Dear Mexican: I’m a 23-year-old Latina attending a Texas university. I’m taking a class centered around Latino culture and history. I’m a first-generation Tex-Mex kid, and lately all of the coursework has been making me feel angry/sad/confused, for lack of better phrasing. I don’t know how to handle these feelings,…
Dear Mexican: Why do cholos like the song “I’m Your Puppet,” by James & Bobby Purify? Is it this song, or is it all oldies they like? Aspiring Puppeteer Dear Gabacho: It ain’t just cholos who are down with oldies. Mexican-Americans of all social classes have kept that music genre…
Dear Mexican: Why are we put down by our own people for being educated and articulate (I’ve been called gabacho, and I’m as brown as the next guy) while the Anglos accept us for being smart? I work in Santa Ana as a high-school teacher and am considered very good…
Dear Mexican: Why do wabs, regardless of age and body size, always have one hand rubbing their bellies under their shirts? Is this something that is inherent in all wabs? I’m a pocho, and I’ve never seen other pochos do it. Pocho With Albóndigas Grandes Dear Pocho: What’s with the…
Dear Mexican: So there I was, sitting in Spanish class, like the good half-frog/half-wop (i.e., “frop”) that I am, when I observe the Spanish teacher write the word esposas up on the board. Imagine my shock/horror when the teacher told us that esposas has two meanings: “wives” and “handcuffs”! Please tell…
Dear Mexican: Recently, I visited a viejecita in an assisted-living home and wondered how I would fare in such a place. Fortunately, I like to eat cottage cheese, but I would like some salsa with it, or better yet, an occasional jalapeño en escabeche. Are there places for those of…
Dear Mexican: As I’ve been doing a lot more business in the city of Santa Ana (one of the most Mexican cities in the U.S.), I’ve realized that a shitload of Mexicans are the Fox News-type conservative, yacking out the same kind of shit you hear at a Glenn Beck…
Dear Mexican: What’s with the surge in restaurants, from other grupos like Filipinos, Chinese, Salvadoran and other Latin Americans, that advertise Mexican food on their menu? They go so far as add “and Mexican Food” to their logos! Isn’t it hard enough to make authentic food for a respective native…
Dear Mexican: Can you please explain to me why some Chicanos and mexicanos get offended when you speak to them in Spanish? As a fellow Chicano, I find it hard to believe that la raza gets offended by this genuine approach. Have you noticed this behavior yourself? That little dirty…
Dear Mexican: Do Mexicans sling racial slurs at each other or casually refer to each other as “wabs,” similar to the way blacks call each other “nigger?” What’s your take on the whole “nigger” thing, anyway?Kingfish the Cabrón Dear Blackfaced Wab: What do I think of “nigger”? Um, it’s bad?…
Dear Mexican: Why is rock en español so mellow? You’d think that with so much injustice, Mexican rock bands would sound angrier.El Gigante de Anaheim Dear Anaheim Giant: You’d think so, right? Back in the Mexican’s rockero days, groups like Maldita Vecindad, Café Tacuba, El Gran Silencio and so many…
Dear Mexican: I have a hard time believing that the immigrants we see at Home Depot are the best Mexico has to offer. Why can’t we entice more of the cream of the crop of Mexicans to come up north? (Mexico has the richest man in the world, so someone…
Dear Mexican: I live in Tucson and go to Mexico frequently. I kinda like Mexicans. Many Mexicans die in the Sonoran Desert in the Tucson border sector, trying to get to el otro lado. This is because your buddies at la migra in the L.A. sector have pushed them over…
Dear Mexican: I’m in college, and I’m taking a class called Latina Pop Culture. I thought it would be educational and informative about the rich Latino/a culture, and I was eager to learn. But the moment I entered the class, it was evident that I, as a white girl, would…
Dear Mexican: How did the patron saint of Mexico get a name derived from Arabic?El Moro Judio Dear Jewish Moor: You’re referring to the Virgin of Guadalupe, the brown-skinned apparition of the Virgin Mary who tradition says appeared before the Aztec peasant Juan Diego in December 1531 just outside modern-day…
Dear Mexican: The other day, my Italian boyfriend asked me, “If you had the choice to be any nationality in the world, which one would you choose?” Being the proud Latina that I am, I said, “Mexican.” He said, “Why? What have Mexicans done that is so great?” The only…
Gentle cabrones: Behold my annual Mexican Christmas guide, in which I recommend the best Mexi-themed libros for you to give to your loved ones this Navidad instead of yet another tamale to unwrap. Buy them at your local bookstore or order online, but do buy! Lowriting: Shots, Rides & Stories…
Dear Mexican: I’m a third-year university student, a liberal-studies and Spanish major. My family, extended and immediate, always like the chisme. During a family carne asada, we were all talking when one of my tías asked me what I was doing with my life; she and the rest of my…
Dear Mexican: I teach writing at a local community college. My students are writing their final essays on a local problem; I have one student who has decided to write about illegal immigration (specifically Mexican). We were discussing, as a class, each student’s project, and this student made a comment…
Dear Mexican: I was reading the comments (big mistake) on an article I recently read regarding St. Charles, Missouri, adopting Arizona-style immigration law. I was shocked at the amount of people who support this law, and my question to you is, why can’t people see the bad implications of that…
Dear Mexican: Why do Mexicans and gabachos resemble each other so much? Both are very conservative about sex, marriage and family. Both are very Christian, either Catholic or Protestant. Both keep similar attitudes toward immigrants. Both are very patriotic or nationalistic. Both deal with the same social issues, like high…
Dear Mexican: I’m interested in a job that says it is a plus to have an understanding of Latin, Spanish and Mexican music. I found out some names of musical styles such as Tejano, norteño, nariachi, banda, cumbia, merengue, flamenco, and so on. I’m wondering if there is a way…
