On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Mexican-born Jorge García was deported and forced to leave his family behind in the United States. After emotional footage of his family saying goodbye went viral, it caught the eye of Texas rapper Chamillionaire, who emailed reporter Niraj Warikoo asking how he could help García’s family.
Warikoo shared a screenshot of that email on Twitter, and while some praised Chamillionaire for his support, he also received negative comments from those who believed he was using the story as a way to garner publicity. But in a couple of Instagram videos, he addressed some of the misconceptions and talked about his longstanding relationship with the Mexican community.
He started off by reiterating that Warikoo didn’t help him get in contact with Jorge’s family. “Unfortunately, a journalist that I reached out to took the email that I sent to him that I was trying to keep private and made it public,” he said. “And for those of you familiar with me, you know I’m the last person to chase publicity or attention. So I would like to say thank you to the wonderful people on social media that did more than just criticize, the people who helped me get in touch with Jorge García’s wife, Cindy García. We had a dope conversation.”
He went on to explain that as the son of immigrants, he understands how immigrant communities can be unfairly portrayed, and he directed everyone to the GoFundMe page that Cindy started.
In a second video, Chamillionaire addressed a question about Black and brown solidarity. “A lot of people here be saying they don’t understand why a Black man would want to help Mexicans and nonsense like ‘They don’t do nothing for us. Black people need to only help Black people,’” he said. “I’m sorry you feel that way, but I’m from Texas, Tejas. I know a lot of you have been misled to believe that toxic narrative that ‘Mexicans are doing this, and Mexicans are doing that,’ like they aren’t valuable contributors to our economy and our society.”
Chamillionaire shared his positive experience living alongside Mexicans. He revealed that two Mexicans producers were behind his hit song “Ridin,’” and credited his Mexican manager with helping make it a success. He also explained that his shows have always been packed with Mexican audience members.
Check out his second video below.