Unwelcome news on enchilada night

Shortly before we sat down to a family dinner of chicken enchiladas, a moderately Deplorable friend emailed me “This Week in Appropriation: Kooks Burritos” (Portland Mercury):

This week in white nonsense, two white women—Kali Wilgus and Liz “LC” Connely—decided it would be cute to open a food truck after a fateful excursion to Mexico. There’s really nothing special about opening a Mexican restaurant—it’s probably something that happens everyday. [in Mexico?]

Week after week people of color in Portland bear witness to the hijacking of their cultures, and an identifiable pattern of appropriation has been created. Several of the most successful businesses in this town have been birthed as a result of curious white people going to a foreign country, or an international venture, and poaching as many trade secrets, customs, recipes as possible, and then coming back to Portland to claim it as their own and score a tidy profit.

Because of Portland’s underlying racism, the people who rightly own these traditions and cultures that exist are already treated poorly. These appropriating businesses are erasing and exploiting their already marginalized identities for the purpose of profit and praise.

People of color are nothing more than an afterthought when the white perpetrators of this tradition continue to do this on a regular basis.

I didn’t feel the need to read the masthead to infer that this is from Portland, Oregon rather than Portland, Maine…

6 thoughts on “Unwelcome news on enchilada night

  1. I would have though that imitation is the strongest form of flattery. I am surprised the two ladies claim the food ‘is their own’. Wasn’t selling it as Mexican food the whole point? so how are they appropriating?

  2. Federico,

    they’re appropriating because they’re not giving up their profits to marginalized minorities. If they had any ethics to speak of they would give up their establishment to the first mexican they saw, who would, obviously, be far more qualified to do the cooking and run the business.

    As white women, they should stick to cooking white women food. Which i believe is jell-o salad.

  3. Two comments:

    1. Blood was coming out of everywhere from “Jagger Blaec”, who wrote that vindictive column.

    2. It is clear nobody forced the tortilla ladies to quit, they just were thin skinned, or perhaps the operation was running with a loss.

    My experience with food carts here in Portland is that often the servings are small, and the discount relative to a restaurant meal minor, but there are some good deals.

    Here is an example of Mexican fast food, which is cheaper than most food carts, gives you a place to sit down, free water, generous condiments, including pickled onion, carrot, jalepono, and also deep fried jalepino.

    https://www.yelp.com/biz/don-pedro-portland-5

    I know a few Mexicans here in Portland, none of them would be offended by cultural appropriation.

  4. Is it still cultural appropriation if the cooks at my favorite thai reustarant are mexican?

  5. The term “cultural appropriation” makes me think of those african witchcraft penis theft panics. Grown men in africa will literally believe a sorcerer has stolen their penis, despite the fact that it’s obviously intact and functional. Much like a burrito recipe remains useful no matter who uses it.

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