Out of step

What is it with the Times--along with Chris Matthews, they consistently don't seem to believe something is 'mainstream' unless it's white.

The latest example is the insistence in a photo caption that a white guy singing Mexican music is going to be its basketball Jesus.

Born in the U.S.A. but at home south of the border, Shawn Kiehne, a k a El Gringo, is out to bring Mexican music into the American mainstream.

The musician himself seems interesting, but really, the article is just tone deaf--for one thing, there's no evidence this guy's music is drawing in whites:

“There are Mexicans everywhere now,” he said. “I’m playing in Iowa, Arkansas, Kansas City, Minneapolis and Kentucky. In these places, deep in Middle America, the shows are packed, and it’s all Mexicans. Davenport, Iowa? There are Mexicans in Davenport, Iowa?”

For someone who proclaims how in touch he is with his Mexican brothers, it's embarassing that he doesn't seem to know there are Mexicans in Iowa--anyone who knows anything about the immigration debate knows Iowa's been a hotspot, with its rapid demographic change feeding both xenophobia and a more interesting cultural climate.

And Kiehne ends the article by overtly conflating white and mainstream:

“Ricky Martin helped make it O.K. for white Americans of my generation to like Latin music,” he said. “I want to do the same thing for norteño. I want it to appeal to mainstream white America while staying true to the Mexican sound.”