JD Vance may have packed the name of Senator Alex Padilla in one way or another. Al. Allen. Alexis.

But no, he went straight to Jose.

After the vice president basically parachutes to troll through Los Angeles last Friday, Vance made his now unknown statement.

“I was hoping Jose Padilla would come here to ask questions, but unfortunately, I think he decided not to show up because there was no theater.”

“Theatre” is the way Vance explained what happened a week ago. Padilla was handcuffed and detained in a federal building in Westwood for attempting to raise questions to Homeland Security Director Christie Noem at a press conference.

My only desire for that day was Noem. Noem led her inner Evita when she claims that the deployment of nearly 5,000 National Guard and Marines was trying to stop activists in LA. Lamigra It was necessary to carry out an immigrant raid by Gavin Newsom and LA Mayor Karen Bass, “to release the city from its socialist and burdensome leadership.”

“Jose” is what Vance thinks about Alex. Anyone who thinks this is a tongue slip knows their anti-latin history.

For over a century, Americans have used the Spanish name as a catch-all slur for Latinos. The Mexican man was dismissed as violent Pancho and stupid Pedro. Latinos from all backgrounds have endured typecasting as a ridiculous Maria or traditional magnifying glass.

According to the historical dictionary of American slang, “Jose” was originally developed for Puerto Ricans. By the 1970s, due to the ubiquitous nature of the name, racists were adopting it to describe all Latino men. The Social Security Administration lists Jose as the most common Hispanic name for boys in the past 100 years.

San Diego English professor William Nelicio said that Vance’s Padilla’s mistake was “a storm of perfect language and class.” “The Vice President had declared to Senator Padilla. “Yeah, I know you. I don’t even remember your name. That’s not your meaning. You are Jose. You are nothing, nobody, dirty Mexican.”

“It was actually a cherry on top of them throwing Padillas into the ground,” Nerivio added, referring to the handcuffs of Padillas, which were filmed in the video, to the handcuffs of federal agents.

Padilla went to MSNBC over the weekend to call Vance’s jab “light and unsafe” and added, “He knows my name.”

He was too polite. When I watched the video of Vance’s “Jose” crack, a flash of smirk on his face right after he uttered it, his eyes flying around as if expecting a laugh – my blood Migra Agents trolling undocumented immigrants.

I thought of all my friends who, in a correctly pronounced, “Jozai,” “Josay,” or in an exaggerated tone, named “Joza,” “Josa,” and even as adults.

I thought of my grandfathers, Jose Miranda and Jose Arerano. Madele Unlike the Vance family of Vance in Appalachian, unlike the Vice President’s family, there is no healing of difficult times. I thought I was calling Tia Maria’s eldest son, Jose Fernandez, “Chepe.” Our cousins ​​love him for his artistic attitude, his delicious Carne Asada and his career in cement, where he saw Chepe go from work to supervisor.

Jose from my family was no joke. Not the Jose I admire – Cuban’s innovative Jose Marti, Mexican singer-songwriter Jose Alfredo Zimenez, and farmworker-turned-farmer Astronate Jose M. Hernandez. Nor did Jesus’ earthly father Joseph. Jose is what we call him in Spanish. Vance, a professed Catholic, should know such a sacred name better than he would use it as a joke.

That Vance shows that he has reduced the number of questions about Padilla’s Noem’s charade. Spitting out “Jose” like a villain in the low-budget West reveals his ranked racism. And if you think I’m exaggerating, consider how Vance spokesman Taylor Van Kirk responded. When Politico asks her to explain in detail About his insults of Jose: She said her boss must have “confusing the two who broke the law.”

Not only did Alex Padilla not break the law, but Van Kirk’s vague indication of the second criminal confirmed the point I made a few weeks ago. To Trump and his crew, all Mexicans are exchangeable and may not be trusted.

Again, Vance misunderstands Alex Padilla at a press conference. Because his press is saying that the senator’s name sounds like the name of an unknown criminal.

A common dehumanization thread is “Jose.”

I called two Josés I know to see how they feel after the ballet in Vance’s prejudice language.

Jose R. Larato represents a sixth generation man from the family of the same name. But that lineage meant nothing when he moved to the mainland from his hometown of Puerto Rico.

“No way, Jose!” Provocation followed Larato throughout his childhood in North Carolina. The same line his father heard from Gringo in New York in the 1960s. The elementary school teacher didn’t even bother trying to pronounce “Jose.” A middle school instructor who calls all Latino students “Jose.”

“I was really confused at first,” said Ralat, Taco editor at Texas Monthly. “That is the most boring name in Spanish that I came to. that? But it’s just happening. It was strange. It was terrible. It was as bad as it was called “Spic.” ”

So when Larat heard of the excavation of José in Vance, I rolled my eyes and thought, ‘I’ll go here again.’ It’s Shakespeare he isn’t. ”

Jose M. Aramilo is the chairman of Chicana/O Studies of Cal State Channel Islands. Named after his father, he followed Jose, a home tree until 1759. However, the 55-year-old who grew up in Ventura as a Mexican immigrant said that the ocklol he endured his name was so widespread that he went to Joe through high school.

Aramilo began calling him Jose again at UC Santa Barbara after the professor declared himself as the other name on the first day of class.

“The movement was small,” he said, “but it returned dignity to my name.”

When Aramilo saw the Vance clip misunderstand Padilla, he immediately thought of Ricardo “Pancho” Gonzalez. The LA-born Mexican-American tennis player dominated the game in the 1950s, but was labelled “Pancho” by his opponents and the media.

“What Vance did was a really mess,” Aramiro said. “You can see staff doing that, but the US vice president doesn’t.”

Professor I quickly corrected myself. “In fact, I am sure he did it to soothe his followers, especially Trump.

Aramilo laughed terribly. “To them, we are all bundles of Jose.”