Name / Nombre : George Lopez Title / Titulo : Actor , Comedian , Late Night TV Host , Writer and Producer What is your Pais ? Mexican American
Jolie Gonzalez / Latin Times : First , I wanted to ask you about the Outback Pro Am Tournament , how long have you been involved in it and tell me more about it . George Lopez : This is my third year , you know I don ’ t come from a golfing background , but I have to tell you the truth , I didn ’ t know my father , I was corajudo when I was a kid . I quit on everything , and the one thing that has taught me more than any living relative is the game of golf , because you can get mad , you can quit , or you can cheat but if you ’ re honest and you ’ re calm in your temperament and you have respect , it ’ s not how you play the game but what you learn . Really I ’ m not the best golfer , I don ’ t want to be , but for a guy who used to get mad at everything , to go out there and have fun and sign things and be around people is a major , major accomplishment for me from where I came from .
Jolie Gonzalez / Latin Times : What message would you give to young Latinos or Latinas that are struggling in life and have a dream , what would you say to them about pursuing that dream ? George Lopez : Well everything is possible , you have a President of color , you have a Latino talk show host , you have actresses , actors , politicians , doctors , lawyers , a supreme court justice that ’ s a Latina ; that ’ s fantastic . So there ’ s no limitations for what you want to do , whatever -- a fireman , you want to be a nurse , an x-ray technician , you want to be a law assistant , whatever you want -- the only thing is , you have to motivate yourself . Speaking as a general Latino , I can ’ t wait around for you to help me , we have to help ourselves . So many times we wait around for someone to help us , when we got to do something for ourselves , and it starts with a small step , asking a question , taking some advice . We never ask for help , we have to think by getting our pride out of the way and thinking that asking for help is a weakness , it ’ s an asset not a weakness .
Jolie Gonzalez / Latin Times : Who ( here or departed ) do you consider to be a Latino role model for you ?
George Lopez : I think it would have to be Caesar Chavez , deceased , ( living is Delores Huerta ) for what he has done , a living role model but only for the rights of people , the hard working people , who run this country from the ground up . Unfortunately , due to the fasting and hunger strikes , he deteriorated himself and his body , but his legacy continues . That blood runs through all of us , he has a fantastic family who carries on his legacy . If you look at the Latinos , we work from the ground up in this country ; we are at work earlier and stay later than everyone else -- you can put borders but , this country cannot run without us . We are like the oil in the engine : you need the oil , or the engine will burn up . There are so many different Latinos within the culture ; Cuban , Argentinean , Puerto Rican , Mexican , Salvadorian , people say Hispanic but , to call us Hispanics does us a disservice . In the census , we should have four lines instead of a box , I put Chicano , and I put beige . Chicano was on the census , which is surprising . I took my DNA you know , I ’ m four percent black , four percent Asian , thirty-two percent Native American and the rest Mexican , and I could just see all the settlers going to Mexico . The Chinitos making love to Mexicans and then el Negro is watching ,” Hey let me get in !” and then they all make George Lopez : cabezon con mucha cara !
Jolie Gonzalez / Latin Times : What would you say was your biggest challenge in life and how did you overcome it ? George Lopez : Well you know I had Kidney disease , this is a big thing for Latinos too , I was sick my whole life and we didn ’ t go to the doctor . With me , I wet the bed when I was a kid and my grandmother would say “ Don ’ t drink any water after eight , concentrate , don ’ t let him sleep in the bed .” If they would have taken me to the doctor they would have found out I had a birth defect . In our culture when somebody does something wrong either they cry out of one eye or they wet the bed , or get tired and sleepy , there ’ s a cause for that and I could have saved myself a lot of heartache if I had gone to the doctor but , I came from a family who didn ’ t go to the doctor , we come from a culture that doesn ’ t go to the doctor . This is why we are not so concerned whether Obama ’ s healthcare passed , but we need to take better care of ourselves everyday and our children , it starts with what we eat , then it goes back to the farm workers . Jolie Gonzalez / Latin Times : Tell us about your familia ? George Lopez : My wife ? My wife gave me my kidney five years ago Monday April 19 th , she saved me from myself . I drank a lot and disrespected people and women , you just learn that the hard way cause it wasn ’ t taught that we need to respect people as people . Like the woman ’ s place is this place or not to respect , and their opinion doesn ’ t matter , I married a strong Cuban woman and I ’ m happy that I did cause that ’ s my partner , she taught me to “ cuela ”, to go around to people and to talk when I didn ’ t want to talk . Now I have a talk show . I ’ m a guy that twenty years ago wouldn ’ t talk to anybody in a room full of people and now I have a talk show that ’ s connected to her como lo slums de “ Slum Dog Millionaire ” that could have been a movie made in Mexico , you look at that movie , that ’ s people from India , that ’ s a Mexican story , a Latino story , that ’ s everybody ’ s story , we are all Slum Dog Millionaires , we all learn the hard way .
Jolie Gonzalez / Latin Times : Who do you think “ Latino or Latina ” could run for President in the next eight years , and win ? George Lopez : Umm , I am not sure where we are politically ; umm you know that ’ s a good question … ( thinking )
Jolie Gonzalez / Latin Times : Would it surprise you to hear that at least one of our Latino Movers N Shakers mentioned YOU !? George Lopez : “ Laugh ”, I am flattered , I would not pass the background check though , pero to be friends with the President of the United States and to be welcome into the White House , as a Chicano , is great , and the fiesta de los Latinos on PBS and to have that music played , and to have a President that appointed a Latina to the supreme court justice …… because she was the most qualified , not because she was Latina , it just so happens . That is change in the right direction so , when you have all these tea parties and all these people who are one way , you can ’ t forget that there is another way too , and the people who don ’ t like change are the ones throwing tea parties and fighting the system . I wish I had time to take off during the day and go have a tea party and complain about Obama , My ass is working !