How Mexicans saved a dying US town

[TlalocW]

2. Many white people don't realize how truly American this story is

But their ancestors came over from Europe - some of them not speaking the language and never learning it. They worked the hard jobs that no one else wanted because they wanted a better life for their future generations - them.

Several years ago, I lived in the east side of Tulsa, which didn't attract or keep a lot of businesses until it got an influx of Mexican immigrants. It was not uncommon to one day see a taco truck, and then a year later, a new Mexican restaurant with the same name that was on the truck. An old bowling alley was turned into a large Mexican mini-mall. Small Mexican bakeries popped up, and then a giant one opened. Being a gringo with a degree in Spanish, I thought it was great. I never got to travel much, but going to that min-mall was pretty damn close to going to some of the mercados I visited in Mexico City. I got introduced into the community twisting balloons at the arcade in the bowling alley-turned-mall and was the "payaso" that a lot of families hired because I could do a magic show in Spanish. Literally 80% of my business when I started taking magic and balloon twisting more seriously than just being a side gig came from Spanish-speaking families. I literally wouldn't be where I am now without immigrants.

TlalocW