Letters: On ‘wetback’

Re “Republican apologizes for slur against Latinos,” March 30

As an American with a Hispanic last name, reading the story of the Alaskan member of Congress using the term “wetback” brought back childhood memories.

I grew up in San Antonio, a predominantly Hispanic city, on the mostly white north side of town. Any time I heard “wetback,” it made me uncomfortable because of the view underlying it: I and the people like me were less than everyone else. Passing off using the term as just the common vernacular of a bygone era doesn’t fool anyone.

For Don Young (I don’t respect him enough to call him a congressman) to speak in those terms so easily betrays an ingrained view of Hispanics. Young’s Republican Party should not think that Americans like myself will be swayed by outreach.

Andrew Ximenes

Los Angeles

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