Yes, much of a hullabaloo has been raised about the fact that Mitt Romney was quoted saying that he regrets his father was not "born of Mexican parents", that he thinks that lower economic 47% of the American population is not his problem, that Jesus invented America, etc. etc.
But recently, in an interview with the popular Latino channel Univision he went a little further by actually donning a darker shade of brown on his tan in order to, one would guess, "appeal" to the Latin@ audience. The Latin@ audience, however, did not swallow this latest attempt to persuade them. It backfired and R-Money was criticized and compared to other famous brown-face fools like Charleston Heston in Touch of Evil, as professor of Chicana/o studies, William A. Nericcio has pointed out in his blog.
Why did he fail, (besides the fact that he was obviously being racist)?
Well, because he forgot to check on history and the dummy picked the wrong color.
For example, previous to the Mexican Revolution, general and dictator (some still call him president) of Mexico, Díaz used to powder his face white--that's right, WHITE!--in order to appeal to his population. If you don't believe it, just ask your local professor of Mexican history. Díaz was in power for 35 years, and credited with the "modernization" of Mexico.
In fact, not since Benito Juárez has there been another considerably "brown" president in Mexico. Think about that for a moment... and then look at the faces of the Univision hosts during the interview with the Presidential candidates. Do they look brown to you?
And, how about the U.S.A.? Besides our current president, Barack Obama, could you name any other non-white president of the United States?
Whether we like it or not, the fact is that prejudice still exists against brownness in our Latin@ communities and in general in the U.S.A. and that some abuelitas still call their grandkids "prietitos" if they just happen to be a little on the browner side of things.
Romney, simply forgot to do his homework... again.
