The Latino Pastoral Narrative: Backstretch workers in Kentucky
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T h e L a t i n o Pas t o ra l N a r ra t i v e : B a c k s t r e t c h w o r ker s i n Ken t u c k y
G a b r i e l a N u n˜ e z California State University, Fullerton.
Abstract This study analyzes the Latino Pastoral Narrative as a productive attempt to humanize immigrant Latina/o workers in Kentucky, who are often criminalized in legislation and xenophobic discourses across the United States. Select contemporary cultural texts employ this discourse to make a case for the incorporation and acceptance of backstretch workers based on their dedication to horses and appreciation for nature in Kentucky, therefore situating Latina/o workers as vital to the horseracing industry. This analysis also addresses the limitations of this narrative in its assumptions about the types of labor naturally suited to Latinas/os in relation to racial, classed and gendered divisions of labor. Latino Studies (2012) 10, 107–127. doi:10.1057/lst.2012.15 Keywords: Latina/o workers; ecocriticism; anti-immigrant discourses; Latina/o documentary film; the Latino Pastoral Narrative
C a b a lli t o ve n p a’ ac a´, ca ba ll i t o v e n ı´ p ara aca´: In c o rp o ra ti ng L a t i na / o Wo r ke rs in t o Ke nt u c k y t h ro u g h t he i r P e rc e i v e d Relationships wit h An im als an d Na ture In anticipation of the 2010 Kentucky Derby, or “the most exciting two minutes in sports”, the Spanish-language biweekly publication, Al Dı´a en Ame´rica, with distribution throughout the state, published an article, Caballito ven pa’ aca´: los vaqueros del Churchill Downs [Come Here Horsey: The Cowboys of Churchill Downs], in which journalist Luis De Leo´n emphasizes the vital role that Mexican and Guatemalan workers play r 2012 Macmillan Publishers Ltd. 1476-3435 Latino Studies www.palgrave-journals.com/lst/
Vol. 10, 1–2, 107–127
Nun˜ez
1 While readers may be more familiar with horse jockeys, especially as some of the more wellknown jockeys in the past decade have been Latin American, I focus on the cultural representations of a specific niche of Latino horseindustry workers, more commonly known as backside or backstretch workers. Backstretch workers maintain the horses and barns located on racetracks and rural farms. Churchill Downs is a racetrack in Louisville, Kentucky that hosts the Kentucky Derby every May. The Derby horserace and the 2-week derby festival associated with the race generated an estimated $93.6 in 2001 for the local Louisville economy (Churchill Downs Inc, 2010). 2 The translations from Spanishlanguage articles to English by De Leo´n and Marı´n are my own. 108
in the maintenance of the horseracing industry. De Leo´n (2010) tells the story of a young worker from Michoaca´n, Mexico who has worked in the United States for 3 years. Mariana is a “hot walker”, meaning she wakes up at 4:00 a.m. to walk and feed racehorses, clean their stables and repeats the routine in the afternoon. As one of 1000 workers at the famous Churchill Downs Racetrack in Louisville, Kentucky, Mariana is one of 600 Latino backstretch workers who exercise
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