Posted on 10/27/2014 6:47:03 AM PDT by Kaslin
It is becoming pretty obvious that the American Left is virtually bankrupt of tolerance or understanding. Under the guise of political correctness a group of hyper-sensitive liberals are petitioning a Colorado restaurant to change its name. Since the mid 1990’s, Pete Turner has expanded his Boulder-based restaurant to six locations along the Front Range; but he might have to consider rebranding his business because a bunch of self-victimized leftists are throwing a hissy fit. According to the Coloradoan:
Three weeks shy of opening his newest Illegal Pete's restaurant in Old Town Fort Collins, restaurant owner Pete Turner came to Fort Collins on Wednesday to listen to a crowd of concerned residents who asked that he change his business' name.
Apparently, the name “Illegal Pete’s” might offend illegal immigrants. The fact that illegals are merely labeled as illegal because they happen to be in the country illegally doesn’t seem to stem the tide of politically correct intolerance shilled out by the Left. Not surprisingly, the protestors in Colorado also seemed stunningly uninterested in the fact that the owner intended no disrespect when naming his restaurant:
The name Illegal Pete's, Turner said, is a literary reference to a bar in a novel he read as an English major in Boulder. "Pete" also refers to his own name and his father's. When he started the restaurant in 1995, Turner hoped the name would be ambiguous enough to spark people's interest, perhaps referring to counterculture activity.
But that didn’t stop 30 or so perpetually offended leftists from convening a meeting, and trying to convince Turner to change the business’s name. Their only requirement was that his private business not be tainted with the use of the dreaded “I-word”. (Yeah… That’s how they referred to it.)
"Since I know the context, and I have been labeled with (the word illegal), it makes a huge difference to me," said Lucy Gonzalez, 25.
Really? You have been labeled with the word “illegal”? So, I’m guessing it is safe to assume that at one point you, Lucy, were here illegally? Because that’s not exactly the same thing as a racial or ethnic slur. If you find it offensive that a clinical definition of your immigration status was used to describe your immigration status, there are easy ways to change that… For example, you could immigrate legally.
Colorado State University assistant English professor Antero Garcia explained that "The restaurant will be located in the same area that current Fort Collins residents remember often seeing signs saying 'No dogs or Mexicans.' It is under this legacy of American racist practices that the name Illegal Pete's becomes unacceptable."
Wait… “American racist practices”? Oh. I guess Americans own the patent on racism, right? (I guess it would be useless to point out to Garcia that such practices are no longer allowed, because of American values and practices. Right?)
According to the CSU assistant professor, we’re supposed to demand that a private business change its brand because some over-sensitive “politically correct” activists assume the word “illegal” is a dog-whistle for racism. Simply not going to the restaurant apparently never dawned on these activists…
Maybe the most telling part of the hour and a half long meeting last week was how it ended. Turner had showed up to listen to the concerns of locals, and defend the name of his restaurant. But, at the end, Garcia made it clear:
"We can be mobilizing ourselves either to celebrate or to protest."
Now, is it just me, or does that sound like a not-so-veiled threat? I guess, contrary to the claims from the Left, a “discussion” is pretty much not an option. Only complete submission to the intolerant demands of the “politically correct” will suffice for people like Garcia.
Correction only for emphasis, since the Left never seems to mind if others are offended by their actions.
Correct me if I’m wrong. Wasn’t there a restaurant called SAMBO many decades ago until they were forced to change the name and image?
Who would open a restaurant named illegal pete’s? Why would they pick that name. Would this guy be a supporter or against them being here?
Who would open a restaurant named illegal pete’s? Why would they pick that name. Would this guy be a supporter or against them being here?
The offended communist steering group is fishing for faults where there are not any, just like any racist will do.
Nope. Change it to Illegal Franks... or Illegal Joes...
He should, especially when it pisses of the left
I really am tired of this crap from these morons
maybe you should bring your and or family with you when you go there
I’m deeply offended that you have been offended.
Which I find offensive.
:-)
About ten years ago I was selected to sit in juror box #1. The case was about an "undocumented alien" who trespassed on property to steal but was injured, so he was suing the owner. During further questioning by lawyers of both sides, because of my conservative stance, the judge asked me "Can you be fair to this client?". I said loudly "Yes, as long as this illegal alien did nothing illegal!". Courtroom busted out in loud laughter. The guy's lawyers quickly got me dismissed as a juror. I hated the doublespeak of constantly calling him undocumented.
Wetback Pete’s?
From the Coloradoan
-- snip --
The Boulder-based restaurant with six locations in Boulder and Denver is modeled after Mexican food from San Francisco's Mission District, specifically over-sized burritos. The name Illegal Pete's, Turner said, is a literary reference to a bar in a novel he read as an English major in Boulder. "Pete" also refers to his own name and his father's. When he started the restaurant in 1995, Turner hoped the name would be ambiguous enough to spark people's interest, perhaps referring to counterculture activity.
Color me skeptical.
I'd like to see this assertion backed up. I seriously doubt it can be.
Show me a photo of it. Or if no photo remains, then at least name one single current resident of Fort Collins who remembers seeing these signs "often" in that area of Ft. Collins. Or a reference to any local newspaper article of the era that backs this up.
Personally, I suspect it's a recycling of the "No Dogs or Irish" meme.
And who knows where that one came from? Here's a plausible scenario I can well imagine:
Yes, there are plenty of "No Dogs or Mexicans" sign images on the web, but most are non-attributed as to their source, or are "reproductions" that the manufacturer brags "are made to look old".
For a couple dozen dollars you can buy a paper copy that's framed and which the seller "thinks" is an original.
There's a Jewish-discrimination-history museum collection that shows a sign supposedly from a Dallas Restaurant Assoc of the 1920's prohibiting Dogs and Mexicans, but the museum's notes about it show a blank space for the "Provenance" category - ie they have no idea where it came from. That doesn't prove it's a fake of course.
Elsewhere, I saw a discussion of a sign allegedly from the 1930s that some posters fervently believed was genuine, but another poster pointed out that it was in Helvetica font, which wasn't invented until 1957.
People who want to find racism under every rock and shrub generally respond to the above kinds of facts with, "Oh! So are you claiming racism doesn't exist and never existed?!"
To which I respond, "No, of course not. But when you wish to make your argument as strong as possible with large numbers of supporting facts and anecdotes, take care to not overstate your case by including unprovable, unattributed anecdotes that might be completely false, because while an over-statement has the short-term effect of boosting your argument with listeners who take at face value all of your assertions, long-term it can seriously weaken your entire argument when even one supporting piece of it turns out to be false, thus casting a pall of unbelievability over ALL of it."
Of course it was different in Nazi Germany. Some British landladies put out signs announcing "No Blacks or Irish" when the first West Indian immigrants were arriving in England. I wouldn't put it past some dive, some equivalent of a biker bar, of having a sign that expressed similar sentiments in some US backwater -- perhaps as a joke -- but I really doubt that places that wanted to attract a half-way decent clientele really put up signs like that.
"No Irish Need Apply" -- well it isn't a total myth exactly. You could find a few classified ads that said that in the 1850s in the US and Britain, but Boston politicians used to say that such advertisements and signs were common in the 1930s, an era when the Irish were the largest population group in the city. It didn't happen that way then, and even earlier such ads or signs weren't anywhere near as common as some people believe.
Wetback Pedro would be a good name.
Call it Illegal Maryjane’s and he’ll be swamped with potheads.
There is still one sambo’s left.
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