I am not Prejudiced Because of the "Frito Bandito", but I am Prejudiced

I have been humming the “Frito Bandito” song all day. I loved that little guy. I had “Frito Bandito” erasers for the ends of my pencils and I would use them as puppets as I sang the song. The “Frito Bandito” was to me at the time just a cute little character with a catchy tune that loved Fritos. I never actually connected him to any particular race, or considered his song to be insulting to others. I just thought he wanted to steal Fritos from people because he loved his Fritos, like the rabbit that was always trying to steal Trix cereal from kids.

Of course, I really did not understand prejudice and stereotyping when I was growing up with the “Frito Bandito.” If that ad campaign was introduced today, I would be just as outraged as the groups that protested the “Frito Bandito” years ago because they felt the character stereotyped their race and culture.

I cannot say I don’t have prejudiced thoughts, I think everyone does. I can say that I really try very hard not to judge people by their race, color, religion, or disabilities, with the exception of certain Southern Baptists. My prejudices go more towards people making idiotic decisions, and people that seem to embrace being bigots.

One example of my prejudices was a comment I made tonight. My boys and I saw a truck in front of us as we drove into town. The truck had several bumper stickers on its back window. I found the bumper stickers offensive because they were represented prejudice against a certain race of people. He also had a bumper sticker that said “my dog is smarter than your honor student.” I made the comment to my boys that his dog was probably smarter than him if his other bumper stickers were any indication of his intelligence. That was bad enough, but when I decided to change lanes to lower my blood pressure from the anger I felt after reading his truck, I ended up next to him at a stop light. He looked over at us, and since I had already formed an opinion of him, I told the boys that not only did he show ignorance by his prejudiced bumper stickers but he had the look of someone who had had an anvil dropped upon his head. My oldest son laughed, and then told me we were all going to hell for having such thoughts about another person.

The “Frito Bandito” character did not make me believe that all men from Mexico were thieves. However, I do believe that people that display their prejudices proudly are ignorant. These ignorant people come from all regions of the world, they do not practice one particular religion, and they can have no education or have the highest education degree possible.

There are times when I find myself laughing at things that show prejudice in television shows or movies, but so often those are to show us how wrong it is. Sometimes, after I have been on the phone for over an hour trying to solve an issue with someone reading from a script because the company I am dealing with has outsourced their customer service to some other country where the person can barely understand my English, and I definitely cannot understand theirs, I have some thoughts that really stereotype that person, but I also realize that it is not their fault they have that job, they are probably just happy to have a job. The frustration I feel should go more towards the company that has put me in the situation where I am having so much trouble solving my complaint.

I would love to believe that some day prejudice will not exist in the world, but I don’t believe that will ever be possible. I do know that I have taught my boys it is wrong to be prejudiced, as did Raymond. I have seen examples of them not showing prejudice when we have been out in public. We have long talks that also make me to believe they are trying to not form prejudice beliefs. Of course, they both felt the same way I did tonight about the truck and the bumper stickers, so I guess I have not been entirely successful as they seem to be just as prejudiced against ignorance as I am.