SHOULDN'T THAT BE "KAN"?:

Comic rapper's CD stirs serious reaction (Agustin Gurza, May 26, 2007, LA Times)

Chingo Bling, the Tex-Mex rapper known for his cultural parodies, wasn't ready for the sobering response he got to his new album, "They Can't Deport Us All," a defiant retort to opponents of illegal immigration.

The title — emblazoned on T-shirts, bumper stickers and Chingo Bling's promotional van — triggered death threats, dirty looks and vandalism.

The van got the worst of it during a series of incidents earlier this year in Houston, where he lives. Somebody scrawled "Go Home" on the side and erased the letter "t" in "can't," thus reversing the slogan to say "They Can Deport Us All." At another point, the vehicle's front windshield was shattered by what appears to be gunshots. Then one day, the van was inexplicably towed from its legal parking spot at a roadside flea market, where it was visible to passing motorists. Earlier this month it vanished again. It was reported stolen, but hasn't been seen since.

The satirist, whose real name is Pedro Herrera III, had always been good at attracting attention to his act. But nothing like this.

"I was surprised to see it really upset people," Herrera told me this week. "It just brings to light, I guess, the feelings at the core of this debate: the fear, xenophobia, ethnocentrism and all kinds of good stuff."

Anyone checked Lou Dobbs's garage?

Posted by Orrin Judd at May 26, 2007 10:29 AM