I wanted to share my thoughts on Geno’s Steaks owner Joey Vento who over the last couple of years has made personal racist attacks against Mexican residents in the South Philly area under the shadow of what Mr Vento calls “patriotic.” 

Recently Vento exploited the Mummers parade in 2009 with his racist thoughts and acts towards Mexican immigrants & Mexican Americans residing in the Philadelphia area. 

About 3 years ago, Joey Vento approached me in South Philly and wanted my support against the Mexican population building up in the general area of the Italian Market on 9th Street and in Joey Vento’s own words stated the Mexicans were taking over the Italian Market area, ruining an Italian icon for over several decades in our city, in addition to saying that Mexicans were lazy bums, drug dealers, violent offenders and that Mexicans needed to go back to Mexico.  Joey Vento tried to explain the Mexicans were committing the majority of crime in Philadelphia amongst the Latino population and that the Mexicans were a burden to the Philadelphia welfare system.

I wanted to start with stating that Joey Vento is nothing more than a racist Italian American who uses his financial wealth from Geno’s Cheese Steaks business to exploit the Philadelphia Police Department. Joey Vento donating large sums of money towards Philadelphia Police Department related honorable causes is building strength towards his racist personal agendas towards Mexican South Philly residents who are growing heavily in population and buying up many of the once Italian owned store fronts and business in the Italian Market area of Philadelphia in what Joey Vento calls his Italian heritage back yard. 

The last time that Joey Vento and I spoke was in the summer of 2007 and I felt extremely sickened by his racist topics and general conversation regarding Mexican residents in the South Philly area.  The conversation reminded me “White” Philadelphians who back in the 1960’s & 1970’s stated similar racist ideas towards Philadelphia’s growing African American population in the South Philly area. Now Joey Vento has exploited a Philadelphia tradition in slandering in a racist fashion the Philadelphia’s Mummers Parade 2009 (Did routine cross bad-taste border? | Philadelphia Daily News | 01/03/2009 )

This growing racist concern of Joey Vento geared towards Mexican Philadelphia residents needs to be investigated and put to a stop once and for all by the Nutter Administration.

I will finish by saying that it has been my experience over the last 34 years as an activist in Philadelphia that the Mexican residents in Philadelphia have been nothing less than hard working residents building on what truly can be said of the American Dream that built this great country that was built by immigrants of all races and national origins, not just Italian immigrants.