San Miguel De Allende and Guanajuato: What's Going On?

Please explain something to me. What is this seeming obsession that Americans in San Miguel de Allende and Guanajuato (Mexico) have with lashing out at me with death wishes, threats against my safety, promises to ruin my books´ sales (something they have been implementing as of late), and, in general, displaying all manner of paranoid posturing and blustering?

Why are they so intent on my destruction? (Why else would someone tell me I should take my wife and go live in Iraq where we would most likely be killed?) And, most importantly, why don't they have a modicum of ability to reason through what I've written about my expat experience in the city of Guanajuato?It is my experience and does not reflect the experience of all expats. Besides, why can't they exercise a little responsible behavior in their responses to what I've written by:

Writing their own well-reasoned critical examination of my premises and publishing it.

Get their own Blog or column and write of their experiences.

Apply a bit of logic to that which I've proposed in my writings. If it doesn't apply to them, then fine, GET ON WITH YOUR LIFE!

What blows my mind more than any of the threats, hateful e-mails, nasty comments about my column, is that apparently the extent of the reason powering of these folks falls along these lines:

"I live in Mexico. I've had experiences in Mexico. I've never experienced what you have in Mexico. Therefore, none of what you say can be true. You could not have experienced what you claim."

Tilt...tilt...tilt...does not compute!

I've had more than one irate and foaming-at-the-mouth gringo tell me this using these identical words.

In other words, I want to know just why these American gringos in Guanajuato and San Miguel de Allende are insistent on seeing that I never write another word.

Let me just say this. Freedom of speech, as expressed in a Jeffersonian Democracy, is not operative in these little American enclaves these gringos have created down here. You play according to their rules or you're out!

I've heard from two groups of gringos from San Miguel de Allende. I've heard from those, though a minority, who have agreed with what I've been writing about how gringos generally act in Mexico. Not all, of course, act as I've written but plenty do. All you have to do is be able to speak Spanish fluently, go to San Miguel and ask the cabdrivers and the Internet Café workers. They will tell you the truth. In the interviews I've conducted in Spanish, I have garnered enough confirmation to warrant writing their observations and including their spin on the gringo presence in San Miguel. Honest gringos have written me and have told me stories similar to the ones I've written about. I have added their stories to my repertoire of anecdotes.

The other gringo group from San Miguel takes such umbrage to what I've written that I've gotten threats from them. Although, I must say, they broke off their attack fairly quickly. Maybe they didn't have the guts to go the distance. I don't know. What they seem to take such offense at is that I never mention or possibly don't know about all the wonderful things gringos do for the poor, poor Mexicans in San Miguel de Allende.

Well, I do know about the charities. I also know that many of those (not all) involved in those charities seem to regard these charities as their license to use, treat badly, regard inferiorly, the Mexican people for whom the gringos think they are there to save from sure destruction without their American gringo presence.

I've heard some of the most sickening descriptions of the Mexican people by gringos in these San Miguel and Guanajuato charities. One gringo lady told me the gringos had such-and-such charity to "help these poor little brown people." (Americans, the Mexican Saviors?)

Another woman told me that they could treat the Mexicans any way they chose to since they (the gringo charities) throw so much money at the Mexicans.

Now, how's that for motives when it comes to the charities for which the gringos want to be acknowledged?

Not every one without exception, I am assuming, regards the Mexicans in that light. Not every gringo without exception acts like they were raised by a band of wolves.

But, how many stories have to come out of the closet in order to be worth reporting?

Is the fact that you throw money at someone in some charitable effort a reason or license to abuse them?

I want you to do two things. One is go to this site (click here) and read this paper by a university professor concerning San Miguel de Allende's gringos. Secondly, read the quote below by one of San Miguel's own Gringas and then, think...think...think!

"I am an American living in the central area of México, and we seem to have an uncontrolled immigration problem here as well . . . every day I walk by the central plaza of the little and charming town I have chosen to live in, and it sickens me to observe a multitude of decrepit old men and women - gringos, mind you . . . sitting there, poisoning the atmosphere with their pathetic attitudes towards the locals, pretending to appear as the redeemers of the people with their disgusting little dogs which they treat better thanthey would treat their own sons and daughters (which by the way, wouldn't be seen dead in the proximity), talking big about their homeland and the big money they made, all the while bargaining to pay 25 cents less to the old lady who sells tortillas as her only income.

These decrepit, pathetic old mummies, rotting leftovers of the so-called great USA capitalist system, are the ones that are in truth poisoning the air of our beautiful town. As illegal immigrants crossing the border towards the US sicken you, we are equally uncomfortable with these human remains establishing themselves in our own local community. I propose to create a branch of your project locally, so that we could retire these pre-carcasses in an appropriate way, perhaps recycling them as biscuits for pigs or even for their despicable little rats posing as dogs.

We abhor these gringos as much as you abhor the illegal aliens in your country. Why don't you take all your relatives back to your "beautiful" homeland? If it is so great, what in the blazes are you doing here?"[1]

Do you see what I mean?

[1] This was a quote that appeared on a forum and sent to me by a reader of my books.