WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.040 --> 00:00:01.680 I mean, I was devastated. I was just like, what 2 00:00:01.720 --> 00:00:05.040 the heck is this all about? And then then I 3 00:00:05.200 --> 00:00:12.920 was disappointed because it took PepsiCo so long that get involved, engage, 4 00:00:12.960 --> 00:00:15.520 you know. And my understanding was it was a lot 5 00:00:15.560 --> 00:00:17.400 of miscommunication. 6 00:00:21.040 --> 00:00:24.680 From futuro media. I'm Maria Josa and today Latino USA 7 00:00:24.880 --> 00:00:29.600 takes on the flaming Hot Cheetos controversy. A conversation with 8 00:00:29.680 --> 00:00:32.360 the man at the center of it all, Richard Montagnees. 9 00:00:38.080 --> 00:00:42.519 For over forty years, Richard Montagnees had a successful career 10 00:00:42.560 --> 00:00:43.879 as a motivational speaker. 11 00:00:44.440 --> 00:00:47.960 I realized that as much as I wanted to fit in, 12 00:00:48.440 --> 00:00:50.160 I was never created to fit in. 13 00:00:50.560 --> 00:00:52.080 I was created to stand out. 14 00:00:52.680 --> 00:00:55.160 That's why a lot of you young people, your whole life, 15 00:00:55.160 --> 00:00:57.040 you felt like I don't fit in, because you're not 16 00:00:57.040 --> 00:00:57.640 supposed to. 17 00:00:58.080 --> 00:01:00.920 You're supposed to stand out. And as a vice president 18 00:01:00.960 --> 00:01:05.640 of Multicultural Sales and Community Promotions at PepsiCo, he had 19 00:01:05.680 --> 00:01:10.360 been called the godfather of Hispanic branding and was considered 20 00:01:10.360 --> 00:01:14.760 one of the most influential Latinos in corporate America. His 21 00:01:14.920 --> 00:01:18.320 rags to riches story was truly the stuff of legends. 22 00:01:18.520 --> 00:01:21.640 He's one of ten children born to Mexican field workers 23 00:01:21.760 --> 00:01:25.880 in Guasti, a town in southwestern California where Italian and 24 00:01:25.959 --> 00:01:30.680 Mexican immigrants once all shared the same occupation picking grapes. 25 00:01:31.560 --> 00:01:34.600 Richard began working as a janitor at Frido Lay in 26 00:01:34.680 --> 00:01:37.280 nineteen seventy six when he was just eighteen years old. 27 00:01:37.800 --> 00:01:40.800 Eventually he climbed the ranks to being a top executive 28 00:01:40.880 --> 00:01:44.040 at the fortune five hundred company. He says this happened 29 00:01:44.080 --> 00:01:47.280 after he presented an idea to his superiors. It was 30 00:01:47.360 --> 00:01:50.040 a pitch that he says, would later be turned into 31 00:01:50.400 --> 00:01:55.200 the trademark Flaming Hot Cheetos line. The spicy injine red 32 00:01:55.280 --> 00:02:00.440 snacks are today one of Fredo Lay's top selling flavors there. 33 00:02:00.440 --> 00:02:03.200 It is what if I put chili on a Cheeto. 34 00:02:04.480 --> 00:02:06.520 So I went to work, you know, and I actually 35 00:02:06.560 --> 00:02:08.800 made up my own seasoning, you know all that, and 36 00:02:09.160 --> 00:02:11.560 put it on an unseasoned cheetle. My wife took some 37 00:02:11.680 --> 00:02:14.480 to work, I took some to work, and everybody fell 38 00:02:14.520 --> 00:02:15.120 in love with it. 39 00:02:15.800 --> 00:02:19.480 All of this was an American dream like story that 40 00:02:19.520 --> 00:02:23.840 most people knew and loved up until very recently. In 41 00:02:23.880 --> 00:02:26.600 May of this year, the La Times published a story 42 00:02:26.680 --> 00:02:30.960 under the headline the man who didn't invent flaming hot Cheetos. 43 00:02:31.480 --> 00:02:35.560 In a five thousand plus word investigation, business reporter Sam 44 00:02:35.639 --> 00:02:40.360 Dean revealed severe inconsistencies in the timeline of Richard's storytelling. 45 00:02:41.480 --> 00:02:44.720 The article, for which Sam says he contacted dozens of 46 00:02:44.760 --> 00:02:49.200 former employees and poured through years of newspaper archives, disputes 47 00:02:49.280 --> 00:02:51.360 the story that people have been hearing for so long, 48 00:02:51.880 --> 00:02:55.040 told from the point of view of Richard Montaignes. With 49 00:02:55.120 --> 00:02:58.360 a new book release and a biopic directed by Eva 50 00:02:58.400 --> 00:03:01.880 Longoria all about Montagne's his story set to come out 51 00:03:01.919 --> 00:03:04.840 sometime next year. A lot of people were shocked by 52 00:03:04.840 --> 00:03:07.520 the revelations in the La Times. A lot of people 53 00:03:07.520 --> 00:03:10.880 also wondered why, after nearly two decades, was this version 54 00:03:10.919 --> 00:03:14.120 of this story just coming out. There were also people 55 00:03:14.120 --> 00:03:16.919 who were outraged at what they perceived as an attempt 56 00:03:16.919 --> 00:03:19.480 to bash a successful Latino businessman. 57 00:03:22.120 --> 00:03:24.919 Mass hysteria. I knew he was going to get blowback, 58 00:03:25.000 --> 00:03:28.239 and I actually Warren, Sam, you better have all your 59 00:03:28.280 --> 00:03:33.079 facts together, everything lined up, because people are going to 60 00:03:33.160 --> 00:03:34.040 be angry. 61 00:03:34.320 --> 00:03:38.000 That's author an La Times columnist Gustavo Arellano. 62 00:03:38.520 --> 00:03:42.520 There's so few of us who have made it to 63 00:03:42.720 --> 00:03:46.040 any kind of position of prominence that an attack on 64 00:03:46.160 --> 00:03:48.840 like one of the few people that somehow made it 65 00:03:48.880 --> 00:03:52.360 to the top feels like it's an attack on everyone. 66 00:03:52.880 --> 00:03:55.640 And that's the voice of Rachel Reyes. She's a community 67 00:03:55.720 --> 00:03:59.200 organizer based in Los Angeles. We're gonna hear more from 68 00:03:59.200 --> 00:04:03.160 Gustavo and later as we try to understand why this 69 00:04:03.280 --> 00:04:08.040 story isn't just about a processed snack food, but it's 70 00:04:08.080 --> 00:04:12.200 more a story about race, identity, culture and also the 71 00:04:12.280 --> 00:04:17.440 stories we choose to believe. So in all transparency, Latino 72 00:04:17.560 --> 00:04:22.039 USA had scheduled an interview with Richard Montagnels way before 73 00:04:22.279 --> 00:04:26.000 the La Times peace drop. Then he postponed it and 74 00:04:26.040 --> 00:04:35.040 got back in touch, and this is our conversation. All right, 75 00:04:35.160 --> 00:04:37.600 Richard Montagnels, Welcome to Latino USA. 76 00:04:38.240 --> 00:04:39.080 Oh my pleasure. 77 00:04:39.520 --> 00:04:42.000 So listen, Richard, we're basically just going to jump in. 78 00:04:42.040 --> 00:04:44.159 I mean, the reality is that we were set to 79 00:04:44.160 --> 00:04:48.359 do an interview with you, and then the La Times 80 00:04:48.440 --> 00:04:52.280 breaks a story that basically challenges a great deal of 81 00:04:52.279 --> 00:04:54.840 what you've been saying about your role in the creation 82 00:04:55.000 --> 00:04:58.000 of Flaming Hot Cheetos. I mean, how would you describe 83 00:04:58.040 --> 00:05:02.000 that first week after the La Times investment gation came out. 84 00:05:01.600 --> 00:05:05.159 Oh Jeeves, I describe it as walking through hell. You know, 85 00:05:05.200 --> 00:05:07.960 you just got to keep walking, you don't stop. I mean, 86 00:05:08.000 --> 00:05:11.359 I I found out, you know, the Sunday morning. I 87 00:05:11.360 --> 00:05:13.520 didn't read the article, but you know, my phone was 88 00:05:13.560 --> 00:05:16.159 going crazy. You know, people say, hey, check out this article, 89 00:05:16.200 --> 00:05:18.919 and I was like, what what Then I saw, you know, 90 00:05:19.680 --> 00:05:23.360 just the headline in itself. I'm just totally confused. I 91 00:05:23.560 --> 00:05:26.680 just you know, I couldn't understand. I was trying to 92 00:05:26.680 --> 00:05:29.159 figure this out. What is this? Is this true? You know, 93 00:05:29.880 --> 00:05:33.000 just you know, just confusion. And then uh and then 94 00:05:33.640 --> 00:05:36.280 I figured, okay, wait a minute, something something's not right here. 95 00:05:36.960 --> 00:05:38.680 I mean, I was devastated. I was just like, what 96 00:05:38.720 --> 00:05:41.960 the heck is this all about? And then uh, then 97 00:05:42.000 --> 00:05:46.120 I was then I was disappointed because it took Pepsicle 98 00:05:46.480 --> 00:05:50.240 so long to get involved, engage, you know. And then 99 00:05:50.279 --> 00:05:53.440 you know, my understanding was it was a lot of miscommunication. 100 00:05:54.120 --> 00:05:57.120 So it was, uh, you know, man, I've never experienced 101 00:05:57.160 --> 00:05:59.599 anything like that, you know, never in my entire life 102 00:06:00.360 --> 00:06:02.120 or whatever. Wish that on anyone. 103 00:06:02.200 --> 00:06:02.479 It was. 104 00:06:03.520 --> 00:06:05.880 It was very I'm still trying to get over. You know, 105 00:06:05.960 --> 00:06:07.599 I'm in a healing process right now. 106 00:06:08.279 --> 00:06:10.920 I said, Look, Richard is not going to give us 107 00:06:10.920 --> 00:06:16.039 the interview today. I said, Richard's entire world is crumbling 108 00:06:16.120 --> 00:06:20.120 right now in the midst of trauma or tragedy or 109 00:06:20.320 --> 00:06:22.520 you know, shock. Can you tell me about what those 110 00:06:22.600 --> 00:06:23.039 days were? 111 00:06:23.080 --> 00:06:23.159 Like? 112 00:06:23.240 --> 00:06:26.320 How did you wake up and keep going? And what 113 00:06:26.320 --> 00:06:29.039 do you call it trauma or how do you what's 114 00:06:29.080 --> 00:06:29.840 the word that you use? 115 00:06:31.680 --> 00:06:37.039 The word I've been using is just devastated. You know. 116 00:06:37.600 --> 00:06:40.120 It was really really difficult. And then I had to 117 00:06:40.160 --> 00:06:43.480 block my social media because I was active getting threats. 118 00:06:44.240 --> 00:06:46.520 So it was getting a little kind of fearful there. 119 00:06:46.560 --> 00:06:50.000 You know, I have you know, grandkids, I have children. 120 00:06:50.080 --> 00:06:54.000 I was like, man, this is impacting everyone, and you know, 121 00:06:54.080 --> 00:06:56.240 so I've decided to stay away from, you know, trying 122 00:06:56.279 --> 00:06:58.320 to read anything. You know, everything was about you know, 123 00:06:58.440 --> 00:07:00.520 you need to die and burn and hell like, whoa 124 00:07:00.520 --> 00:07:02.039 wait a minute, you don't know who I am? 125 00:07:02.880 --> 00:07:04.800 What did the worst moment look like? If you don't 126 00:07:04.800 --> 00:07:06.520 mind sharing with us, well. 127 00:07:06.400 --> 00:07:10.920 I think just being called a liar, you know, just 128 00:07:11.000 --> 00:07:13.040 reading it. And then I just stopped reading stuff. I 129 00:07:13.080 --> 00:07:16.080 had to because you know, it'll drown your it'll drown 130 00:07:16.160 --> 00:07:19.640 your spirit. I just you know, stayed on the positive side. 131 00:07:20.520 --> 00:07:22.760 So did you see that there were a lot of 132 00:07:22.800 --> 00:07:25.840 people One of them is prominent Julisa had to say, 133 00:07:25.920 --> 00:07:29.680 the author and activist who really came to your defense? 134 00:07:30.080 --> 00:07:32.520 Perhaps a good just issued a statement in support of 135 00:07:32.600 --> 00:07:36.240 Richard Montagnes. It reads, in part, the information we share 136 00:07:36.280 --> 00:07:42.240 with the media has been misconstrued. Looking at you, La times. 137 00:07:41.800 --> 00:07:43.880 What do you think that they were defending? What did 138 00:07:43.880 --> 00:07:47.400 you understand? What did they tell you and how did 139 00:07:47.400 --> 00:07:48.760 you take that part of the story. 140 00:07:49.680 --> 00:07:55.320 I was encouraged that, you know, they came into my 141 00:07:55.400 --> 00:07:59.680 defense or maybe not me personally, but the defending of 142 00:08:00.800 --> 00:08:05.559 you know, Latino or Chicano, you know. So I thought 143 00:08:05.560 --> 00:08:08.400 that was uh for me. It was like, Okay, I 144 00:08:08.400 --> 00:08:11.440 have a family, you know, I do have a family, 145 00:08:11.480 --> 00:08:14.640 I do have people. You know, people remember that all 146 00:08:14.680 --> 00:08:16.760 the good that I've done and they know who I am. 147 00:08:16.840 --> 00:08:19.600 So it was it was it was really good for me. 148 00:08:21.120 --> 00:08:23.800 I'm wondering what you think about the fact, Richard, that 149 00:08:23.920 --> 00:08:26.000 given the moment that we're living in in the United 150 00:08:26.000 --> 00:08:31.320 States of America, like in the beginning of summer of 151 00:08:31.320 --> 00:08:33.680 twenty twenty one, in hopefully a little bit of a 152 00:08:33.679 --> 00:08:37.040 post pandemic world. But we're really you know, there's been 153 00:08:37.080 --> 00:08:39.640 a recent war going on in the Middle East, like 154 00:08:39.720 --> 00:08:42.600 it's just been a you know, there's a lot going on, 155 00:08:43.920 --> 00:08:46.120 and I'm wondering what you think about the fact that 156 00:08:46.360 --> 00:08:50.800 somebody would call in a tip to the La Times 157 00:08:51.480 --> 00:08:56.040 and basically say, hey, hot Cheetos guy is a farce, 158 00:08:56.320 --> 00:08:59.400 is a lie, and that the La Times would then 159 00:08:59.520 --> 00:09:03.840 assign at least one reporter to basically do a deep 160 00:09:03.840 --> 00:09:09.520 investigation into your entire story and dispute it from start 161 00:09:09.559 --> 00:09:12.400 to finish. I'm wondering what you think about the fact 162 00:09:12.440 --> 00:09:14.520 that they did that, because that is part of the conversation, 163 00:09:14.679 --> 00:09:19.000 right why put in the effort to take down this guy. 164 00:09:20.760 --> 00:09:25.080 The first thing is I was really amazed. You know, 165 00:09:25.200 --> 00:09:29.560 it's a snack. I'm just like, wait a minute, it's snack. 166 00:09:31.040 --> 00:09:34.520 People care that much? Is it worth somebody's time? 167 00:09:34.640 --> 00:09:34.800 You know. 168 00:09:35.160 --> 00:09:39.000 I was just totally amazed. And then I couldn't believe it. 169 00:09:39.600 --> 00:09:41.120 You know, again, it took me a while to know 170 00:09:41.280 --> 00:09:44.679 this is really happening. It was just totally amazed, you know, 171 00:09:44.760 --> 00:09:47.120 I mean, without everything going on in the world, you know, 172 00:09:47.200 --> 00:09:49.840 you're going to talk about cheetles. 173 00:09:54.400 --> 00:09:58.559 In his investigation, Sam spoke to Lynn Greenfeld, a former 174 00:09:58.640 --> 00:10:02.400 freedom Let employee, and she claims to be the true 175 00:10:02.600 --> 00:10:06.760 inventor of flaming hot cheetos. Frida Lay told Sam that 176 00:10:07.240 --> 00:10:11.320 none of its records showed that quote Richard was involved 177 00:10:11.360 --> 00:10:16.320 in any capacity in the flaming hot test market quote. However, 178 00:10:16.360 --> 00:10:19.000 in the days following the publication of the article, PepsiCo, 179 00:10:19.080 --> 00:10:23.200 Frido Lay's parent company issued another statement saying the information 180 00:10:23.320 --> 00:10:25.959 it had shared with the media had been misunderstood by some, 181 00:10:26.480 --> 00:10:31.400 resulting in and I'm quoting here confusion around where we stand, 182 00:10:32.000 --> 00:10:35.679 a range of emotions among our employees and consumers, and 183 00:10:35.760 --> 00:10:39.520 a strain on our valued friendship with Richard Montagees and 184 00:10:39.600 --> 00:10:43.920 the Latino community. The company also said that it attributed 185 00:10:43.960 --> 00:10:47.760 the launch and success of Flaming Hot Cheetos to several 186 00:10:47.880 --> 00:10:53.000 members of its staff, including Richard Montagnels. And let's take 187 00:10:53.040 --> 00:10:56.120 a moment now to go through the looking glass and 188 00:10:56.200 --> 00:11:00.520 see the complicated history of the Freedo Lay company. It 189 00:11:00.559 --> 00:11:03.960 begins with a man from Kansas. His name is Charles 190 00:11:04.000 --> 00:11:08.959 Elmer Doolin. Back in nineteen thirty two, he buys the 191 00:11:09.000 --> 00:11:13.800 Frido Chip patent from a Mexican guy named Gustavo Orgin. 192 00:11:14.760 --> 00:11:18.240 Here's Doulin's daughter Kalita in a two thousand and seven 193 00:11:18.320 --> 00:11:20.239 episode of The Kitchen Sisters. 194 00:11:20.960 --> 00:11:25.320 He bought the recipe patent and fourteen customers from a 195 00:11:25.360 --> 00:11:28.000 man who was from Mexico who lived in San Antono. 196 00:11:28.679 --> 00:11:34.320 It's a massa fried and a corn oil salted. Dad 197 00:11:34.400 --> 00:11:37.600 named it. Frito's means fried thing. That's what they are 198 00:11:37.640 --> 00:11:40.840 in Mexico's. They're free toes, the beach food, the little 199 00:11:40.920 --> 00:11:41.880 fried stuff. 200 00:11:42.760 --> 00:11:45.480 It would be the beginning of a billion dollar enterprise 201 00:11:45.760 --> 00:11:50.480 which actually owns its success to the appropriation of Mexican 202 00:11:50.559 --> 00:11:54.800 food and culture. In nineteen fifty five, Frido Let opened 203 00:11:54.920 --> 00:11:59.400 La Casa de Fritos in Disneyland. They sold Mexican food, 204 00:11:59.640 --> 00:12:03.400 frequently had Madiacci performances, and of course everything came with 205 00:12:03.480 --> 00:12:09.800 the side of fritos. It was believed that the Gasa 206 00:12:09.880 --> 00:12:14.000 de Fritos at Disneyland was the birthplace of the dorrito, 207 00:12:14.280 --> 00:12:18.400 another wildly popular Fredo Lay product that has been long 208 00:12:18.440 --> 00:12:24.679 attributed to a Frido Lay employee named arch West. However, 209 00:12:25.080 --> 00:12:29.679 that origin story has also been contested Gustavo Ariano, the 210 00:12:29.760 --> 00:12:31.960 columnist at the LA Times who we heard from in 211 00:12:32.000 --> 00:12:35.760 the intro, is also the author of the book Taco Usa, 212 00:12:36.160 --> 00:12:40.600 How Mexican Food Conquered America. While doing research for his book, 213 00:12:40.880 --> 00:12:44.960 Gustavo uncovered the true origin of dorritos. 214 00:12:45.120 --> 00:12:49.240 When I was doing my story about my book, Arch West, 215 00:12:49.840 --> 00:12:53.200 executive with Frido La passed away and you see all 216 00:12:53.360 --> 00:12:57.480 these obituaries, you know, the Los Angeles Times included MPR 217 00:12:57.600 --> 00:13:01.199 saying that arch West was a man who invented Dorito's. 218 00:13:01.280 --> 00:13:03.920 Where I'm like, let me investigate this a little bit, 219 00:13:04.480 --> 00:13:07.400 and I turned out that it wasn't arch West. It 220 00:13:07.440 --> 00:13:10.600 was actually the Morales family of Anaheim, who were pioneers 221 00:13:10.640 --> 00:13:12.960 in their own way in southern California with a brand 222 00:13:12.960 --> 00:13:16.680 of tamalis called Excellent Tomali's. They told me the story, 223 00:13:16.760 --> 00:13:19.840 they gave documents to me. I confirmed the story with 224 00:13:19.920 --> 00:13:23.280 Kalida Doolan, who's the daughter of Elmer Doolin. 225 00:13:23.880 --> 00:13:28.439 But even Gustavo didn't think of investigating. Richard's story was just. 226 00:13:28.520 --> 00:13:31.960 So again, it was such a feel good story. I'm like, eh, 227 00:13:32.000 --> 00:13:34.160 I don't need to confirm it. It really was just 228 00:13:34.240 --> 00:13:36.480 bad reporting. On my part, I don't know if I 229 00:13:36.480 --> 00:13:39.120 would have discovered the way Sam Sam d and my 230 00:13:39.160 --> 00:13:42.080 colleague did discover the whole cheese met But I should 231 00:13:42.120 --> 00:13:45.200 have asked questions everything else. I asked questions for flaming 232 00:13:45.200 --> 00:13:45.840 hot Cheetos. 233 00:13:45.920 --> 00:13:46.280 I did it. 234 00:13:46.880 --> 00:13:50.160 And continuing with our journey into the interesting history of 235 00:13:50.200 --> 00:13:53.120 the Friedo l a company, in the late nineteen sixties, 236 00:13:53.360 --> 00:13:55.199 they create the Friedo Bendido. 237 00:13:55.480 --> 00:14:01.080 Hello, Genior, I am de Frito Bandido. Oh don't, I 238 00:14:01.120 --> 00:14:04.240 am not going to steal your fritos Orange Chiefs. I 239 00:14:04.360 --> 00:14:08.360 buy him from you, okay. See, I give you a sealver, 240 00:14:09.400 --> 00:14:13.680 No sealver. Okay, I give you gold you know, like 241 00:14:13.760 --> 00:14:19.440 golden neither and maybe you lin better some late citizens 242 00:14:19.480 --> 00:14:20.680 protect yourselves. 243 00:14:20.800 --> 00:14:25.680 The Freedo Bandido was a short, fat, gun carrying Mexican 244 00:14:25.800 --> 00:14:30.880 thief or bandido in Spanish, who had a thick mustache 245 00:14:30.960 --> 00:14:34.600 and even thicker Mexican accent and threatened to steal your 246 00:14:34.640 --> 00:14:40.640 fritos at gunpoint. Richard and I remember that character pretty well. 247 00:14:41.360 --> 00:14:45.200 I remember that when everybody started boycotting Fritos and the 248 00:14:45.200 --> 00:14:47.600 Freedo because it was like you had to boycott because 249 00:14:47.640 --> 00:14:49.280 it was the age of boycotts, you know. I mean 250 00:14:49.280 --> 00:14:51.680 it was the United Farmworkers. We were boycotting grapes, and 251 00:14:51.720 --> 00:14:53.080 then all of a sudden it was like, and now 252 00:14:53.120 --> 00:14:56.600 you got to boycott Fritos, and you can't eat Fritos 253 00:14:56.640 --> 00:14:59.160 and you should not at all, like the Freedo Bandido, 254 00:14:59.200 --> 00:15:01.640 and it's just like, oh, as a kid, it's a 255 00:15:01.680 --> 00:15:02.400 little confusing. 256 00:15:02.920 --> 00:15:07.240 There wasn't anything about Latina, so you know, I would 257 00:15:07.240 --> 00:15:09.720 take whatever was out you know, I loved Speedy Gonzales. 258 00:15:09.840 --> 00:15:13.320 I was never offended, but I didn't know what discrimination was. 259 00:15:13.360 --> 00:15:16.440 It's just we took whatever was out there. The TV shows, 260 00:15:16.480 --> 00:15:19.080 you know, everybody was, you know, was wide and all 261 00:15:19.120 --> 00:15:21.040 the dads were in a suit and all the moms 262 00:15:21.040 --> 00:15:23.200 were in dresses, and then you know, I'd look at 263 00:15:23.200 --> 00:15:27.240 my dad and you know, he'd be completely third in uniforms. 264 00:15:27.360 --> 00:15:30.080 It was hard to understand. It was hard to understand. 265 00:15:30.120 --> 00:15:31.840 So we took whatever would come our way. 266 00:15:32.400 --> 00:15:36.320 The Freedo Bandido didn't last long as the Freido Lay mascot, though. 267 00:15:36.640 --> 00:15:40.000 By nineteen seventy one, only four years after the Bandido 268 00:15:40.160 --> 00:15:44.760 first appeared, the Mexican American Anti Defamation Committee filed a 269 00:15:44.880 --> 00:15:48.080 multi million dollar lawsuit and was able to push the 270 00:15:48.080 --> 00:15:52.200 Friedo l Company to abandon their Freedo Bandido campaign, arguing 271 00:15:52.200 --> 00:15:57.280 that the character portrayed Chicanos and Mexicans as lazy, thieving people. 272 00:16:00.880 --> 00:16:04.320 Coming up on Latino USA, we continue our conversation with 273 00:16:04.480 --> 00:16:08.320 Richard Montagnes, and we also speak to two people on 274 00:16:08.440 --> 00:17:01.760 opposite sides of the Flaming Hot Cheetos fiasco. Stay with us, notes, Hey, 275 00:17:01.760 --> 00:17:04.280 we're back. In the first part of our story. We 276 00:17:04.320 --> 00:17:08.600 heard about Richard Montagnes's initial shock with the La Times piece. 277 00:17:09.119 --> 00:17:11.119 Now we're gonna hear from people who came to his 278 00:17:11.160 --> 00:17:14.560 defense or didn't. We're also going to check in with 279 00:17:14.600 --> 00:17:19.320 Sam Dean, the author of that La Times piece. Since 280 00:17:19.440 --> 00:17:24.719 their inception, hot Cheetohs have become a widespread cultural phenomenon. 281 00:17:25.160 --> 00:17:27.960 There have even been songs named after the stack. 282 00:17:28.680 --> 00:17:32.800 Hatzi shackis, Hatzio shackies, I'll take. 283 00:17:32.680 --> 00:17:37.680 It enough of this stack, And they've gone from being 284 00:17:37.880 --> 00:17:40.879 just a snack to being a symbol of urban black 285 00:17:40.920 --> 00:17:44.520 and brown culture and Richard Montagnees, along with the myth 286 00:17:44.760 --> 00:17:49.040 surrounding his rags to Rich's story, was effectively turned into 287 00:17:49.080 --> 00:17:52.840 a folk icon by the Mexican American community in Los Angeles. 288 00:17:53.560 --> 00:17:56.479 That is, until The La Times decided to follow an 289 00:17:56.480 --> 00:18:00.320 anonymous tip that stated that Richard's claim to fame was 290 00:18:00.440 --> 00:18:04.320 nothing more than that a myth. One of the strongest 291 00:18:04.400 --> 00:18:08.840 voices that rallied to Richard's defense was Rachel Reyes, a 292 00:18:08.880 --> 00:18:12.439 community organizer from Los Angeles. Rachel, who we heard from 293 00:18:12.480 --> 00:18:14.960 briefly at the beginning of the show, wrote an op 294 00:18:15.119 --> 00:18:19.560 ed titled Hot Cheetos Are Los Angeles. It was published 295 00:18:19.880 --> 00:18:23.359 by knock LA, a nonprofit community journalism project. 296 00:18:23.920 --> 00:18:27.480 It felt so personal to my own understanding of myself 297 00:18:28.400 --> 00:18:32.040 as a Mexican person, but also as an Angelino. They 298 00:18:32.200 --> 00:18:34.320 never write about us, and when they do, this is 299 00:18:34.440 --> 00:18:37.000 what we got and all of the things that you 300 00:18:37.119 --> 00:18:40.320 could find to write about in the city. This is 301 00:18:40.440 --> 00:18:43.560 a dynamic, vibrant city full of so many stories that 302 00:18:43.640 --> 00:18:44.639 needs to be told. 303 00:18:45.000 --> 00:18:46.920 And this is what they chose to focus on. 304 00:18:47.640 --> 00:18:51.679 For Rachel, Richard's story is reflective of so many others 305 00:18:51.760 --> 00:18:54.920 that she often hears as a labor rights organizer in 306 00:18:55.080 --> 00:18:59.800 Los Angeles County, stories of hard working Latinos and Latinas 307 00:19:00.280 --> 00:19:03.040 who put in the extra hours to gain some level 308 00:19:03.080 --> 00:19:06.920 of respect from their employers. Only to continue to be 309 00:19:07.119 --> 00:19:09.600 undervalued and underappreciated. 310 00:19:10.080 --> 00:19:12.000 Ooh, and I'm going to try to not get emotional. 311 00:19:14.640 --> 00:19:17.680 It's so silly, right because, like it's the subject is 312 00:19:17.720 --> 00:19:18.280 odd cheetohs. 313 00:19:18.320 --> 00:19:20.040 But it's so much more than that, you know. 314 00:19:20.119 --> 00:19:21.800 I do think about how hard my dad has worked 315 00:19:22.240 --> 00:19:25.760 in non union jobs his entire life and has had 316 00:19:25.840 --> 00:19:28.680 no protections, but has gone into work every day and 317 00:19:28.800 --> 00:19:32.000 worked so hard and has given everything. 318 00:19:34.320 --> 00:19:37.480 You know, Richard talks a lot about how hard he. 319 00:19:37.600 --> 00:19:40.840 Worked mopping floors and mopping them twice and just doing 320 00:19:41.359 --> 00:19:43.879 doing a really good job and having that work ethic. 321 00:19:44.600 --> 00:19:46.919 And that's something that's taught a lot in our communities, 322 00:19:47.400 --> 00:19:50.800 and that's what I grew up with, and that's what 323 00:19:50.880 --> 00:19:54.159 I hear in his story. I hear the importance of 324 00:19:54.280 --> 00:19:57.800 hard work and a strong work ethic, and so to 325 00:19:57.920 --> 00:20:04.320 have that being diminished by a white reporter really clearly 326 00:20:04.560 --> 00:20:06.320 struck a nerve in me. 327 00:20:07.480 --> 00:20:11.399 Here's a disclaimer for you. Rachel Rey is used to 328 00:20:11.520 --> 00:20:15.359 date Sam Dean, the reporter who wrote the La Times piece. 329 00:20:16.040 --> 00:20:18.720 So it upsets me because it reminds me of so 330 00:20:18.800 --> 00:20:21.399 many of the stories that I heard growing up. The 331 00:20:21.480 --> 00:20:23.639 ways you have to do things to get recognition and 332 00:20:23.720 --> 00:20:27.399 respect in the workplace that often go completely unnoticed, and 333 00:20:27.600 --> 00:20:30.679 finally someone's hard work was noticed. 334 00:20:31.640 --> 00:20:34.040 So yeah, we want to hold on to that story. 335 00:20:34.800 --> 00:20:37.959 Gusta bo Arellano felt that the backlash that came from 336 00:20:38.000 --> 00:20:41.920 the Latino community towards the La Times and against him 337 00:20:42.040 --> 00:20:47.440 too personally. He said, it was actually largely misdirected. 338 00:20:48.040 --> 00:20:50.880 I understand we do not have the best reputation when 339 00:20:50.920 --> 00:20:54.359 it comes to treating Latino writers right or even covering 340 00:20:54.440 --> 00:20:56.720 Latino writers right. And I know this because I wrote 341 00:20:56.720 --> 00:21:00.000 a whole history for our paper examining our pathetic life 342 00:21:00.080 --> 00:21:03.440 legacy of both of those situations. But now I'm trying 343 00:21:03.480 --> 00:21:07.119 to tell people like, look, I I'm telling you, as 344 00:21:07.200 --> 00:21:08.920 a guy who wrote the book on Mexican food in 345 00:21:08.960 --> 00:21:12.120 the United States, I believe this story. Then of course 346 00:21:12.359 --> 00:21:14.240 people telling me, oh, you're trying to tear down a 347 00:21:14.280 --> 00:21:17.680 successful Mexican and for me, I'm like, wow, this is 348 00:21:17.760 --> 00:21:20.120 really insulting because it shows that no one read my book, 349 00:21:20.280 --> 00:21:22.520 or no one even reads what I write. Because I 350 00:21:22.560 --> 00:21:26.480 have an entire career of lifting up Latinos, especially Mexican 351 00:21:26.560 --> 00:21:30.200 food entrepreneurs and in industry that has always just gone 352 00:21:30.240 --> 00:21:33.280 after them. It was a total novella. I know, I 353 00:21:33.359 --> 00:21:35.240 know it's a cliche to say, but it was a 354 00:21:35.320 --> 00:21:36.000 total novella. 355 00:21:36.680 --> 00:21:39.960 This takedown by a white male reporter at the La Times, 356 00:21:40.320 --> 00:21:43.240 a legacy paper with a reputation of not always treating 357 00:21:43.280 --> 00:21:47.520 the Latino community and its own Latino staff, fairly made 358 00:21:47.560 --> 00:21:51.159 the article that much more in century for many, including Rachel. 359 00:21:51.680 --> 00:21:54.280 You know, we're not at a place in our city 360 00:21:54.520 --> 00:21:57.560 or in the world, frankly, where race isn't a problem, 361 00:21:58.600 --> 00:22:02.520 where capitalism is in a problem, where workers' rights are 362 00:22:02.560 --> 00:22:06.320 all good and everyone's happy. So the way those three 363 00:22:06.359 --> 00:22:10.440 things intersect with this story are incredibly important, and the 364 00:22:10.520 --> 00:22:13.879 fact that that wasn't made clear to anyone before they 365 00:22:14.000 --> 00:22:15.720 hit publish is alarming. 366 00:22:19.200 --> 00:22:22.800 For Gustavo, the need to publish this story was crystal clear. 367 00:22:23.040 --> 00:22:25.680 I think the job of a news organization is go 368 00:22:26.080 --> 00:22:30.359 after the story, whatever the story may be, no matter 369 00:22:30.480 --> 00:22:33.760 how much blowback you might get. And I see why 370 00:22:33.880 --> 00:22:36.159 people are like, why on earth did you spend so 371 00:22:36.320 --> 00:22:40.000 many words on a flaming hot Cheetos story? But I 372 00:22:40.119 --> 00:22:43.920 got to say, I think given the blowback that the 373 00:22:44.000 --> 00:22:47.280 story received, you know why, Because this was something that 374 00:22:47.480 --> 00:22:50.000 mattered to a lot of people. This was something that 375 00:22:50.240 --> 00:22:53.239 was going to resonate. And if you're going to let 376 00:22:53.280 --> 00:22:56.800 your emotions get in the way of facts, that says 377 00:22:56.920 --> 00:22:59.920 more about you than it does about the paper that report. 378 00:23:00.560 --> 00:23:02.560 So what does it say about us that we'd rather 379 00:23:02.720 --> 00:23:06.080 prop up people took credit for junk food, We'd rather 380 00:23:06.160 --> 00:23:09.440 prop them up as heroes than actual heroes. 381 00:23:17.280 --> 00:23:19.760 All right, now, let's go back to my conversation with 382 00:23:19.960 --> 00:23:24.399 Richard Montagnez, the guy who kind of started this all. So, 383 00:23:25.600 --> 00:23:29.680 you know, it's interesting I think Latinos and Latinas and 384 00:23:30.040 --> 00:23:35.480 Mexicans actually and Mexican immigrants, especially after the last presidency 385 00:23:35.920 --> 00:23:41.760 of Donald Trump, that begins his campaign essentially attacking Mexican immigrants, 386 00:23:42.720 --> 00:23:48.520 calling us, you know, basically the worst thieves, takers, in impostors, 387 00:23:48.640 --> 00:23:51.560 liars in many ways, not using those words per se, 388 00:23:51.600 --> 00:23:56.240 but implying. I think, and I wonder if how you 389 00:23:56.400 --> 00:23:58.359 see the fact that you know, there's this kind of 390 00:23:58.520 --> 00:24:02.560 feeling that we've been through a lot, and that Latinos 391 00:24:02.600 --> 00:24:07.680 and Latinas and Latino immigrants have been attacked a lot. 392 00:24:09.040 --> 00:24:12.520 And I'm wondering how you saw what happened to you, 393 00:24:13.520 --> 00:24:19.360 which really was a very quick takedown in relation at all, 394 00:24:19.800 --> 00:24:22.600 or maybe you didn't to this to the kind of 395 00:24:22.760 --> 00:24:25.760 moment that we're living in, you know, just coming out 396 00:24:25.840 --> 00:24:28.879 of and still you know, the narrative around immigrants and 397 00:24:28.960 --> 00:24:32.000 Latinos and Latinas as takers is still very present. So 398 00:24:32.000 --> 00:24:34.560 I'm wondering if you thought about what happened within that 399 00:24:35.240 --> 00:24:36.160 larger context. 400 00:24:36.760 --> 00:24:42.680 Yes, I did, and actually I thought about that before 401 00:24:42.720 --> 00:24:46.600