Bob Griese mistook Juan Pablo Montoya for a Mexican. Montoya is Columbian. Griese could be old whitey mistaking all Latin Americans for Mexicans, but it’s far more likely he was just unaware. He had no time to google.
Assuming Griese was genuine, the taco comment wasn’t offensive. Mexicans eat tacos. They are an indigenous part of their cuisine. They predate the Spanish. There’s nothing demeaning about eating a taco.
Saying a Mexican is eating a taco is like saying an Englishman drinks tea, an Irishman went out for a pint, or an American was eating a hambuger. It’s a stereotype. There certainly are Mexican people who don’t like tacos, but it’s not a gross disparagement of Mexican culture.
Griese’s gag was lame but not scandalous. It would have appeared in a Dan Shaughnessy column.
I could see the outrage if he said something about “picking fruit” or “hanging out in front of Home Depot with the day laborers.” But, he didn’t. We’re hardly in “black-skinned stormtroopers” territory here.
Griese’s greatest sin was not opting for the Princess Bride reference. Where is Juan Pablo Montoya? “Hunting for the six-fingered man who killed his father.” We can’t ask someone to be a Hall of Fame quarterback and have impeccable comedic timing.
Political correctness has a place, but that place should be weeding out legitimate racism, rather than hounding an innocuous old man for a minor incident.
Griese didn’t know Juan Pablo Montoya’s background. He made a moderately bad joke. It was stupid, not malicious. He apologized. ESPN suspended him, not because anyone was offended but out of guilt and of fear over a few extremists being upset. That’s unfair.
The only person with a right to be miffed was Montoya, himself. He declined.
