Coyote's Canyon Journal

"Now I see the secret of the making of the best persons. It is to grow in the open air and to eat and sleep with the earth." -- Walt Whitman, Song of the Open Road

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Location: Canyon State of Mind, United States

I enjoy writing. I don't actually make a living with my English degree, so I keep a blog for fun. The blog is first draft, and as a former editor I apologize for any weird errors that may be present. I do not apologize for writing about things that matter to me. Thanks for reading.

Monday, October 26, 2009

Taos: A Tough Gig

MSN.com: New hotel owner hounded by racism charges --
Hispanic employees protest after being told to change their first names


I've moved to a small mountain town and started a business. Those darn locals. They always have their customs, their culture, their history. And darn it all, they are passionate about keeping town the way they've always known it to be. But I have to say...what was this guy THINKING? Did he know nothing of the Land Grant Spanish? Or of New Mexicans of Mexican descent? I mean, what kind of jack ass...oh never mind. Read the article and prepare to be stunned.

Look. Taos is lovely as a day-trip kind of place. However, the clashes that are customary between the residents and its differing socio-economic castes are legendary in the Inter-mountain West...and if you moved there, you would wish to be as wealthy as Julia Roberts or Donald Rumsfeld so you could hide away on your vast acreage and send the "help" into town for groceries.

I've seen it before--an old guy with some money comes to a small town and starts throwing his weight and money around. Thinks he can buy respect, and buy his way into and out of friendships, city council, and business deals, bragging the whole time. Classic "big fish in a little pond" syndrome. That may fly in some small towns, but Taos...

Mr. Whitten would do well to sell his assets leave town as quickly as possible.

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