My name is Ramón Vega-Ramirez. I am 51 years old. I am Hispanic. I am Latino. I would call here home. I’ve been here for 27 years. Home means everything. I’m living here. I don’t have anything in Mexico. My childhood was poor, but happy. I grew up in Mexico – in many cities like Guadalajara, Tijuana. My family here is my wife and my daughters. I like being part of the Hispanic community. I’m the leader of the Hispanic community here. If someone has a problem, I am there to help.
I’m a believer in Jesus. My faith in God. I wake up and go to the fryer. I don’t really believe in going to church, but I pray at night and day. I used to go to church. I assist with all and any churches, if they need any help, not one church in specific.
I am fluent in Spanish, but I’m learning English! Sometimes, I prefer not to speak English because it’s not very good.
I did not go to college. I came here when I was 23. I worked at a dairy farm, chicken farm, and pork farms. I started the Taco Truck only 7 years ago. We have lived in Fairmont for 9 years.
We opened Taco Truck in 2017. It started off as a table with everything for food. We got a special permit from the county. We didn’t have a plan to make food. The people started asking for food, so we made food. We own the store “Las Potrancas” which means young female horses. I named it that because I only have girls, and I really like horses. My dad taught horses…like charro. It’s kind of like showing horses. I like horses. My dad likes horses. Vicente Fernandez, a famous singer, named his clothing stores in Mexico “Los Potrillos”. He had 4 boys. I had 4 girls, so I made “Las Potrancas”. I spent eight days thinking of that name when we first bought the store.
We also have a Mexican grocery store, but there’s more candy than anything. There’s also piñata, pop, and pre-packaged food. It depends on the weather, but the Taco Truck normally opens in April and closes when the temperature is too cold.
I don’t have free time. I’m working all week. On Sundays, we like to eat at other restaurants. Jaja, I like to wash clothes in my free time? I am passionate about music, soccer, and cooking.
Similarities: There are not really any similarities between Mexico and Fairmont. It’s very different there.
Differences: The type of life is different. There’s less vandalism here. It’s more peaceful and safe here.
September 16 is important for us Mexicans. It is Mexico’s Independence Day. Every year, we give free food. If we can’t do that in September, we give free food to the schools or the churches. I don’t celebrate religious holidays like Christmas. We celebrate birthdays. Normally, we would celebrate Cinco de Mayo, but we don’t do that. We celebrate here in the United States because American people celebrate Cinco de Mayo. I don’t really know why they celebrate it. I ask them why they are celebrating, and they say, “I don’t know, but it’s a day to drink beer”. I remind them it was a day that the Mexicans won a battle against the French. It is celebrated more here in the United States than it is in Mexico.
Our favorite foods are tacos and enchiladas. I enjoy making them and eating them. I am a baker. I hope that one of my kids will become a cook or a baker.
I have experienced racism and discrimination. I am working on it because there is a lot of that here. I am discriminated against at the courthouse, the city hall, and people that have power like cops, judges, mayors, etc. A time when I felt discriminated against, a police officer came up to me at work. He yelled at me and called me a criminal. He said that he was going to take my daughter away. I got probation for one year for that one. When I was on probation, my probation officer would ask me if I was on drugs or if I was drinking. I would say no. She would ask me why not? She didn’t believe me.
Sometimes, I come to translate things at City Hall. People will laugh at me. Yeah, I feel that. Sometimes, we go to the thrift store. There was this one time that someone would just repeat everything I would say in Spanish just to make fun of us. There have been other times, too.
We are working to speak up. We can’t stop all of this, but we are trying to talk with the mayor and City Hall to improve that. The discrimination and the racism has stopped a little bit, at least with the cops. When we moved here first, police would stop anyone with black hair. Now, that doesn’t happen as much because I have stood up for myself so many times. One time, at the police station, I fought with the sheriff. He wanted my fingerprints and I asked why. He said you know why. I really didn’t. He asked if I wanted to be explained in Spanish. He said, “No te hagas, guay, you know what I am talking about” when I was trying to help someone get out of jail. “Guay” is a word that we use in Mexico to say stupid. This sheriff that is discriminating is also Hispanic.
A challenge that I have faced in my life is when my daughter was in a court case. She was taken from my family when she was just fifteen years old. I just stood up for my family to get her back. I had to fight with the courthouse, human services, etc. It lasted about a year. She was gone for a year in a foster home. I’ve talked many times to the social workers and the principals about discrimination. They thought she was crazy, so she was in and out of mental hospitals. There are problems in adolescence.
Teachers aren’t helpful anymore, especially compared to Mexico. In my point of view, they are just getting money without doing anything. They don’t have enough time with students. They can’t explain things anymore. We say that’s technology’s fault. I don’t blame the system; I blame the teachers.
My values are education, respect, service to others, and generosity. I inspire myself because I don’t see anyone above me. I consider myself a very intelligent person. I am not inspired by anyone to do what I do. It comes from within. I’m proud of everything that I have - my family, my store, my houses, and helping the Hispanic community here. One of my dreams is to be a resident in this country. I want to start a “fonda” a small restaurant that serves different food every single day.
We hope that this community will grow with businesses. I hope to see more Hispanic businesses. I want to put a Mexican bakery here, but maybe that’s not possible. And obviously, we want to see less racism. We also want to see something fun downtown like a plaza – a place for a band to play in the future like a kiosko in Mexico. Maybe my grandson could see something like that. We see a lot of younger people in the parks buying drugs, you know. We want to see kids coming together at the center of the town. Maybe we could do that if the city changes their rules around starting a business. There are very strict rules to get a permit and start a business in this city. In Mankato or St. James, you can start a business quite easily. If this city doesn’t change, I might consider moving to open a bakery and find another city for my business. I want the system to be easier. It took about two years for us to open the Mexican grocery store because of the process to get a permit.