By Juan Montoya
One of our posts pointing out the antipathy of local Hispanics toward their southern brethren from across the river struck a nerve.
Our post dealt with the historical nature of the negative attitude some local Hispanics have against other Hispanics who live and work in Mexico but are American citizens and live here. We pointed out that some of those folks or their relatives are now running for local political office and welcomed it.
Blogger Jerry McHale identified City of Brownsville commissioner At-Large "A" candidate Carlos Guerrero as a member of the "Matamoros elite" who he said are trying to take over Brownsville. He also accused him of using the "race card" against another At-Large contender for the seat left vacant by commissioner Cesar de Leon, John Cowen. He even went as far as calling Guerrero a racist.
This is simplistic at best, and malicious at worst and doesn't become Jerry, a California transplant who happens to have an Irish background and just happens to be white. When they got here, they suffered a bit of discrimination from their fellow whites, too. When he arrived in Brownsville - as others have before him - he was welcomed by a tolerant populace.
We have searched high and low on Guerrero's Facebook page and campaign site and cannot find one reference to Cowen's race. In fact, Guerrero doesn't mention his opponents at all. Local attorney Ismael Hinojosa is also running in that race.
Our offensive post dealt with the socioeconomic divide that has fostered a dislike by local Hispanics toward the "Mexican elite" who are now among us as a result of fleeing the violence and insecurity in Matamoros. This is not a supposition. One read of the comments to the post shows that antipathy is alive and well, unfortunately.
But Guerrero was born and raised in Brownsville, attended schools here, and over the past 24 years he claims he has provided over 500 jobs for his fellow Brownsville people through his company.
Before the knee-jerk howls of "racism" are emitted, please read my post again Jerry and show me where the issue of race is raised. It isn't. Accusing someone of being a racist and playing the "race card" is a serious issue. No one - except you - is doing it. It's not only highly unfair, but also dishonest on your part. https://rrunrrun.blogspot.com/2019/01/blog-post_19.html
Running for office - as you well know - is something not everyone undertakes for this very reason. We applaud Guerrero, Cowen and Hinojosa for offering their service to this city for the At-Large "A" position. This city badly needs new blood and leadership to make it a better community.
Stirring the pot to create a controversy for controversy's sake is not the way to help it progress.