People Are Really Angry About This Donald Trump-Themed Bar In Melbourne
"Mocking the fact that Trump is keeping people of colour out of the country is really fucked up."
A new Mexican-themed Melbourne bar has been criticised by members of the Latinx community for “mocking” Donald Trump’s policy of deporting Mexican immigrants and his proposal to build a wall along the US-Mexico border.
The bar is called South Of The Wall and has been up and running for less than a month. In addition to the name the venue, the venue reinforces the Trump theme with a giant mural of the US President overlooking the beer garden.
In an interview with The Urban List one of the bar’s founders explained the origin of the name:
“We were having drinks one night and the whole Trump thing was happening. We sort of joked around and said south of the border or wall would be funny. Then a few drinks later it started to sound real good.”
The bar’s theme, along with its origin story, has drawn criticism from members of the public, some of whom have described it as “racist”.
“This is some racist shit, laughing at people’s lived reality and mocking the fact that Trump is keeping people of colour out of the country because they are not white is really fucked up,” one person wrote on Facebook, alongside a one-star venue review.
“As privileged white dudes that don’t have to deal with the genuine fear of being deported from a country you have spent your whole life in I think your ‘funny name’ is actually embarrassingly unfunny,” another review said. “It is not okay to capitalise off and appropriate the horror that Mexican and Latin people are facing in Trump’s America.”
One of the bar’s founders, Nathan Box, responded to some of the complaints on Facebook. “We are actually celebrating that fact that everything is better South of the Wall,” he said. “Hence why we made this place bright and colourful and a party atmosphere.
“We are literally trying to celebrate Mexican culture and food by creating an atmosphere we believe celebrates the fact that Mexico is in a better place than the other side of Trump’s proposed wall.”
Carolina De La Piedra, one of the founders of Sangre Migrante, a project dedicated to sharing stories of the Latinx community within Australia, told Junkee that “I think the fact that seven white guys are creating an ‘authentic Mexican’ restaurant is embarrassing and also hilarious at the same time”.
“I love how privileged folk feel like it’s their duty to take from a culture that is not theirs so that they can profit and make a name for themselves just because they have no culture,” she said.
De La Piedra told Junkee that Box’s comments were “Completely ignorant to the real struggles that affect Latinx’s in America”.
“Although we might be a small community in Australia, some of us are directly impacted by Trump’s administration through our family members and friends in the United States,” she said. “The whole story about coming up with the name over drinks and dinner and a few laughs is so offensive to what is happening to our people. The deportation of thousands is not a joke.
“You do not get to tell actual Latinx people how to feel about your uneducated mural on Trump. The picture of Trump isn’t the only offensive piece on the mural, the female depicted in the mural with an exaggerated behind is also disgraceful. Latina’s have had enough of being overly sexualised, we are more than just our bodies.
“I don’t know how and why they would think this is an appropriate name for a restaurant, and then to have the hide to turn around and tell actual Latinx that we don’t get it.”
Box told Junkee that the owners originally came up with the concept and name while they were thinking “about how much of a joke Trump was, and we couldn’t believe someone like him got elected.”
“We wanted to do something that highlighted how against it we were,” he said. “I think people have misconstrued it.”
Box said he had relayed the criticism to a tequila company representative with a Mexican background and another Latino employee, and neither found it offensive.
“The mural depicts the American side as doom and gloom and the Mexican side as better,” he said. “It’s better to be in Mexico having the wall to keep Trump out.”
Box said he was shocked by the response and while he had tried to understand what was bothering people, he told Junkee he found the criticisms “completely baseless”.
“We would not ever intentionally go out and cause anyone to feel that we’ve disrespected and disregarded a nation. That would be horrifying for us,” he said.
The owners will discuss the complaints at a meeting, but Box told Junkee they believed there was “absolutely nothing wrong” with the their current approach. A number of Facebook commenters argued that while the intentions behind the bar may not have been malicious, that was irrelevant.
“The reality is that your intentions don’t matter. Real Latin American people are saying to you that this stings. Unless your ‘tongue in cheek stab at the Trump regime’ includes real political and financial action, it is meaningless. You’re just profiting off of controversy. That’s pretty fucked up.”