Americans in Mexico Watch Uneasily as anti-Mexican Rhetoric Shows Its Face in the U.S.

AJIJIC, Mexico - In this haven for foreigners tucked neatly in a placid, lakeside community with cobblestone streets and surrounded by striking green hills that seem to touch the sky, a billboard welcomes visitors with words that read: “Where Joy is a habit.”But the August 3 shooting deaths of 22 people, mostly Mexicans and Mexican-Americans, hundreds of miles away in El Paso and the simmering racial hatred that fueled that massacre may be threatening to burst that well-ordered bubble for Americans here, many say.“Here in Mexico a cough (from the U.S.) causes pneumonia,” said Allan MacGregor, a retiree from Massachusetts, reflecting on the consequences of what he calls hate rhetoric and a smoldering cultural war emanating from the U.S. “That’s not good, especially as Mexico is preparing for the aging American invasion.”These days, aging baby boomers like MacGregor and his wife Barbara Hildt find themselves navigating the politics of hate after an alleged White Supremacist drove 10 hours from North Texas to hunt down Mexicans at a Walmart in El Paso. The shooting spree there shattered a sense of peace and belonging held by American expats living here. It’s ripple effects continue.  Continue reading...