Not all Mexicans are short and brown

Dear Mexican: I often read your babosadas here in New Mexico. Now, let me get this straight: You appear to be a bright guy who claims to have the Mexican people all figured out, right? To you, we are all 5’6″, medium-complected, and we all pray to Moctezuma to come…

Fact and fiction about the mysterious chupacabra

Dear Mexican: Why is it que cada vez that I talk to a Hispanic (not many Mexicans in New York yet), it seems that they have a fantasma that they think lives in their house? I know that Carlos Mencia has used this in his material, but I wonder if…

Why do Mexicans use ALL CAPS?

Dear Mexican: When the Second World War ended, the Germans and Japanese had to return all territories they had acquired by force. The U.S. acquired most of the West by force from Mexico, due to the war with Mexico. Agreed, the U.S. won the war with Mexico, but did that…

Mexicans know I’m black — what gives?

Dear Mexican: I am a mocha-skinned woman with long, curly hair and dark-brown eyes. Puerto Ricans always ask if I am Puerto Rican; Dominicans just come and start speaking Spanish; Cubans ask if my abuelita made good arroz con leche — but Mexicans know I’m black. What gives? La Morena…

Can a gringo run for president of Mexico?

Dear Mexican: The perception of Mexico having a defective culture has come up in your column several times. It’s most important to point out the historical differences. The United States was invaded by settlers who came to live here permanently. Mexico was conquered by gold-seeking thugs who wanted to return…

Should I speak Spanish to the Mexicans in my neighborhood?

Dear Mexican: I’m a white, rural, ninth-generation Texan who left the farm and is now a lawyer for a large corporation in one of the largest cities in the state. Maybe a quarter of the clients they assign me speak Spanish, so the company’s paying for me to learn Spanish…

Mariachi has its origins in Jalisco

Dear Mexican: My gabacho friends look at me askance for being a gabacho who enjoys mariachi music. They, and even some of my Mexican friends, run and hide when I go a step further and start listening to the mournful ballads of Vicente Fernandez, backed up by — you guessed…

Why do people scoff at pregnant Mexican girls?

Dear Mexican: I’m not Mexican (or from a Spanish-speaking country), but I get mad when the gabachos in my town say that all Mexican girls do is take drugs and get pregnant, drop out of school and end up on welfare. I know a lot of Mexican women who haven’t…

Why do Mexicans cut down agave plants?

Dear Mexican: I think I have a Mexican problem. In short, I have a home in sunny California on a property with an abundance of agave cactus and Century plants growing along the street. Every year for the past twenty years, five to ten cactus leaves (three to four feet…

Is it racist to give my Mexican gardener my old stuff?

Dear Mexican: I live in a moderately fancy-ass suburb of Dallas, am super-white and make decent money. Naturally, I have a Mexican gardener/lawn dude who works his ass off, has fourteen brothers and sisters in Guanajuato, employs all his relatives, etc. He also has a sweet wife and three little…

Reader claims that Mexico has a defective culture

Dear Mexican: Someone wrote you a while back wondering why Mexicans have made a mess of their beautiful country. You got all bent out of shape because he called Mexico a Third World country instead of a “bottom tier” First World country. I think you missed the point of the…

Why do Mexican teenagers shave their heads?

Dear Mexican: Why can AeroMexico Airlines fly through any kind of weather conditions to get to and from the United States, but any kind of little ice sprinkle or heavy wind, and domestic airlines in the U.S. cancel two days’ worth of flights? For two consecutive winters, I’ve had Chicago-to-Houston-to-Leon,…

What’s the deal with Mexicans and pinatas?

Dear Mexican: This güero downloaded the Arizona SB 1070 bill, did a search on the document for “Mexicans,” and did not come up with a single hit. What’s up with that? Since you are such an acknowledged expert at pointing out Mexican-hating here in the American Southwest (your words, not…

Not all Mexicans know how to dance salsa

Dear Mexican: I am a mutt. My father’s father was an illegal immigrant from Mexico. My mother’s father was an illegal immigrant from Ireland. My surname is Mexican and is usually mispronounced by gabachos and pendejos alike. I look more Irish than Mexican. And as my father never spoke it…