“Illegal Pete’s” is Racist, But Words Aren’t the Fucking Problem Here

Illegal Pete’s is a restaurant with establishments in Boulder and Denver for over a decade, has come under fire from members of the Ft. Collins community recently for the use of the word “illegal” in their name. This has created somewhat of a PR shit-storm of back and forth debates and discussions between Pete (the owner) and people opposing the use of the name, both online and in public forums.

Pete has handled the Public Relations defending his business personally, and has explained that the name comes from his name, and his dad’s name, and is part of respecting a family legacy. Pete is facing legitimate accusations of an offensive name based off of using the word “illegal” in association with the restaurant, which utilizes Mexican imagery in its brand (as evident by the website), and offers a menu heavily based on Mexican food.

The brand of Illegal Pete’s is participating in cultural appropriation in order to sell itself, even though Pete has denied seeing the name as racist or offensive. He has had to build his defense against individuals whose ethnicity or cultural identity has become associated with the word “illegal” and their social justice seeking allies. They all have a point, that the word is offensive and racist toward Latino/a populations who are constantly framed as “illegal immigrants,” and the Public Relating has just brought out overtly racist anti-immigration online comments and opinions from many of Pete’s supporters, but I am not really sure what this public incident has accomplished. Pete has decided to keep the name, and the identity-offending brand has continued, and the angst has been pretty much silenced. Perhaps the awareness and the Public Relations bringing out the racism of the “Illegal Pete’s” name will be enough for some people to make the active choice to not give the institution their money, but I doubt that an established business in two other thriving cities will be brought down by an offended few in Ft. Collins, unfortunately. Ft. Collins may be especially thriving due to the fact that Illegal Pete’s is kind of a place for white yuppies who love their beer, and if Ft. Collins is known for any group of people at all, it’s those damned yuppies and their beer. Furthermore, if the racist pushback from Pete’s supporters was any kind of indicator, Pete’s may get more business in support of its “victory” in this debacle.

However, between all of the discussion and disastrous attempts to make change, the social justice team dropped the ball on their handling of the problem with the word “illegal.” Although there is no denying that the word is offensive, and anyone who has been a victim of the racialization of the word illegal has a legitimate beef, the problem is not with the word itself. It’s with the institutional injustice that the word represents.

People attempting to change the name tried their own strategy for marketing their case by labeling illegal the “I-word.” That is bullshit. Calling it the “I word” and attempting to just change the word or erase falls too much into pat-yourself-on-the-back do-gooder self-congratulatory social justice, and ignores the fact that an entire marginalized population in this country are, due to flawed and racist immigration policies, yes indeed, illegal. Instead of changing or hiding a word, what needs to be addressed are the brutal and unjust realities which that word only solidifies. I don’t think the word is nearly offensive as the reality which it represents.

So while Pete’s appropriation of Mexican culture as a theme for his restaurant, and his decision to keep the name “Illegal” are racist and insensitive to entire groups of human beings, the opposing side to Pete is maybe harming those groups in an alternative way, by ignoring the realities of the systemic injustices done to them in favor of attacking the word that only reminds people of those injustices. But getting rid of the word does not get rid of the problem. It doesn’t do very much of anything helpful really. Focusing so much energy on the word only takes that much energy away from fighting against the fact that no one should be “illegal,” and that there’s a hugely racialized and malicious immigration system in place, which is only being addressed now by executive order of the President with no support. Changing an established restaurant name so that it is politically correct does not help fight against any part of the system, and does not help anyone whose suffering from it.

Not one damn bit.