By: David Conde
During the Chicano Movement there were impromptu teaching theaters that featured the “Tio Taco,” the “sell out,” the Uncle Tom equivalent as a character that continued to accept the social, political and economic conditions imposed on him by racism, exclusion and disrespect. To be branded a Tio Taco was a common result for those that chose to stay in step with traditional American institutional aspirations. It is out of this environment that the Southwest Council of La Raza was born in Arizona and flourished to become the National Council of La Raza (NCLR) when it moved to Washington D.C. in 1973. It eventually became the largest and most influential advocate organization for Latino issues.
In 2017 NCLR changed its name again to UnidosUS. Times had changed as the eastern and Caribbean Latino establishment that had become a major voice in the organization could not identify with “Raza,” a term associated with Mexican Education Secretary Vasconcelos’ vision of the Mestizo as a “cosmic” or 5th race because its blood includes the other 4 races.
As a result, the Mexican American flavor of the organization began to diminish. Yet, earlier this July, Raul Yzaguirre, NCLR’s great leader for 30 years (1974-2004), received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest national award for civilian leadership and service.
This past July I had the opportunity to attend the UnidosUS annual conference in San Antonio. The President’s wife, Dr. Jill Biden, came by during a lunch session and offered a speech praising the uniqueness of Latino culture in its diversity. It is, she said, “as distinct as the bodegas of the Bronx, as beautiful as the blossoms of Miami and as unique as the breakfast tacos here in San Antonio.” The negative reaction to the “taco” comparison that followed was ignited by the Latino media that saw it as a return to the negative stereotype that promoted disloyalty to the community and second class citizenship in America.
However, if they had done their homework and understood what tacos Biden was talking about they would feel less insulted. Basic San Antonio tacos are not made from corn but from flour tortillas and are not filled with fancy things, just refried beans and perhaps some cheese. I know this because those tacos were the staple of our table as farm workers in the fields of Central Texas. They helped sustain farm working families as they toiled from sunup to sundown.
I remember one early morning, my grandmother got up and prepared and packed 14 tacos for our lunch. She then send us three teenage boys to the fields to work with the idea that we would have the tacos to eat at noon. That is not what happened because as we worked we kept dipping into the lunch pack for tacos as morning snacks. By noon there was nothing to eat and we had to drink a lot of water to finish the day.
In those days, I knew about corn tortillas and tacos, but I thought that it was something associated with going across the border to eat in Mexico. Later, eating corn tacos and their funny hard shells was one of my first experiences in Colorado.
Wonderful tacos of every kind have experienced tremendous growth in the United States because of the large immigrant community and general American taste that has gravitated to Mexican food. Tacos as a politically diminishing symbol is less powerful because it has become a genuine part of who we are as a country.
