Dealing with racism in the work place and ethical issues

What do you do when your boss inadvertently offends you by asking "so which Mexican radio station do you listen to and where do you buy your rice and beans?" he may as well have asked "where do you store your donkey." right? But this isn't the whole enchilada mijitas, this gem of a boss believes that just because someone does not speak English, they are fair game in the business world to be taken. Now this is a quote "with the Spanish speakers, we don't care because they don't know all the rules and regulations." This was said to me on my very first day, shocking, so much so I wanted to reach across the table slap him up and down the cubicles and leave forever, but I didn't. In this economy things are so tight, and jobs so ludicrously hard to come by that I have a plan, play the player.

This company enters into what they believe our legally binding contracts, with people who can't read or understand said contracts are written in, disgusting, illegal, unethical and amoral. When I asked why they didn't have documents in Spanish the response was "we're still trying to work that out." This is not a mom and pop either, they have several locations throughout California and easily have the ability to obtain these general forms in Spanish, Mandarin, or even Arabic, it just takes a little foresight and some time and money to do so. My plan is in action and hopefully I won't have to work for el diablo for too long, wish me luck chicas, I'm going to need it!

How the economy is effecting our neighbors in the South

A very interesting and unexpected phenomena has begun occurring here in the U.S., something the media has deemed "reverse remittance" and what is basically boils down to is families in Mexico sending money to their children or relatives here in the states. Because many people own their homes, grow their own food and do not have the pressures of rent they are sending the minuscule amounts of money they earn to family struggling here. A story appeared in the AP news feed that two immigrant waiters working in Florida had to depend on monies from their impoverished family in Mexico just to make rent, they cite smaller tips and fewer hours as the root cause of the shortfall. How has the economy effected you? Your family? With societal pressures so high and the issue of undocumented workers sparking controversy all over the country, it is not surprising to find many displaced people (latino and white alike) blaming those people who are least protected and most exploited by the arcane views on immigration. How do we reconcile a sense of pride of who we are (Mexican Americans) with the our sense of patriotism, I don't have an easy answer I'm afraid.