A lot has been written about "Los IceHogs Night" in Rockford, IL, this past week. You know where the Rebeldes stand on it and what our jefe had to say about it for NBC Latino. And don't get us started about the fact that the group that helped to design the now infamous Los IceHogs jerseys was a professional Latino awareness organization from Rockford. Now you can have your own local video report about it.
"It was a fiesta on ice." Ugh. Too bad WTVO's Scott Leber, who wrote the following—It was a night that featured maracas, Hispanic music and food, and bright-colored team jerseys with a Latino Hammy logo—didn't ask us for an opinion. Our answer would have been the following: "We don't know what was lamer, Scott. The offensive jerseys with a sombrero-wearing mustachioed pig? Dora the Explorer making a visit? Little kids shaking maracas and thinking that this is what Latino culture is about? Or how about all of it?
The people that were asked for an opinion were those that participated in the whole experience, which included the honoring of Latino veterans, awareness on the vast contributions of our culture, and information on educational, health, and opportunities for our local Latino community.
You stated that WTVO “didn’t ask us for an opinion.” Perhaps WTVO wanted to get feedback that was in context and not opinions from others that did not have the opportunity to see the other 99% of the event.
Los IceHogs was indeed a success, as determined by the local Latino community; before and after the event.
http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/sports/2012/11/16/hispanic-hockey-event-featuring-dora-explorer-mascot-with-sombrero-draws-fire/
Dear @RudyValdez so we applaud you on getting an FNL columnist on defending your mistakes. You continue to lose the point of why many don’t agree with you: CLL dropped the wall on the jersey and other promotions. Thanks for mocking us, we appreciate it. At this stage, we are not here to convince you either way. We just don’t agree with you about the images CLL justified for the IceHogs. Next time, just do a better job. That is all we ask, and take your feedback on this one and stop being so defensive about it. You guys goofed on this one. Thanks! The Rebeldes
@latinorebels Wow, speaking of sounding defensive; there was no mocking on my part, just providing information that people outside of the Rockford region might not be aware of. Suffice to say that we have different perspectives. We may never convince each other on what the other believed was the appropriate method on this event. I am sure that we would agree on most other situations. One size does not fit all, communication and inclusion is key to successful collaboration. There were over 600 Latinos of the over 4,900 attendees (almost a full house) that had a great time. Thank you for your input inspite of our disagreement for this event. Your website does seem to provide a valuable service to Latino. Best Regards, Dr. Rodolfo Valdez
We are not being defensive, if you thought that, that is not the case. We appreciate the comments and your input. We also thank you for engaging us even though you don’t agree with us. We still stand by the fact that you and the CLL did not appreciate us criticizing what you guys did. We applaud you for getting 600 Latinos to the game, but at what price? The jerseys and other stereotypical images just didn’t help the cause. ¡But suerte con todo!
Meh, I don’t think it was so bad. I rather focus my anger on the lack of immigration reform.
You are assuming that this is about anger, but it isn’t. It is about ensuring that portrayals of Latinos is different media is as accurate and as respectful as possible. That is important to us. Thanks for the comment!