Remembering the Early Days of Television ~ by James Banzer

Cheers for Rachel

   Rachel Smith grabbed the honor of being named Miss USA 2007. With that came the reward of a trip to Mexico City to compete for the Miss Universe title. When she got there she found that Americans are less than welcome south of the border. It was an ugly sign that Mexicans harbor some very negative feelings about their northern neighbors.

   The world heard stories of Rachel being booed in Mexico City as pageant time approached. She was in the parade of world contestants, appearing in an Elvis Pressley costume with a guitar. There were boos along the parade route.

   Unfortunately Rachel tripped and fell during the evening gown pageant competition. The audience groaned, but she courageously recovered, regained her smile and went on to become one of the five finalists. The woman representing Mexico, Rosa Maria Ojeda, failed to place among the top ten. Things started getting really ugly. As Rachel was being asked a question during the interview part of the contest, boos again were directed at Miss USA. The audience chanted, “Mexico, Mexico.” 

   Mexicans want the good life that America has to offer. They have no qualms about illegally crossing the northern border to get some of the good old American greenback. They head north, break our laws in doing so, and reap benefits because our government has failed to enforce the ban on illegal immigrants, and because business finds them to be a cheap source of labor. They certainly have no reason to boo us. 

   They do not like us because we are their successful neighbors while they are struggling to catch up where we were decades ago. Success breeds contempt. So when the talk started about erecting a fence to keep Mexicans and other Hispanics from crossing the border, they started their ridiculous attack on the land that many additional potential law-breakers want to invade. That included insulting a hard-working, successful beauty queen. 

   In reality Rachel Smith was an American guest worker in Mexico, as she is paid to serve as Miss U.S.A. for a year. The Mexicans went loco over one guest worker in their country, but they see no wrong in unloading millions of guest workers on their northern neighbors. 

   Through all the ugliness in Mexico, Rachel Smith stood tall despite the fall. She smiled, spoke a little Spanish and said nary a word of condemnation. She behaved like the real lady that she is, a young woman who has been involved in humanitarian efforts that included volunteer work at Oprah Winfrey’s school for girls in South Africa.

   Rachel, you did the U.S.A. proud. You get your year of accommodations in the Trump Tower, and plenty of trips to places at home and abroad. Americans are proud of you. It would have been nice to have heard some kind of official Mexican government condemnation of the way you were treated. It is improbable that the idea of condemning such reprehensible behavior ever even crossed President Filipe Calderon’s mind.

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James Banzer has enjoyed a long career in broadcast news and is now writing on his observations about the world around us. He is currently residing in Louisville, Kentucky. You may send an e-mail to him at  jamesbanzer@yahoo.com .