, without actually calling out the race. The “Raider Fan” code word is akin to “intelligent” and “gamer” for white athletes and the oh so played out ‘athletic” and “instinctive” for black athletes…

When the Dodger fan thugs beat the crap out of a Giant fan who is now in a medically induced coma a couple of weeks ago, I found it insulting when I heard a relative’s friend say, “That p*ssy got what he deserved, there were 3 of them, what, he couldn’t defend himself? Don’t come into our house wearing your colors”. Colors? Are you kidding me? It’s freaking baseball, not war…

The Dodgers get what they deserve by marketing themselves to these idiots. They advertise heavily on Spanish speaking stations, they lower prices to make it more accessible for them. They have turned a deaf ear to complaints about this thug element that their recent public vow about cracking down is a joke…

I was at a recent AA meeting in an area with a predominantly Latino population and what I heard was that yes, for a little while this tough stance might work, but that it won’t be long before the thugs return, because it’s too hard to control them. It’s absolutely laughable that people believe the threat of jail time will be a deterrent. These gangsters don’t fear jail, they fear responsibility. Ruling by fear masks their low self esteem, and they enjoy when their pack of wolves at a Dodger game instill fear, they think it’s respect. These guys have no respect for themselves, why would they respect others?…

I heard a joke that actually made me laugh when someone said that he saw fights at Angel games, too, and then his buddy said, “Yeah, they were playing the Dodgers”…

The more I hear about it not being a racial thing, the more I laugh at the ignorance. And the sad truth is, this problem will never go away. Much like cockroach infestation, these thugs might be shooed away, but in the dark of night they will return. They have nothing going on in their lives, and until we solve the problem of education and getting actual jobs, the highlights of their pitiful lives will be ruining fun for others…

It’s sad and I’m ashamed and can only hope that my fellow Mexican American parents instill pride and class and not give up on their kids and let the vicious cycle continue…

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