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Ex Telstra CEO Sol Trujillo was born in Cheyenne, Wyoming, to Mexican immigrants.
Yesterday Trujillo claimed that many Australians have approached him to apologise for Prime Minister Rudd over his use of the word “adios” when responding to the news that he was leaving Telstra.
As reported on AM this morning, in San Diego, the BBC’s Steve Evans referred to the portrayal of Trujillo in the Australian media:
STEVE EVANS: Because I noticed reading the papers there, that when you were referred to they would always point out that you were, had a Hispanic background, or whatever.
In other words in Britain and in America it would have been neither here nor there; in Australia it was invariably pointed out.
And the Prime Minister, when asked what his parting words to you would be, said “Adios”.
Was that racism?
Trujillo responded:
I think by definition — there were even columnists who wrote stories that said it was.
But you know, my point is that that does exist and it’s got to change because the world is full of a lot of people and most economies have to take advantage — including Australia — of a diverse set of people.
And if there is a belief that only a certain people are acceptable versus others, that is a sad state.
Crikey tested the theory by taking a snapshot of some of the headlines over the last month…
“Was Sol Trujillo worth it? Si, senor”. In just four years Down Under Sol Trujillo became our highest profile CEO - perhaps even our first celebrity CEO, leader of the “Three Amigos”. — Terry McCrann. The Herald Sun, February 27
“High noon for telcos”. Oh we had fun though, certainly there was entertainment value. All those Mexican and Wild West headlines and allusions, the Three Amigos, the whole concept of riding into town and shooting up the government, unleashing the odd feral PR operative, the constant excitement of the World Tour that never ended, just Phil Burgess on any given spray was worth the price of a Saturday matinee ticket. — Michael Pascoe, Sydney Morning Herald, February 26 2009.
“Adios, amigo, to the man who enfeebled Telstra”. Sol Trujillo slunk out of town in the dead of night more than a week ago, his pockets stuffed with cash. I’ve been trying to organise a $3 million failure incentive for years, but to no avail. Clearly, the magnitude of my shortcomings were never likely to come close to the recently departed head of our biggest company and, the pay performance ratio being what it is, Sol always was going to come out a winner. — Ian Verrender Sydney Morning Herald May 23 2009.
“Trujillo knows his mananas”. Andrew Bolt blog, Herald Sun, May 21 2009.
And here are a few visual aides:
OK this is just funny. And perhaps racist towards potatoes:
“Potato and moustache”. Adios, amigo. No corporate leader has provided as much fodder for CBD, the Herald’s weekday business gossip column, as Sol Trujillo … “I’ll miss Sol,” said the Herald artist John Shakespeare. “He was so easy to draw; anyone could do him. Just draw a moustache on a potato and you’ve got him.” — Michael Evans, Sydney Morning Herald, Business Day, February 28 2009
Meanwhile, Crikey’s marketing expert Stephen Downes was jumping up and down about this back in February:
Trujillo and Mexicans: a few words on racial stereotyping: By all means show Trujillo as a “fat cat” or a scoundrel, boarding a flight back to America with his pockets stuffed full of Aussie dollars — that’s satire. But don’t show him wearing a sombrero and riding a donkey when the guy isn’t even Mexican! Maybe if Trujillo shows the US Internal Revenue Service his Australian press clippings he’ll be able to convince them that he really IS Mexican and avoid US taxes on his massive payout. Now that would be funny.
But if you won’t hear it locally, then be prepared to hear it from international observers. Eric Ellis wrote in Fortune magazine in 2006 that Trujillo “has become the foreigner Australians most delight in mocking. Cartoonists depict him in a sombrero astride a donkey, while shock jocks mimic an imagined Mexican accent, even though the Wyoming native’s family came to the U.S. 200 years ago.” — Dr Stephen Downes. — Crikey, March 3 2009.
Trujillo latest victim of News Corp’s racist toons Regardless of what you think of the job Trujillo has done at Telstra or of his bonuses and golden parachute arrangements, the use of racist imagery to depict anyone should be just as unacceptable in Australia as it is in the US.
As I wrote in 2006, portraying Trujillo in terms of Mexican racial stereotypes — either as some kind of poncho-wearing, siesta-taking buffoon or as a moustachioed, pistol-toting “bandido” — is intentionally demeaning and not even based on fact. Trujillo was born in Cheyenne, Wyoming, is a US citizen, was educated in the US, and has never lived or worked in Mexico.
Why should we consider these images of Trujillo as any less racist than depicting an African-American as an ape? — Crikey, 27 February 2009.
Mind you, Crikey can’t point the finger without a bit of self examination:
Dr Evil references are in the clear:
 — as is this inexplicable image.
We can’t seem to find any Crikey reference to somberos, amigos, or donkeys, but we suspect that’s the fault of our search engine. If you happen to find a picture of Sol playing maraccas, eating nachos, or taking a siesta under a cactus care of Crikey, please feel free to point the finger.
We’re sure we must be guilty of it somewhere … the visual temptation is just too great.
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9 Comments
While not a Trujillo fan I did find the focus on his Hispanic background in, for example, the business pages of the SMH a little tiresome. Whether intended or not there was an inference that could be drawn that someone of this background automatically lacked the necessary personal qualities to be the CEO of a large corporation.
The whole ‘amigos’ business was pretty juvenile really and tended to discredit the journalists involved and indicate that they were the ones not up to the job.
Such a non-issue.
You can bet your bottom dollar that if it was a question of Irish descent and leprechaun cartoons or Danish and Vikings or Even a Kiwi with a sheep we wouldn’t be reading any of this.
There’s an interesting issue re legitimate v non legitimate parodying of people’s backgrounds though Edward… There’s no way cartoonists would lampoon Trujillo if he was of Asian or African descent… would they? Maybe we should quiz some cartoonists on the issue. Mmm. *idea brewing*
Depends really, Maybe if he was of Chinese descent, cartoonists could opt for a Tienanmen square motif, ‘Sol’ in tank Australian consumer standing in front.
Would that cause a stir?
If I had just been given such a golden handshake and someone drawing me riding a donkey out of town was the most of my worries, I’d count myself fairly lucky.
I’m yet to see Alan Joyce the Irishman depicted with leprechauns, pints of guiness and shamrocks.
Perhaps its just not as amusing as Trujillo and his “3 ammigo’s”
Have you seen Alan Joyce depicted any other way?
To Mr Sanderson:
Tiresome? What’s tiresome about collecting a swag like ~?$34M +?+?+?+? And the rest.
Seems like paradise to me.
“Tiresome”? What’s tiresome about being the sometime head of Telstra, our quasi-monopoly telco, & being the occasional - very occasional!!@*(&%#!- though allegedly Australian-resident CEO) due to all those ‘essential”? trips back to the US? How much of Telstra’s business is done in the US??? With the Republican Party?) and now trying to trash the reputation of the dills who hired you? Surely Mr Trujillo now has another game he’s playing? Redemption, perhaps??
Must now seem like a fun game to Sol, whom I have heard used the “amigos” label within Telstra for himself & the men he knew & hired as confidants & “had to have at whatever price, because they’re so good” (?I presume). Now, to try to rescue his reputation after he’s left the business & the country (again)? Doesn’t seem to work in anyone’s interests, apart from his & his mates’.
When he was hired for the job, I recollect I read he’d just garnered something like USD60M for the (apparently unfortunate, to be polite) telco job he’d just been involved with in the US.
However, one mustn’t judge except on the performance one sees. In my opinion, that was *!*!*@ dreadful.
Being in charge of a company which pays you a rich salary while you’re apparently bent on trashing the company’s relationship with the Federal Government which controls the fate of your business, then in the year you’re leaving after you’ve seen the shareholder’s value plummet by ~17B during your reign collecting a failure bonus of ?$34M, does not seem to be performance that’s worth trumpeting.
Most people would LOVE to have that sort of payout for stuffing up, but perhaps Mr Trujillow & Mr Evans are convinced the upper levels of business work to different rules. It seems, from observation, that perhaps that particular situation might possibly be changing in Australia, but only if the major shareholding companies’ managements start working solely for the interests of their own shareholders.
The Brit interviewer [Racism alert!! Blatant!!!], Mr Evans, must surely be acquainted with the works of the great & good extolled CEOs of the most recently publicised banks in Britain, formerly known as Great. That did not seem to be of any concern to Mr Evans, because he did not appear to know of any connection between Mr Trujillo’s performance as Telstra CEO and what has actually happened.
Of course, all of that Telstra stuff was in “Australia, a land of involuntary immigrants”. And therefore of no consequence, except for rubbishing.
Racism? Heavens no!! Truth!! It must be truth, because a he, a Pom, said so!!
Perhaps Mr Steve Evans would be able to answer honestly to: “Who set you up, and what impelled you, to ask loaded questions that served the interviewee’s apparent purpose so well?” Or “Do you really want to be a ‘shock jock’ , or perhaps to get a job with Fox ‘News’ “??
If the latter, we have a Mr Jones who could give you invaluable lessons.
Mr Evans would do well to understand a difficult fact: there are at least some Australians - especially Telstra shareholders - who don’t in general dislike people because of their background (there are of course exceptions, as in any land, including his - and Sol’s).
However, people from any land are often particularly unhappy about those who rip the shareholders off & exit stage left with bags of loot, then slag off from a safe distance.
Brits have a rich history of such folks.
The SMH is in damage control this morning, including a front age opinion piece by the business editor. The major argument is that Telstra ran xenophobic marketing campaigns against Optus. However, saying “he did it too” has never been a strong argument, unless you are a ten year old boy, and there is a difference between xenophobic marketing and personal racial slurs (or at least derogatory implications).
To Peter Cox: you should try reading a little more carefully before you go off on a foolish attack. I did not say that the ‘amigos’ business was tiresome for Trujillo. I said that I found it tiresome, as a reader of the Herald, to have its journalists constantly harping on it at the expense of more insightful analysis.
Whether Trujillo was born in the US or in Ireland, the guy LOOKS Mexican. If you cartooned him wearing a Russian ushanka, Chinese mandarin cap or a Queens guard bearskin with plumes he’d still LOOK like a Mexican, in disguise. I’m surprised the guy didn’t take more offence at Denver’s Rocky Mountain News when it printed “The rotten deal Solomon Trujillo made with the devil is the worst in the history of the telecommunications industry” . Perhaps he’s forgotten the acrimonious send off he got from his own country.