The University of Arizona Hispanic student organization M.E.Ch.A. is lobbying the owner of Illegal Pete’s to change the restaurant’s name.
In a letter to Pete Turner, founder of the Colorado chain of seven restaurants, the group said that the name was offensive to Hispanics, who make up a far larger percentage of the population than his markets in Colorado.
“We are not like other communities where your business exists, and we are more than willing to show you that,” the group wrote. “We are here to tell you that no longer will you be able to claim blissful ignorance and profit from racism.”
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Turner was unavailable to comment Thursday morning. In an email, he said he was in Denver training the crew from Tucson.
Turner, who opened his first restaurant in Colorado in 1995, told the Star last spring that the name was meant to be “mysterious” and playful, and pays homage to his late father, whose name also was Pete.
Critics have said the name speaks anti-immigration volumes, something Turner has repeatedly defended.
“Words change in meaning. That word in particular is not a bad word. And who knows if it changes. Hopefully there will be some (immigration) reform in the next five years and things will change back,” he said last spring.
This is not the first time Turner has faced backlash over the name. Residents in Fort Collins, Colorado, also petitioned him to change it when he opened there in late 2014.
Illegal Pete’s is expected to open in mid-December at 876 E. University Blvd., former home of clothing stores Franklin’s and Landmark.
M.E.Ch.A. de University of Arizona in its letter told Turner that while he controls his business, “We, as voices of both the Latina/o community of Tucson and the University of Arizona student community … control our community.
“We are here to tell you that you will no longer be able to continue under this hateful name,” the letter states. “This letter is only the beginning.”
