Wednesday, September 16, 2009

The day Fuentes’ boss called Mexican-Americans “banditos”

Tom's no "wab," y'know

As you know, DtB has noted Tom Fuentes’ time as an assistant to now forgotten OC Supervisor Ronald Caspers. In 1974, Republican Caspers and nine others disappeared at sea somewhere off the Baja California coast. Very mysterious. (See Even Beelzebub had a mentor.)

Gustavo Arellano just posted about the fellow:

Mexican-Bashing OC Politicians of Days Past: Ronald Caspers

Gustavo relates a story from 1972:
Caspers, annoyed that a Mexican-American group of county employees were demanding affirmative action (he had accused one of the leaders of not being an American citizen), called them "bandidos" during a board meeting, then asked county counsel to explore moving the county seat from SanTana to whiter environs because "we are in an area which does not have a normal ethnic balance."

…Caspers ended up apologizing for his gaffe during a board meeting, and the other supervisors reprimanded him publicly. Caspers claimed he didn't know bandido was an offensive term to Mexicans, a bullshit excuse considering Chicanos had just successfully axed the Frito Bandito the year before.
Gustavo notes that, at the time, one of Caspers staffers was Tom Fuentes, “who would eventually become the longtime chair of the GOP and has always proudly stated he has Spanish blood in him, not wab.”

Tom certainly made that point at a board meeting four years ago, when he described his people leaving from Spain on a boat, yadda yadda.

Really. Check it out:



The notorious "Frito Bandito"(1969)

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

A history lesson is a good thing. Thanks to Gustavo and to you.

Anonymous said...

chili-cheese are the best!!

Anonymous said...

If he could have forseen the how the traitorous Spaniards would leave the Coalition of the Willing, he never would have associated himself with them!

Which is not to imply that he would have referred to himself as having "Mexican" heritage. Oh, no. Anything but that.

Roy's obituary in LA Times and Register: "we were lucky to have you while we did"

  This ran in the Sunday December 24, 2023 edition of the Los Angeles Times and the Orange County Register : July 14, 1955 - November 20, 2...