Discrimination alive and well in 2011.

  I have never been so insulted in all my life! I CANNOT believe that in this day and age, Latinos are still being discriminated in such a blatant and obvious manner.

This week I was contacted by a staffmember of Emeril Lagasse’s show to ask if I wanted to be a guest on his new show, on a episode that was featuring tamales. I was thrilled naturally, and was even more excited when I was asked to invite four friends. I submitted names and contact information for all the guests. Shortly thereafter, I received a strange phone call, which asked me if the guests had “accents”…when I asked what exactly “accents” meant, I was told that the guests needed to be clearly understood. I assured the staff member that all my guests were fluent in English (one of them is my EDITOR for God’s sake!!).

Today I get another phone call from the Emeril team to tell me that while they “liked” one particular guest (it’s funny that she had THE most ethnic name), my other 2 guests sounded too ethnic. Excuse me, but when did this become a mono-ethnic society. My guests are not only fluent, they hold jobs where the English language is a career necessity, and as such they are clearly well versed (like I said, FLUENT!!).

I assured the said staff member that I was completely insulted; I thought it hypocritical that an episode which is featuring Latin American cuisine (tamales) deems it necessary to serve and instruct people who only sound WHITE!!

I have always had nothing but repect and admiration for Emeril, who I consider a collegue and a peer…until today! Wild horses couldn’t drag me there and I am going to make sure that everyone I know learns about this disgusting display of discrimination.

Courtesy of Boriqua Blog.  To read more CLICK HERE.