The Return Of Speedy Gonzales

When I was a little kid back in the 80's, there weren't a lot of Latinos in children's programming. One of the only ones, and my personal favorite, was Speedy Gonzales. He was the fastest mouse in all of Mexico and spent his days making Sylvester look stupid. But then in the 90's, Speedy disappeared. Concerns about the stereotypical portrayal of Mexicans in the cartoons led to it getting yanked from reruns. Well, now Warner Bros. is considering bringing Speedy back in his own movie. Many Latino groups have told Warner Bros. and The Cartoon Network that they don't find Speedy offensive and he's slowly been added back to the Looney Tunes reruns. Other Latino groups HATE Speedy and think he's a horrible representation of Mexicans in particular and Latinos in general.

I am of the opinion that he is alright. He was the first Latino character to win and Oscar back in the 50's. Sure, Mel Blanc, a White dude, was the voice of Speedy. But if anything the fact that a Latino character was shown as being smart and heroic back in the 40's and 50's is unprecedented. It was cool for me as a kid to see a character on screen that I could relate to. I say bring Speedy back.