BEST T-SHIRT EVER!!!!

What happened to a little thing called 'sense of humor' here in America, the land of free speech? I just don't get this! So, apparently, a Mexican restaurant in South Carolina now has to defend itself against accusations of racism for selling a t-shirt that describes "how to catch an illegal immigrant" using two tacos and a box trap. How is that not hilarious? Not to mention great marketing on the restaurant's part. 

Employees at Taco Cid in West Columbia, South Carolina say that the shirts are "comical" and a reasonable political statement about the immigration policy in the United States. The shirts read "how to catch an illegal immigrant" and then in Looney Tunes cartoon fashion showed two tacos under a box with a cord, similar to a mouse trap. A Taco Cid employee wearing the shirt caught the eye of a reporter, who tweeted a photo of the shirt this past Sunday saying that the message was "stirring controversy." Of course, after seeing this, minority rights groups slammed the message as insensitive and a ploy to drum up business. Yeah...so what? First of all, is it really insensitive? We do have an illegal immigrant problem in America whether we want to admit it or not. The restaurant is using this problem that we have and putting a comedic twist on it to sell some shirts and make some money for their restaurant. I say, "Brilliant!" Also, doesn't the word "illegal" mean 'breaking the law'? Why should we, as Americans, defend the sensitivity of someone who is breaking the law? When I was younger, I used to wear a t-shirt that had a fake Chinese menu on it with funny Chinese dishes like 'Won Hung Lo' and things like that, but no one criticized me for it. The only time that I ever had to deal with a minority rights group was when I worked at Z100 in New York City, and our morning show parody writer wrote a song called "Combo Number 5" by Tim Louie Bega to parody the song "Mambo Number 5" by Lou Bega. We caught so much flack for that because the writer used Chinese stereotypes in the song. I wasn't offended by it. In fact, I embraced it to a point where I kind of caught my 15 minutes of fame for a little while because the song was a morning show hit. I explained to the minority rights group that it wasn't mean to be offensive and that it was meant to be funny. If they would've seen it on Saturday Night Live, would they be attacking them? I told them to lighten up and get a sense of humor. They just wanted to hear themselves roar, but it didn't really scare us as we continued to play the song in the mornings. 

Anyway, back to the t-shirt! Lisa Navarrette, Advisor to the President, National Council of La Raza, stated, "Of course, its offensive. It's meant to be. This is simply a failing business trolling for attention. We would recommend people not to patronize this place. Sure, because of this insult but really due to the fact that a restaurant this clueless about the Latino community can't possibly make a decent taco." She can say what she wants. I'm in the middle of ordering my t-shirt right now in support of these guys! I know the Latin community really well, and I still say that this shirt is no more offensive than it is funny! Only an illegal immigrant should find this shirt offensive, but should it matter? They're illegal anyway and shouldn't really be here! According to Taco Cid, they've recently gotten calls from all over the country from people wanting to buy the $35 t-shirt. They also said that the message and the taco imagery weren’t aimed at any one ethnic group. 

On their website (tacocid.com), they stated, "Our t-shirts were created as a witty and comical statement regarding 'ILLEGAL' immigrants. There are no racial nor hate remarks towards any specific ethnic group. We believe ILLEGAL immigrants are burdening the system we support and live under, thereby, causing us to work harder and pay higher taxes to support illegal activities, which our government has simply chosen to look the other way. Is it 'racist' to disagree with those who are not supporting the American system?" To that I say, "Amen!" I couldn't have said it better myself. If you'd like to buy a t-shirt in support of Taco Cid, log onto tacocid.com or call them at (803) 794-4008.