So It's A Little Samboesque ...

I'm not saying I am pleased to see these old relics still floating around but, as with other things folks get so steamed up about (particularly when it happens in another country known for having slaves or being colonialists), I'm not sweating this one. We need to stop pretending that these stereotypes and depictions didn't exist. Reminders that people of a lesser hue still, in fact, harbor deep attachments to the old symbols of racism should keep people ever mindful that "we ain't quite there yet."

I don't know anything about this character but it is as familiar as Sambo, unmodified versions of Uncle Ben and Aunt Jemima (epiphany: if we want to get mad, ask why those names still being used in 2005), and those ever present mammy salt and pepper shakers. But, I am not taking up arms against Mexico over this.

"The Mexican government has issued a postage stamp depicting an exaggerated black cartoon character known as Memin Pinguin, just weeks after remarks by President Vicente Fox angered U.S. blacks.

The series of five stamps released for general use Wednesday depicts a child character from a comic book started in the 1940s that is still published in Mexico.

The boy, hapless but lovable, is drawn with exaggerated features, thick lips and wide-open eyes. His appearance, speech and mannerisms are the subject of kidding by white characters in the comic book.

Activists said the stamp was offensive, though officials denied it.

'One would hope the Mexican government would be a little more careful and avoid continually opening wounds,' said Sergio Penalosa, an activist in Mexico's small black community on the southern Pacific coast.

[...]

Carlos Caballero, assistant marketing director for the Mexican Postal Service, said the stamps are not offensive, nor were they intended to be.

'This is a traditional character that reflects part of Mexico's culture,' Caballero said. 'His mischievous nature is part of that character.'

However, Penalosa said many Mexicans still assume all blacks are foreigners, despite the fact that at one point early in the Spanish colonial era, Africans outnumbered Spanish in Mexico.

'At this point in time, it was probably pretty insensitive' to issue the stamp, said Elisa Velazquez, an anthropologist who studies Mexico's black communities for the National Institute of Anthropology and History.

'This character is a classic, but it's from another era,' Velazquez said. 'It's a stereotype and you don't want to encourage ignorance or prejudices.'

[...]

The stamps are part of a series that pays tribute to Mexican comic books. Memin Pinguin, the second in the series, was apparently chosen for this year's release because it is the 50th anniversary of the company that publishes the comic.

Publisher Manelick De la Parra told the government news agency Notimex that the character would be sort of a goodwill ambassador on Mexican letters and postcards. 'It seems nice if Memin can travel all over the world, spreading good news,' de la Parra said, calling him 'so charming, so affectionate, so wonderful, generous and friendly.'"

I won't be traveling to Mexico to buy any and doubt that I'll see any in circulation. So, I'll leave it to the Mexican people to grapple with.