Racial slur towards
Mexican people who immigrated to California. Named after the children's books, "What's Wrong Little Pookie?" and "
I love you, Little Pookie," it was a way for
white people to refer to them as "pigs" or "swine".
From the peer reviewed journal article "The Geography of Undocumented Mexican Migration", California's growth of illegal immigration was cited, "Over time, however, California came to dominate while Texas receded in importance. By 1960, California led with 42 percent of all Mexican immigrants..."
Due to the shifting economy and upward scale of unemployment, businesses turned towards these migrant workers for labor in order to cut costs. This was also the time that we were moved off of the gold standard and the dollar was in flux.
A large portion of the diet of the time was pork and as Mexican cuisine grew in popularity, so did the slur.