Salem-Area Taco Bell Uses Racist Notices---Do You Really Want to Eat There?

Bill Post, a Salem-area hate radio dee-jay, has been advertising the notices at a local Taco Bell recently. The notices are in English and Spanish, inside and at the drive-through, telling customers that they use E-Verify. You can read Bill Post's blog and see the photos of the Taco Bell and the notices here and leave your comments there, on Bill's Facebook page or here. You may also want to tell Taco Bell management what you think.

Why is this racist? Because E-Verify demonstrates xenophobia and drives a wedge between people on the basis of nationality and supposed legal presence. It creates an "other" where there does not have to be such a division. With a nod and a wink this not fundamentally about legal presence or legal status, but about race and nationality. It makes a complex issue seem simple--just a matter of waiting in line and getting your papers. It builds on and creates myths which separate workers.

Note on Bill Post's blog that the conversations taking place most often have a mean, crude, simplistic or hysterical side to them while Bill comes off as a folksy and religious bigot. These notices at Taco Bell elicit just such responses, and are no doubt designed to. The same can be said about his Facebook page and his radio show.

Remember that the hate radio dee-jays are commentators. They are not accountable for checking facts. They are not journalists. And ask yourself--if this guy isn't checking his facts and telling me the truth, and if he's going out of his way to advertise for Taco Bell, why I should I believe anything he says, or even listen in the first place?