Nerve Endings Firing Away

Want to see a prime example of racial xenophobia? Look no further than Dallas, TX where a pizza chain, Pizza Patron has been hit with death threats and hate mail for offering to accept Mexican pesos in addition to American dollars. These ignorant buggers who send emails like “This is the United States of America, not the United States of Mexico” and “Quit catering to the … illegal Mexicans” are ignorant bigots who are out to impose their misguided patriotism. Why racial xenophobia? Well, because businesses in New York and Minnesota have long accepted Canadian dollars without a peep of protest.

Money has rarely been associated with patriotism and no one bats an eyelid when many establishments in India accept multiple forms of currency; the dollar being the most popular. As the pizza chain makes it clear, the move to accept pesos is merely to serve their primary clientele who are Hispanic and often have chump change in pesos lying around from their trips to Mexico. To assume all Mexicans are illegal is highly prejudicial. Admittedly, the immigration debate is hot right now but that is no excuse for plain ignorance to creep in. I hope the authorities step in and voice their support for the business. I bet those paying with pesos are paying a higher-than-normal exchange rate like any convenient forex counter all over the world does.

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