Mexico City
Leaders of Mexico’s tiny black community, joined by U.S. civil rights leaders, demanded that the government apologize for issuing a set of stamps they called racist. The stamps depict a 1950s–era cartoon character called Memin Pinguin, a caricature of a naive black boy with wide eyes and exaggerated lips. The Rev. Jesse Jackson and the Rev. Al Sharpton urged President Vicente Fox to recall the stamps, which the White House called “wholly inappropriate.” The controversy erupted just six weeks after Fox had to apologize for saying that Mexicans in the U.S. took jobs that “not even blacks” wanted. But he refused to pull the stamps, which sold out at many post offices. “All Mexico loves the character,” Fox said.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
House posts lewd Epstein note attributed to TrumpSpeed Read The estate of Jeffrey Epstein turned over the infamous 2003 birthday note from President Donald Trump
-
Supreme Court allows 'roving' race-tied ICE raidsSpeed Read The court paused a federal judge's order barring agents from detaining suspected undocumented immigrants in LA based on race
-
Why can't France hold on to its prime ministers?Today's Big Question Spiralling debt, ageing population and cultural refusal to accept budget cuts – despite high welfare spending – have been turbocharged by Emmanuel Macron
