Why call him a Wetback?

I debated heavily over whether to give this blog the title it ended up with, so perhaps some of you would be interested in knowing why I chose to use such a pejorative term.


First of all, it is one of the pet names that Polo and I use for each other.  I often tell the story in Spanish that I followed "mi mojado" (my wetback) back to Mexico and "lo atrape ahi" (I caught him there).  We say about myself that I was a "media mojada", or half wetback, because I came to Mexico legally but worked there illegally.  For us, the term wetback has evolved into a term of endearment.


Secondly, the term wetback is pretty descriptive of Polo's experience, as he did have to cross the Rio Bravo, or Rio Grande as we call it in the north.  And as wetback refers in general to those who crossed illegally, that would be my husband.


Perhaps the greatest reason is simply that claiming a term for yourself and making it your own seems to disarm those who might use it against you, at least in as much as you lose your sense of offense and therefore deny the other party any satisfaction from using the term.


Clearly this term can be hurtful and very offensive to many, so I hope I have made clear here that this is not my purpose.  In discussion with Polo and other friends who know first hand how it feels to have this label applied to them, I chose to use it as it accurately describes the way my husband and I refer to ourselves.