Mexicans outraged by humiliation of Indian boy

[SunSeeker]

A 10-year-old Indian street vendor whose humiliation by a city inspector tugged on the heart strings of Mexicans after a video of it appeared on social media was showered Friday with attention and the offer of a scholarship.


The video shows the poor, sandal-clad Tzotzil boy selling candy, cough drops and apparently cigarettes out of a wicker basket in Villahermosa, the capital of the Gulf coast state of Tabasco. State officials say the boy, Manuel Diaz Hernandez, was trying to earn money to buy his own school supplies.


A city inspector, identified as Juan Diego Lopez, spots the boy, confronts him and takes several packs of cigarettes from his basket. It is prohibited in Mexico for minors to buy or sell cigarettes.


In the video, Manuel can be seen weeping inconsolably as the inspector forces him to take all the candy in his basket, handful by handful, and toss it on the pavement. The cost of the candy and cigarettes could well be more than the boy would earn with a week's work.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57595789/mexicans-outraged-by-humiliation-of-indian-boy/
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This is how the revolution in Tunisia started...

[Judi Lynn]

1. It's painful seeing this child's suffering face.

Hope the officials will not go back on their word about helping the little boy. From the article:

Street vendors in Mexico frequently sell single cigarettes to passers-by at twice their original price, for people who don't have the time or money to buy a full pack. Officials agreed that the punishment meted out to the boy for selling cigarettes was out of line, especially in the southeast, a part of the country where Indians were routinely enslaved a century ago.

The Tabasco state prosecutors' office said the boy's aunt, Maria Diaz Diaz, said she had brought Manuel to Villahermosa about 10 days earlier. She said the boy lives with his grandparents in the Tzotzil Indian village of San Juan Chamula, in neighboring Chiapas state, and wanted to work during his summer vacation to raise money for school supplies in the fall. Mexican children get free textbooks, but often have to buy their own pencils, paper and uniforms.

Tabasco state Gov. Arturo Nunez announced Thursday his administration would give Manuel and his family "a scholarship, as well as all medical and psychological help for the boy."

Didn't even know that indigenous Mexican people were enslaved 100 years ago. So wrong, isn't it?

Really hope locals will be able to keep close watch on how the city deals with this boy, and will pressure to Gov. to keep his word. That little boy's whole life could be seriously affected by the impact of this event, how it is resolved in the near future. He must not be left alone to struggle with his loss, when he needed help so much.

[a la izquierda]

5. Yep, enslaved...

And worked to death on huge plantations in Yucatán. The Yaquis were the group that experienced this most recently.

I wish I had a shred of the optimism you have about this case.

[bemildred]

2. About f**king time. This is why I like the internet.

This kind of mean, selfish crap gets exposed and publicly humiliated.

[Laelth]

3. Once again ...

... I am reminded of how the internet has changed the world.

We, the People, of the United States of America gave the world this incredible and transformative technology, and we gave it to the world for free. I take great pride in that fact.



-Laelth

[a la izquierda]

4. This will not start a revolution.

I study indigenous peoples in Mexico. They are second class citizens and have few real champions for their cause. I have seen treatment of native peoples on the street that mirrors this. The question should be: why are there so many native children forced into this kind of degrading work? They are far from their home communities and this shatters communal ties, languages, etc.

I can suggest a ton of titles for you to read about this subject if you're interested.

[Peace Patriot]

6. I hope the city inspector some day realizes what a tool of the uber-rich he had become.

He needs to do some soul-searching--as do others like him, here and there.

As for the boy, my, my, my, my! It makes you want to cry yourself, looking at that distraught young face, and knowing that he, in his mind, was being DUTIFUL, was WORKING, was trying to EARN HIS WAY, and then getting his tiny business trashed like that, by a big official person against whom he had no defense. I hope that the publicity and offered help heals the hurt that he felt and leaves him with a memory of compassion and caring. And I hope he "passes it forward."