Mexico President Vicente Fox said Mexican immigrants in the US take jobs 'that not even blacks want to do'-CNN, 5/15/2005

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Mexico Pres. Vicente Fox made the controversial comment in May 2005 "to a group of Texas businessmen meeting in Mexico."

5/15/2005, "Mexican leader criticized for comment on blacks," CNN

"The Rev. Jesse Jackson on Saturday criticized Mexican President Vicente Fox's comment that Mexican immigrants to the United States take jobs "that not even blacks want to do."

Jackson called the remark "a spurious comparison" with "ominous racial overtones."

The Mexican president's office issued a statement late Saturday disputing the negative interpretation of his comments, saying Fox has "enormous respect to minorities whatever their racial, ethnic, or religious origin may be."

A Mexican official defended Fox later in the day, saying his description was not meant as an insult. "The president didn't make a declaration in the racist sense; of course there are those who interpret it in that way," Foreign Relations Secretary Luis Derbez told a reporter in the Mexican state of Jalisco.

According to Derbez, Fox was making the point that "...a large quantity of the jobs taken by Mexicans are jobs that in the U.S. society aren't being filled."...

Fox made the controversial comment Friday to a group of Texas businessmen meeting in Mexico.  He criticized recent steps the United States has taken that the Bush administration said were aimed at curbing illegal immigration....

Speaking in Spanish, he said, "There is no doubt that Mexicans, filled with dignity, willingness and ability to work, are doing jobs that not even blacks want to do there in the United States."

A State Department spokesman who asked not to be named, read CNN a statement saying, "That level of dialogue doesn't merit comment."

The spokesman also said, "President Bush's commitment to immigration reform that is rational, legal, common sense, decent and compassionate is well-documented."

Jackson said he has worked "for the citizenship rights of immigrants and Mexican Americans" and wants steps taken to avoid making the United States "hostile toward immigration policy."

He said Fox's comment about "blacks" seemed to be about a stereotype. "Most poor Americans are not black, they're white," he added."...



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