Is Teresa Puente's Opinion of Rick Bayless "Racist"?

This content originally appeared on my former Chicagosphere online-media blog, hosted on the Chicago Tribune's ChicagoNow network.

Is ChicagoNow blogger Teresa Puente a racist for saying that Rick Bayless is stealing the spotlight from native Mexican chefs in the United States? Some say yes--including the Chicago Tribune's Phil Vettel.

Yesterday on her Chicanisima blog, Puente complained about American media's incessant spotlight on Bayless in a blog post entitled, "Why is Rick Bayless the expert on Mexican cuisine when he isn't even Mexican?", saying in part:

"Something just bugged me that a white guy was gaining so much fame for his Mexican cuisine. I'm sure his love of Mexico is genuine and he does good charity work. I'm not saying he's a bad guy, and he is a great chef. But why does the media make him the spokesman for Mexican food in the United States?"

She goes on to suggest the French might have a similar problem if the most famous chef of French cuisine wasn't French. That was enough to elicit a pithy rejoinder from Bayless, himself, on Twitter, reminding Puente (or perhaps, informing her for the first time) that two of the most celebrated French chefs in the United States--Julia Child and Thomas Keller--were American born, too:

@Rick_BaylessThurs Aug 13, 12:39 PM

Puente's post generated a heated comment debate throughout Thursday. A few readers agreed with her. Most, however, said she was misinformed about Bayless and inserting political correctness into an arena--cuisine--where it didn't belong:

Quetilla

mgallardo

Brian Moore

Alan Solomon

Chris

Yesterdayi8

midwesteric

Puente's post raised blogosphere ire beyond ChicagoNow, too. Chicago Tribune food writer Phil Vettel called Puente's comments racist, saying:

"Perhaps Ms. Puente would understand the ugliness of her argument if we switched a few ethnic identities. For instance, suppose I were to question the authenticity of an Italian restaurant because it had too many Mexican cooks? Is Harry Caray's less of an Italian steakhouse because for most of its life the head chef's name was Abraham Aguirre?"

Other local bloggers were equally perplexed by Puente's post, but some conceded Mexican chefs have yet to get their due in the U.S.:

Top Chef MastersGrub Street Chicago

May St. CafeThe Taco Matrix

Viva la Feminista

C-House312 Dining Diva

By day's end, Puente defended herself in a follow-up blog post entitled, "It's too easy to label someone a racist". Her words:

"Is it racist to say the media should be more inclusive? I don't think so...Is it racist for me to say I only went to each of his restaurants once? Is it racist for me to say that I do not want to give Bayless my money? He doesn't need it anyway...When I go out to eat Mexican food, I prefer to support local Mexican or Latino-owned restaurants. Is that racist to want to help business owners from the Latino community when I can?"

Yes. It is. Does that make Puente a racist? No more than anyone else living in American society--and no less, either. Does that make her comments racist? You betcha it does.

Speaking as a Hispanic, myself (don't be fooled by my last name, my blood is 50% Spanish and 50% Puerto Rican), it always amazes me when people who set themselves up as the standard bearers of the race--any race--think their self-chosen title makes them immune to criticism or unable to adopt and espouse racist opinions, themselves.

Every time a white Chicagoan shudders when a black teen walks by on an after-dark 'L' train, or an Asian-American decides to shop at only Asian-owned stores--or Teresa Puente decides to favor Latino chefs over American-born chefs--that's racism.

Why? Because these responses--involuntary or not--are entirely based on race. And I would argue the voluntary responses are worse. What Puente is advocating is rejecting one restaurant in favor of another based solely on the race of their head chefs.

I'm sorry, Teresa, no matter how tightly you want to wrap yourself in the flag of the good fight, that's a racist position you're proposing. And from one Hispanic to another, you don't get a pass on it just because you're doing it for La Raza.

Did Avenue Q teach us nothing as a society?