Yesterday, on This American Life (TAL), one of my favorite shows on National Public Radio (NPR), I heard the story of Emily Bonderer Cruz, a.k.a. the "Real Housewife of Ciudad Juárez". Emily is an American who married an undocumented Mexican and who, after running out of legal recourses, left everything behind to pursue a life with her husband in Juárez. As punishment for her husband having entered the U.S. illegally, they will have to remain in Juárez for ten years before they are allowed to return to the U.S., together. The story is fascinating and heartwarming, until...you realize how incredibly warped Emily's perception of the country she now calls home still is, even after having lived there for several years.
I was shocked, for instance, when Emily began to describe the "privileges" she believes only she and a handful of others in Mexico enjoy: "Like, I love this neighborhood. It's like the perfect mixture of America and Mexico to me, because I am not so, like, hardcore, you know, pioneer, that I could really do real Mexico. I mean, I guess maybe I could, I just don't have like the balls or, I don't know, the ovaries to live on a ranch or not have running water or whatever. And there's other things that I, like, just like to have, like, you know, an oven, for instance, um, those are like privileges here, um, and I definitely have those things in my house and I really enjoy that..." Seriously? Does Emily really believe that having running water or an oven are privileges in Mexico in 2013? Do TAL and NPR feel that this is an accurate depiction of Mexico that it is worth spreading and perpetuating?
First, most people in Mexico do not live in a ranch. In fact, according to the World Bank, 78% of Mexicans live in urban communities (in the U.S., the percentage is 83%). Second, according to the World Health Organization and UNICEF, 94.4% of Mexicans today have access to improved sources of water, while more than 90% have water that is "piped on premises". Finally, according to Mexico's National Survey of Household Income and Expenditures, 90% of households in Mexico have either a gas or an electric stove. So, no, the things Emily describes as privileges are hardly luxuries in Mexico...
I invite Emily, and the producers of TAL, to do more background research on the state of economic affairs in Mexico so that they may cease contributing to the backwards perception that Americans have of their Southern neighbor. Yes, poverty in Mexico is still widespread (around 45% of the population is considered "poor") and income inequality is also high, but the truth of the matter is that things in Mexico are rapidly changing for the better: Mexico's stable macroeconomic foundations and moderate growth in the past decade have reduced poverty, reduced inequality (the Gini coefficient in Mexico today is now almost the same as it is in the U.S, 48.3 vs. 45.0, respectively) and have increased access to basic services and finance for millions. And with the structural reforms we are now finally undertaking, our country is gearing up for what will hopefully become a new period of sustained growth.
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Maybe it isn't a big deal that this one woman has a distorted view of the economic realities in Mexico, but what I do consider a travesty is that she has a voice on NPR and that she is able to perpetuate in the minds of millions of Americans, Canadians, Brits and Australians who listen to this show a false view of who we, Mexicans, are and where we stand in relation to them. It certainly doesn't help Mexico and it doesn't help the U.S. either.
It is difficult for me to understand why the gulf between American's perception of Mexico and the reality we Mexicans experience is so wide. After thinking about this long and hard, though, the only thing I can conclude is that the gap between perception and reality is defined by our unwillingness to change our beliefs. I don't understand why Americans are so reluctant to give Mexico another chance; I don't understand why it is so difficult for them to desist from condemning Mexico to a perpetual state of violence and poverty, in spite of the evidence. The day we, Americans and Mexicans alike, accept that Mexico is changing and maturing and that this is not a threat to anyone, but rather a great opportunity for all of us, the world will begin to see the truth about one of the most magnificent countries on the planet. I really look forward to that day.
