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Jackson Urges Mexico to Halt Offensive StampsBy Tessa Corie SmithNNPA Special Contributor WASHINGTON (NNPA) – Jesse L. Jackson says President Vincente Fox should apologize for and remove Mexican stamps that present stereotypical images of African-Americans. “I am calling on President Fox and Ambassador Carlos de Icaza to issue a complete and full apology and to take this stamp off the market immediately,” Jackson said in a statement. He and Al Sharpton met separately with Fox in Mexico City last month after Fox said Mexicans were taking jobs in the U.S. that even Blacks did not want. Evidently, Sharpton’s and Jackson’s attempt to sensitive Fox about race relations in the U.S. were not successful. Mexico recently issued a series of five stamps bearing the image of Memin Pinguin, a Black boy with think lips, bug eyes and exaggerated physical features. He appears in a popular in a comic book that dates back to the 1940s. In an interview with the Associated Press, President Fox said, “Frankly, I don’t understand the reaction. Let’s hope they inform themselves…and later form an opinion.” Jackson, who is working to ease tensions between Latinos and African-Americans, has already formed an opinion. “It is offensive, and I think the Mexican government should apologize,” he said in his statement. “It is harmful to international relations. It is harmful to the African American and Hispanic Coalition we are trying to build in this country.” Jackson has asked President Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to intervene. “It is their job to defend America from any foreign insult,” Jackson said. “Our government did not defend our honor. If this was Iraq, you would expect our President to defend our honor. This should be an insult to every African American in his administration and those serving in Iraq. Secretary Rice, like the rest of us, is being depicted in a negative manner. A culture is expressed through its art. And this art is a cultural affront to not only black people in the U.S., black people in Mexico, but black people around the world.” However, President Fox contends the images are not offensive. “The other minorities or the Afro-Americans or Latins, I would suggest to them that they first, read the magazine, get the information and then express publicly their opinion,” Fox told the AP. “On our side, we know that all Mexicans love the character and we’re going to keep it where it is as a recognition.”