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FEATURE MAY 6-7, 2021 Taco Trail includes mo

Photo by Visit KC

By Fletcher Smith

The Kansas City, Kansas (KCK) Taco Trail, which opened Oct. 1, 2020, was created by Visit Kansas City Kansas (Visit KC) to draw attention to the taco scene in Kansas City, Kansas. The trail includes 52 restaurants, featuring street tacos, TexMex style tacos, and more, ranging in location from the Legends Outlets to right across the Kansas River from downtown Kansas City, Missouri. Most of these restaurants allow patrons the option to either dinein, carry-out, or even have meals delivered, depending on how close one lives to the restaurant.

“Many people are unaware of the concentration of authentic taquerias in KCK,” Alan Carr, executive director of Visit KC, said. “This is part of a broader initiative to highlight the culture and diversity of Kansas City, Kansas, and encourage more visitors to explore our neighborhoods.”

The KCK Taco Trail has been a huge success. “In the first six months, more than 8,000 people have downloaded the online pass and nearly 8,000 have checked-in at restaurants,” Carr said. “We’ve already had 8 people complete the trail and visit all 52 restaurants. In addition, we are getting national publicity with a recent article on Forbes.com about our Taco Trail with the headline, ‘America’s Taco Capital Isn’t Where You Think.’”

To explore the KCK Taco Trail some more, I decided to travel to some of the restaurants on the trail and explore for myself the different taco styles and restaurants of Kansas City, Kansas.

Taco Republic: My first stop was at Taco Republic, a mainly-street taco restaurant on the corner of Mission Rd. and W. 47th Ave. Situated across the street from the original Joe’s KC, the small yet colorful building appears inviting, and has plenty of patio seating. There is not a lot of area to park if it is busy (and, with its popularity, it is unsurprising if it is busy), but I was able to find a spot just before they were all taken.

With several tables inside, as well as a small bar, the inside felt cozy and welcoming. I ordered four S&P tacos, which contained shredded chicken, republic cheese, lettuce, and pico de gallo, but customers have the choice to order any combination of tacos they want, ranging from beef to veggie tacos, and flour tortillas can be requested on any taco in replacement of the usual corn tortillas.

With my first bite I knew why Taco Republic was so popular. All the elements within the taco felt perfectly balanced, and they all complemented each other extremely well. What surprised me the most, though, was that with each bite the balance remained, and I never grew tired of it, even after four tacos.

After I finished eating, I decided to order the sopapillas, expecting the usual four or six that are usually provided at Mexican restaurants. The server came out with 12 freshly made sopapillas and a cup of warm dipping chocolate. After the shock wore off, I ate four incredibly soft and warm sopapillas before deciding that I had already had too much. Luckily, the server came back and offered me a bag for the sopapillas and a cup for the chocolate so that I could take them home and eat them later.

Amigos Grill and

Cantina: My next stop was at Amigos Grill and Cantina, just off highway 635 by Shawnee Drive. I ordered carry-out for my whole family, and, despite the large order, it only took about 20 minutes to make every meal, so it was ready to grab by the time I got there.

When it came time to eat, I started with the chips and salsa. The chips were salted almost perfectly, and the salsa had a little bit of acidity, which I thought to be from lime, but it actually helped enhance the flavor a little more, and I might have ended up eating more chips than I needed.

For my tacos, I ordered the taco authenticos, which included three pork carnitas tacos mixed with cilantros and onions in soft shell corn tortillas. Since I had never had pork carnitas, I was a little nervous with my bold choice of meal, but knew after my first bite that my risk had paid off. The pork, onions, and cilantro combined together to create a taste I had never experienced, and I ate my first taco before deciding to be even more adventurous and put the salsa on my next taco. The small amount of acidity blended almost perfectly with everything else, and I finished my last taco the same way.

FEATURE re than 50 restaurants

La Fuente Mexican

Street Food: My last stop was at La Fuente Mexican Street Food, located in the Legends Outlets. I went at around 2:30 p.m., so there was not much of a wait. The inside was set up as a Chipotle-style restaurant, where you order the kind of meal you want, as well as the meats, and then put every other topping on it afterwards. The men at the counter were great at helping me figure out what I wanted, and were very generous with how much they put in my meal.

I ordered three chicken street tacos, and I decided to put shredded cheese, lettuce, pico de gallo, and their “medium” salsa on top of it. When I picked up my first taco, it was so stuffed that some of its components fell out onto my other tacos, and juice started to drip out as well. I took my first bite and quickly realized where all that juice was coming from. The chicken was very juicy, and it never dried up through all three tacos.

The juiciness combined with the warm taco shells and the salsa that was perfectly tuned for my taste buds. To keep this taste in my mouth, my brain must have decided to eat as continuously as possible, because, before I knew it, I had finished my first two tacos. I decided to slow down for my last taco so I could really taste every bite and enjoy it for as long as I could. That strategy only lasted for a couple bites, and I ended up eating the taco almost as fast as the other two, which left my mouth feeling sad and forced me to seriously consider going up to the counter and ordering three more tacos, but I ultimately decided against it.

To sign up for the KCK Taco Trail, visit the KCK Taco Trail page on the Visit KC website. From there, a Taco Trail pass can be obtained for free. The pass is mobile exclusive and is instantly delivered by text and email. There is no app associated with the Trail that needs to be downloaded, although the Taco Trail pass can be bookmarked to make it easy to find.

Once trail-goers have the pass, they can check-in to whichever location they decide to go to. Prizes are offered to those who checkin to a certain number of restaurants, which is shown to the right of this article. The trail is open until Oct. 31, 2021, so, if you want to win some of the prizes listed above, explore the taco scene in KCK, or just find a great place to eat with your friends and family, you can sign up for the trail until then.

With the success of the KCK Taco Trail, there have been questions as to whether Visit KC will create more trails. Luckily, the KCK Taco Trail seems to be just the beginning. “We are developing a series of themed trails, which can help us draw attention to small businesses and lesser-known sites in neighborhoods throughout KCK,” Carr said. “The KCK Taco Trail was the first trail to launch, but we have more planned… we hope to create 1-2 new themed trails per year that spotlight different aspects of Kansas City, Kansas. Our next trail will be a heritage trail telling the story of the journeys of the groups that have made their home here. We hope to launch that by the fall.”

Rising numbers of hate crimes against Asian Americans shouldn’t be a surprise

By: Melody Jiang Discourse and awareness surrounding Asian Americans and their status in America have been circulating a lot more recently on the internet and on the news (think #StopAsianHate, which has been a trending topic in recent weeks.) All of this stems from the recent attention on the rising numbers of hate crimes against Asian Americans, specifically the spa shootings that recently occured in Atlanta, Georgia. While this rise of Asian hate crimes seems like a new phenomenon, it is hardly a recent occurrence. Ever since Asians (specifically the Chinese) began arriving in America in large numbers beginning in the 19th century, they have been targeted and discriminated against. One of the earliest examples of a major hate crime against Asians was the Chinese massacre of 1871, in which 17 Chinese men and boys were lynched in the Chinese community of Los Angeles. And there was the spike of hate crimes against Muslims that occured after 9/11- those perceived to be from the Middle East (much of which constitutes West Asia) and those perceived to be Muslim (including large numbers of Southeast Asians) were targeted. Though most Asian Americans have never been the target of a hate crime before, nearly all have been the target of pervasive racism that is all too prominent and normalized in American society. Even in this day and age, Asian Americans are constantly reduced to stereotypes that are racist and outdated, including the exotisiation and fetizization of Asian women stemming from the idea that they are “naturally submissive”, the idea that they are savage peoples who still eat dogs, cats and bats, or even the misconception that all Asians are lawyers, doctors, and engineers. This is all to say that there is already a precedent set against Asian Americans in this country today, although it is largely ignored, or people simply do not know about it, because of the lack of knowledge or understanding of Asian Americans’ “place” in American society. And out of this ignorance, a culture or understanding is formed, where sinophobia (anti-Chinese sentiment) and disrespect of all Asians in general is okay and tolerated. So it should really come as no surprise that with the coronavirus originating in China and the tense political climate between the US and China at the moment, sinophobia and antagonism against all Asian Americans have risen dramatically over the past several years, the latter of which has risen largely because many people assume all Asians are Chinese- there have been too many incidents like the one where a Filipino medical worker was shoved to the ground and told to “go back to [expletive] China,” according to the British Broadcasting Corporation. The rise in hate crimes isn’t just confined to the past year and the onset of the pandemic, however. It’s been rising for several years, mostly due to political rhetoric and media coverage of Asian countries. Political and economic tensions between the world’s two most prominent superpowers, China and the US, have heightened this neo Cold War atmosphere. And like the original Cold War, propaganda and media coverage have been extensively used to turn the masses against China, and subsequently, Chinese and Asian people. A quick Google search of recent headlines on China- “China Plays Up Ascendancy Over West as It Sets Economic Path” (WSJ), “Why China’s Space Program Could Overtake NASA” (CNN), for example, are indicators of the constant divide being created between China and the US, forcing a narrative of “us vs. them” that results in Asian Americans being caught in the crossfire of these tensions. Political leaders have been even less subtle with their villainization of China, such as former president Donald Trump’s constant referral to coronavirus as the “China virus” or “kung flu.” The onset of the pandemic certainly hasn’t made things better. Hate crimes against Asians multiplied beginning last year- the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism found that Asian hate crimes had risen 149% from 2019 to 2020, especially worse when compared with the 7% drop in hate crimes last year. (Poynter) But this pattern of behavior has been seen before. During the San Francisco plague outbreak of 1900, the first victim in the United States was a Chinese immigrant, and so police surrounded the city’s Chinatown, with the entire community subsequently being blamed for the onset of the disease, even though it’s likely that the plague itself originated from a boat arriving from Australia. (Washington Post) It’s because of racism that Asian people have been constantly blamed for coronavirus, and now more than ever are they taking the brunt of these consequences. Whatever the reasoning behind any of these recent hate crimes might be, it’s impossible to deny that a culture that has normalized the dehumanization and mockery of Asian Americans has led to a consistent rise of hate crimes against them. Even though education and awareness can only go so far in combating the rising wave of Asian discrimination, it’s still essential for people to unlearn old stereotypes and assumptions, and to learn about the nuanced place in American society that Asian Americans hold - and most importantly, to understand that Asian Americans are just like all other Americans in this country - free people living in a free country that deserve to be treated as such.

Illustration by Gagani Liyanawaduge Lack of media representation perpetuates stereotypes and hate for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders

By: Gagani Liyanawaduge Asian American representation in media matters because it can shape how a minority is viewed by others and what a minority might think of themself. Asian American Pacific Islander heritage month is May, and the goal is to celebrate AAPI heritage and educate others about the different cultures of AAPI. Diversity in media is a huge issue, and AAPI are the least if not one of the least represented in media. This lack of representation causes others to view AAPI negatively, and perpetuates hate crimes against AAPI. When AAPIs are represented, they usually aren’t portrayed positively. In Disney Channel’s “Jessie,” Ravi is an adoptee from India. He is portrayed as weak, extremely gullible, awkward, and intelligent. Ravi is often laughed at because of these traits; his character was created solely for white laughs. His character pushes the stereotype that brown Asians are “nerds” and lack social skills. Asian women are often hypersexualized and fetishized in the media, portrayed as submissive, exotic, or docile (NPR). This specific portrayal of Asian women is what influenced a white terrorist to murder 8 people, 6 of which who were Asian women, in Atlanta on March 16. He targeted businesses run by Asian women, as his goal was to “eliminate” a “temptation” from his “sexual addiction,” according to the Cherokee County sheriff. Lack of proper representation is a significant contributing factor for hate towards AAPIs. When AAPIs do receive representation in the media, they are often overlooked for awards in favor of more traditionally white media. “Minari,” a movie about a Korean-American family living in Arkansas in the 1980s, won “Best Foreign Language Film” at the Golden Globes. While this is a great accomplishment, it did not meet the 50 percent English requirement to be eligible for a nomination in the best picture category. This is controversial because other movies that do not meet the 50 percent English requirement such as Quentin Tarantino’s “Inglourious Basterds” from 2009, have been nominated for best picture in the past and won. BTS broke more world records with their single “Dynamite,” accomplishing “most viewed YouTube video in 24 hours,” “the most viewed YouTube music video in 24 hours,” and “the most viewed YouTube music video in 24 hours by a K-pop group” (Guinness World Records). “Dynamite” was nominated for best pop duo/group performance, competing against “UN DIA (ONE DAY)” by J Balvin, Dua Lipa, Bad Bunny & Tainy; “Intentions” by Justin Bieber feat. Quavo; “Rain on Me” by Lady Gaga with Ariana Grande; and “Exile” by Taylor Swift feat. Bon Iver. Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande’s “Rain on Me” won, despite not being as successful as “Dynamite.” AAPI representation in the media has to be increased and portrayed properly. Disney’s live action versions of “Aladdin” and “Mulan” had AAPI actors, but the creators and directors were all white. Those in charge of everything behind the scenes should be those of AAPI descent so that they can be represented properly. Proper representation will help end stereotypes and hate towards AAPIs.