February 25, 2004
Memo From Mexico, By
Allan Wall
Mexicans Chant, Americans (Mostly) Cower
“Osama! Osama!”
That’s what Mexican soccer fans
chanted in unison at the American squad that had
just lost 4-0 to Team Mexico in an Olympic Qualification
Soccer Match in
Guadalajara on February 10.
[VDARE.COM NOTE:
This was the
second such incident in the soccer series.]
The game had begun with Mexican
fans nearly drowning out the U.S. national anthem with
their booing.
Is this just another example of
soccer fans behaving badly, or is there something deeper
at work here?
I certainly don’t begrudge the
Mexicans their victory. I wish them well in the
Olympics.
Nor do I really expect soccer fans
to display good manners or sportsmanship—that’s not what
soccer fans are famous for.
Nevertheless, it appears in recent
years that crude anti-Americanism by Mexican fans in
soccer matches with the U.S. is becoming a tradition. It
was present
in 2002, when the U.S. team beat Mexico in a World
Cup qualification match, and back in 1998 there was an
infamous outburst of
anti-American heckling at a game in
Los Angeles—much of it
perpetrated by Mexicans resident in the U.S.
The phenomenon is a combination of
several factors. First you have the generic bad behavior
typical of many soccer fans. That is compounded by the
fact that
far too many Mexicans take soccer
far too seriously. They resent the growing success
of the
U.S. team, which seems to have become Mexico’s
principal soccer nemesis. Mix that in with a certain
knee-jerk anti-Americanism existing in Mexico, and a
soccer match is just the place for it to erupt.
Certainly all Mexicans don’t
approve of what happened in Guadalajara. On a
message board sponsored by
Televisa several posters expressed disapproval of
the Osama chant.
But another poster wrote from
California, and while not mentioning the bad
sportsmanship, did put an interesting spin on the
victory. Enrique González
[email
him]:
“I send greetings to all Mexicans from San Jose,
California. If this victory is important for you (in
Mexico) let me assure you that all of us (Mexicans) on
this side (of the border) enjoyed it as if we had won a
championship. For us it means our pride and our honor
because lately the U.S. has won the majority of the
games, so this victory is a great joy.”
Even if we can write off what happened at Guadalajara as
just soccer fans behaving badly, consider this: No
prominent Mexican in either the athletic or
political sphere criticized it.
Just imagine if a similar incident had taken place in
the United States, with Mexican athletes at the
receiving end of such treatment.
One prominent American did speak up—Colorado congressman
Tom Tancredo. He called the Mexican fans’ behavior
“indefensible” and “inexcusable,” and even
called for a formal apology from the Mexican ambassador.
Tancredo put the incident in
perspective: “What would happen if any other nation
had chanted 'Hitler!' after defeating an Israeli team?"
Tancredo asked. "It's completely indefensible.
Athletes can certainly expect to receive some level of
heckling as a natural and healthy part of international
sporting events—particularly in the context of soccer
matches. But this blatant disrespect for our athletes
and our country far exceeds the limits of what is
acceptable in the course of friendly competition. It is,
simply put, inexcusable." [Tancredo Demands
Apology from Mexican Ambassador, Doug Patton,
Talon News February 16th, 2004]
Tancredo hit the nail on the head
when he said: “I am concerned about the behavior of
the Mexican spectators and their government’s
non-reaction to it.”
Precisely. You can’t blame the
Mexican government, and certainly not all Mexicans,
for the bad behavior of soccer fans.
But you can question why a
government seeking a
new relationship with the United States would keep
mum about it.
After all, the Mexican government
wants the United States to open its border to
millions of illegal aliens, legalize them,
pay their expenses and be very careful not to
hurt their feelings.
And yet, nobody in the Mexican
government has the courtesy to issue even a brief
statement expressing displeasure with public
anti-Americanism at a sporting event.
Nor, of course, has the Bush
Administration had the stomach to raise the issue.
Anyone see a pattern here?
American citizen Allan Wall lives and works legally in
Mexico, where he holds an FM-2 residency and work
permit, but serves six weeks a year with the Texas Army
National Guard, in a unit composed almost entirely of
Americans of Mexican ancestry. His VDARE.COM articles
are archived
here; his
FRONTPAGEMAG.COM articles are archived
here; his
website is
here. Readers
can contact Allan Wall at
allan39@prodigy.net.mx.
