By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
Marco Macias, associate professor of history at Fort Hays State University, gave the third lecture in the Sorting Out Race Speaker series Wednesday at the Hays Public Library.
Macias' lecture was titled "Unpacking Stereotypes: A Journey through Mexican-American Representation in Thrift Finds and Media."
Macias' hobby is collecting items from thrift stores and online that depict Latinos—often in stereotypical lights.
He began his lecture by showing a photograph he found in a Wichita thrift store. It was titled "Wedding Best" and depicted a family, some of whom were wearing KKK robes.
Macias showed photos of several items—plates and salt and pepper shakers—that he said depicted "sleepy Mexicans."
"It creates perceptions or reinforces stereotypes of Mexicans being lazy," he said, "of Mexicans falling asleep in corners or being lazy."
He also shared some historical tourist photos from Tijuana.
During prohibition, Tijuana became a place where Americans would go to drink, gamble and engage in prostitution. That became translated through these tourist items and pop culture into a broader stereotype of Mexico.
"Tijuana becomes this symbol of sin for American tourists, demonized by American tourists," Macias said. "People in Mexico don't care about going to Tijuana for fun. That's not their perception of fun."
"This resonates to contemporary politics. This is where we first see some of these images feed into contemporary politics."
Macias said the media have historically also stereotyped Mexico as primitive or backward.
Macias said he's had Americans ask him if they have internet in Mexico.
Images of Mexicans also often depict a male figure wearing a big hat or a poncho.
"If you go to Mexico nowadays, you would be hard-pressed to find one," he said," because, surprise, we dress like people from the United States."
Macias presented examples of souvenirs from Mexico, including an ashtray and photographs that portrayed Latina women as oversexualized.
Later in his presentation, he shared images from Scott White taken of Latina women in the early 1900s that sexualized those women.
He said some of White's images were tame compared to other images that showed Latina and Indigenous women bare-breasted.
Macias collects comic books and other pop culture items depicting Panch0 Villa.
Villa was a figure in the Mexican Revolution, beginning in 1911. Villa was assassinated when he was 45 in 1923.
Macias showed examples of different portrayals of Villa and how they evolved.
In 1913, he was portrayed in America as a clean-cut heroic figure when the U.S. was backing him.
However, the political tide turned in Mexico. In 1916, Villa raided Columbus, New Mexico, to goad the United States into invading Mexico.
The popular image of the Villa was transformed into a wild bandit.
"Teenagers in the nineteen-teens are creating perceptions through specific people like Pancho Villa," he said.
During the same time frame, a movie, Bronco Billy the Greaser, was showing in the cinema.
"It presents Mexican Americans or Mexicans as bandits, as filthy, as violent, as punks," Macias said.
Macias said pop culture is a very strong way we receive our understanding of the world.
"We can read books, but we probably get most of our cultural understanding from watching movies and other pop culture and artifacts," he said.
Macias showed a photo of a tequila bottle that depicted Pancho Villa. You open the bottle by removing the figure's head. The irony of this is that Villa's body was decapitated after death, and his skull was removed.
The other irony is that Villa didn't drink.
The weirdest find he had was allegedly Pancho Villa's trigger finger.
Stereoscope images from the 1910s and '20s also presented Mexico and Latin America as primitive. This included indigenous people of the regions.
Macias presented several stereoscope images from the period he found in an antique store. One image depicted indigenous people from the early 20th Century in Chile.
The text on the stereoscope describes the people as an "ungainly, ill-formed lot."
Macias said that this tribe of Selk'nam people had been extinguished. They lived in an area where there was a gold rush. They were forced off their native lands onto reservations.
The stereoscope image was not in the context of their native land, dress or culture, but on a reservation.
When he visited China during the summer, he found even more stereotypical images of Mexican and Latino people. Chip packages depicted Latinos wearing big hats or ponchos and sporting large mustaches.
Although Macias has collected historical Western depictions of Mexican and Latino people for about 15 years, he said there are ethical concerns about keeping some of these items in circulation.
"The danger is the reinforcement of stereotypes. Current politics. When they demonize immigrants ... what's feeding those stereotypes is the dangerous part because they are coming from these historical things," he said.
He said some pop cultural images are positive.
Frida Kahlo's art and image are often featured in pop culture, and she is portrayed as a strong and creative woman.
Even the cartoon character Speedy Gonzales was a stereotype. However, some aspects of that character were positive. He was fast, smart, heroic, and always won out against Sylvester, the cat.
The next speaker in the series will be at 6 p.m. Tuesday in the Schmidt Commons at the Hays Public Library. Information on the speaker and accompanying exhibit at the library is below.
Fort Hays State University has added a fifth speaker to the series. In October, Cornel Pewewardy will present on Native American stereotypes perpetuated by Native Americans.
