Taco trucks on every corner

The phrase "taco trucks on every corner" was used by American activist Marco Gutierrez, the co-founder of Latinos for Trump, on September 1, 2016 which received widespread attention during that year's presidential election. During an interview with MSNBC, Gutierrez referred to emigration from Mexico, stating that "My culture is a very dominant culture, and it's imposing and it's causing problems. If you don't do something about it, you're going to have taco trucks on every corner."

His remarks subsequently met with both sarcasm and criticism, many mocking the statement on social media and sending #TacosOnEveryCorner to the top of Twitter's list of trending topics.[1] Others expressed concern over his remarks, stating that he was using "coded language that politicians and pundits use to get away with explicitly racist messages—from crime to immigration and terrorism." Taco trucks were used as voter registration-information booths in Houston, Texas, and a nationwide Guac the Vote campaign was launched.[2] NPR wrote that taco trucks "now straddle the worlds of political symbol and internet meme".[3]

Origin

The phrase originated with Hispanic American activist Marco Gutierrez, a co-founder of the group Latinos for Trump, during an interview with MSNBC host Joy Reid on September 1, 2016 regarding the 2016 Donald Trump presidential campaign. The phrase was used within the context of a warning about the "dominance" of Mexican culture, underscoring Gutierrez's stance that emigration from Mexico should be more closely regulated. In an interview with Deutsche Welle on September 8, 2016, Gutierrez explained, "If you don't regulate the immigration, if you don't structure our communities, we are going to do whatever we want. We are going to take over. That is what I'm trying to say and I think what is happening with my culture is that its imposing [itself] on the American culture—and both cultures are reacting."[5]

Reactions

• Online responses followed immediately after the interview.[6][7][8][9] The Associated Press described the online response as a "social media onslaught".[6] On September 3, 2016, #TacoTrucksOnEveryCorner was the top hashtag on Twitter.[10]
• A taco truck voter registration drive in Houston drove a dramatic increase in the city's voter registration. Houston Chronicle[11] reported that the effort "...is a trend that prompted Harris County Clerk Stan Stanart to call a news conference Wednesday, just a few blocks from the Tacos Tierra Caliente truck, to encourage people to vote early and avoid the crowds." Houston Chronicle[12] later reported that "As registration closed, Harris County's voter roster had grown by more than 6 percent since 2014, the steepest increase in 16 years. More than 323,890 new names have been added."[13] The initiative was widely covered in local, national, and international news media.[14][15][16][17]
• The United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce started a Guac the Vote campaign to use taco trucks to register voters and to appear at polling stations on election day. The campaign name is a reference to guacamole.[19][20][21][22][23][24]
• Gustavo Arellano et al. started the satirical political Taco Truck Party. LA Weekly quoted Arellano as stating "It is perfect that the election has been boiled down to this one essential binary—do you want tacos or no tacos".[25][26][27]
• Several owners of taco trucks used the opportunity to criticize and protest Trump. Nancy Paz, owner of Detroit taco truck Tacos El Caballo, parked her truck across the street from a Trump rally two days after the remarks.[28] Meanwhile, Osiris Hoil, owner of Washington-area Mexican restaurant District Taco, welcomed the idea of taco trucks on every corner, responding with a simple "Why not?" Hoil founded District Taco as a food truck in Rosslyn, Virginia before eventually opening up several brick-and-mortar restaurants in the Washington area.[29]

Polling

In a survey of 1,898 American adults conducted on September 3, 2016, market research firm YouGov reported that 58% would be happy "if there was a taco truck on your corner".[54]

In an opinion poll of 744 likely voters conducted in Florida from September 4 to 6, 2016, polling firm Public Policy Polling reported that "tacos and taco trucks are pretty popular among voters who have opinions on them."[55][56] The firm reported tacos had a +36% net favorability, and taco trucks had a +30% net favorability, with a "pretty significant party divide on the 'issue' of taco trucks".[55]

See also

• List of political slogans
• List of U.S. presidential campaign slogans
• Taco Trucks At Every Mosque

Further reading

External links