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Interview With Editorial Cartoonist

Aired January 22, 2003 - 14:43   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Award winning satirist and the creator of the syndicated comic strip "La Cucaracha," editorial cartoonist Lalo Alcaraz. He is live in Los Angeles -- Lalo, good to see you.
LALO ALCARAZ, EDITORIAL CARTOONIST: Hi, Kyra. How are you doing?

PHILLIPS: Good. Let's talk about this Latino USA. Why has it grown so much? Why are there so many more Latinos in the United States?

ALCARAZ: Well, it's a two-pronged, you know, assault. It's higher birth rates and immigration, obviously. And -- I mean, it's been the decade of the Latino for about three decades now. I think maybe this one will stick.

PHILLIPS: Well, let's talk about the aspects of culture and what kind of impact this community has had on Americans.

ALCARAZ: Well, you know, I got a job.

PHILLIPS: That's right. You come from immigrant parents, right?

ALCARAZ: Yes. My parents came from Mexico, and took about a generation for me to -- took me that long, 38 years, to become a cartoonist. That's how long it takes. But I wish, you know, we could recognize all the contributions that Latinos have made to the U.S. for -- even before there was a U.S., you know what I'm saying?

PHILLIPS: I mean, we have got writers, we have musicians. I mean dominating mainstream culture right now, all with a Latin flair. What is it about it that is so attractive to us?

ALCARAZ: Well, there's that problem of being considered exotic, like myself. I'm so exotic.

PHILLIPS: So sexy and so exotic.

ALCARAZ: Yes, like Christina Aguilera -- and America likes its Latinos spicy like that, and I think that's a problem. I think we should be able now, hopefully with our numbers, to be able to show that we're normal people too, you know. But we also like to be ourselves.

PHILLIPS: And you address a lot of the stereotypes in your cartoons. What drives you nuts about stereotypes that folks have about Hispanics?

ALCARAZ: Well, stereotypes, I embrace them. I take them and I flip them upside down to try promote critical thinking in my work. Like my strip is called "La Cucaracha." That is an easy icon to pick, the cucaracha, but it offends a lot of people. But I tell people, why don't you look at the content of my work, you know, for a few months, and hopefully, maybe over ten years, and you'll see that I only talk about Latino issues because I care.

PHILLIPS: And you're causing a bit of a controversy in Albuquerque. What's going on there with your comic strip?

ALCARAZ: Well, the fine citizens of Albuquerque, just some of them, are a little bit in, I guess, a little tizzy over the content of my strip, and I just say -- like a reader wrote in to the editorial page there at the "Albuquerque Journal," If you don't like Lalo's cartoons, just skip it. I have got to skip over ten cartoons to get to the one I like, which is "La Cucaracha.

PHILLIPS: We're looking at one of your comic stripes right now. "What would Jesus Gonzalez drive?"

ALCARAZ: A slammed '47 Chevy Fleetline.

PHILLIPS: I mean, you're taking these stories and you are adding a little spunk. And you know, you would think this would be, I guess, a bit of witty attention for the Hispanic community, yes? I mean, there's a lot of negative stereotypes about immigration and labor issues and gang violence. I mean, how do you come forward and say, Hey look, it's not all about that. We are contributing to the United States in many ways?

ALCARAZ: Well, we know that. It's been a struggle, just to get onto the media. I mean, we're not featured in network news stories. This is a rare appearance, I think, for a Latino. I was excited to see Renay San Miguel anchor the news the other day on CNN.

That was like, I almost lost my lunch, you know. It's shocking. I used to watch -- when I was a kid, "Bonanza" because Adam, the one guy with black hair, you know, I used to think he was Mexican. I would be like, Wow, cool, Adam's Mexican. And that's -- Latinos want to be mainstream, you know, but like I said, we also want to be left alone at times too.

PHILLIPS: Well, you have definitely hit the mainstream, Lalo Alcaraz. You can log onto your Web site. You can actually see a number of your cartoons. We are actually going to leave our viewers with a couple. Thanks for your time, Lalo.

ALCARAZ: You are welcome. Bye-bye. Thanks a lot.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired January 22, 2003 - 14:43   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Award winning satirist and the creator of the syndicated comic strip "La Cucaracha," editorial cartoonist Lalo Alcaraz. He is live in Los Angeles -- Lalo, good to see you.
LALO ALCARAZ, EDITORIAL CARTOONIST: Hi, Kyra. How are you doing?

PHILLIPS: Good. Let's talk about this Latino USA. Why has it grown so much? Why are there so many more Latinos in the United States?

ALCARAZ: Well, it's a two-pronged, you know, assault. It's higher birth rates and immigration, obviously. And -- I mean, it's been the decade of the Latino for about three decades now. I think maybe this one will stick.

PHILLIPS: Well, let's talk about the aspects of culture and what kind of impact this community has had on Americans.

ALCARAZ: Well, you know, I got a job.

PHILLIPS: That's right. You come from immigrant parents, right?

ALCARAZ: Yes. My parents came from Mexico, and took about a generation for me to -- took me that long, 38 years, to become a cartoonist. That's how long it takes. But I wish, you know, we could recognize all the contributions that Latinos have made to the U.S. for -- even before there was a U.S., you know what I'm saying?

PHILLIPS: I mean, we have got writers, we have musicians. I mean dominating mainstream culture right now, all with a Latin flair. What is it about it that is so attractive to us?

ALCARAZ: Well, there's that problem of being considered exotic, like myself. I'm so exotic.

PHILLIPS: So sexy and so exotic.

ALCARAZ: Yes, like Christina Aguilera -- and America likes its Latinos spicy like that, and I think that's a problem. I think we should be able now, hopefully with our numbers, to be able to show that we're normal people too, you know. But we also like to be ourselves.

PHILLIPS: And you address a lot of the stereotypes in your cartoons. What drives you nuts about stereotypes that folks have about Hispanics?

ALCARAZ: Well, stereotypes, I embrace them. I take them and I flip them upside down to try promote critical thinking in my work. Like my strip is called "La Cucaracha." That is an easy icon to pick, the cucaracha, but it offends a lot of people. But I tell people, why don't you look at the content of my work, you know, for a few months, and hopefully, maybe over ten years, and you'll see that I only talk about Latino issues because I care.

PHILLIPS: And you're causing a bit of a controversy in Albuquerque. What's going on there with your comic strip?

ALCARAZ: Well, the fine citizens of Albuquerque, just some of them, are a little bit in, I guess, a little tizzy over the content of my strip, and I just say -- like a reader wrote in to the editorial page there at the "Albuquerque Journal," If you don't like Lalo's cartoons, just skip it. I have got to skip over ten cartoons to get to the one I like, which is "La Cucaracha.

PHILLIPS: We're looking at one of your comic stripes right now. "What would Jesus Gonzalez drive?"

ALCARAZ: A slammed '47 Chevy Fleetline.

PHILLIPS: I mean, you're taking these stories and you are adding a little spunk. And you know, you would think this would be, I guess, a bit of witty attention for the Hispanic community, yes? I mean, there's a lot of negative stereotypes about immigration and labor issues and gang violence. I mean, how do you come forward and say, Hey look, it's not all about that. We are contributing to the United States in many ways?

ALCARAZ: Well, we know that. It's been a struggle, just to get onto the media. I mean, we're not featured in network news stories. This is a rare appearance, I think, for a Latino. I was excited to see Renay San Miguel anchor the news the other day on CNN.

That was like, I almost lost my lunch, you know. It's shocking. I used to watch -- when I was a kid, "Bonanza" because Adam, the one guy with black hair, you know, I used to think he was Mexican. I would be like, Wow, cool, Adam's Mexican. And that's -- Latinos want to be mainstream, you know, but like I said, we also want to be left alone at times too.

PHILLIPS: Well, you have definitely hit the mainstream, Lalo Alcaraz. You can log onto your Web site. You can actually see a number of your cartoons. We are actually going to leave our viewers with a couple. Thanks for your time, Lalo.

ALCARAZ: You are welcome. Bye-bye. Thanks a lot.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com