The official Ask a Mexican holiday gift guide

Dear Readers: Behold your favorite Mexican’s annual Christmas gift guide, where I give shout-outs to some of my favorite books that deserve your money this holiday season! And for once I won’t recommend my books — ¡Ask a Mexican!, Orange County: A Personal History and Taco USA: How Mexican Food…

Are these Mexicans insulting me?

Dear Mexican: In President Bush’s State of the Union address, he reiterated a need for a guest-worker program. What is your opinion of such a program? The program seems like mierda that screws people over in the long run to me, but what do I know? Una Guerita por un…

Why are Mexicans better at organizing their paperwork?

Dear Mexican: Lately I’ve noticed a few bands, como Voodoo Glow Skulls, have embraced ska music both at home and in Mexico. I was curious what the appeal is for Mexicans in ska music. Also, if you had to turn people to Mexican ska, what would be your top five…

Will Mexicans laugh at the Spanish I learned in Spain?

Dear Mexican: After a year in Spain, I speak more-than-decent Spanish, and I want to get a job in the non-profit field, where I can put it to use and pursue social justice and all that. Thing is, my Spanish is pretty peninsular. I maintained my seseo, thank God, but…

Why do Mexicans refuse to eat chocolate?

Dear Mexican: Why is it that every Mexican I know refuses to eat chocolate? My in-laws drink things I wouldn’t clean my carburetor in. They fill their piñatas with every kind of hard candy — but no chocolate! I bring out a bag of M&Ms and everyone backs away to…

How do I get my mom to accept my girlfriend?

Dear Mexican: As a college-educated Mexican-American, I had my fair share of Chicanas in college…all of whom my jefita considered putas with books. But now that I’ve graduated, I’m going out with a gabacha for the first time. She’s nice — bilingual, tall, skinny, educated, and a liberal with liberal…

Is worshipping chickens a Mexican thing?

Dear Readers: The Mexican must take the week off because his home paper is publishing its annual Best Of issue (if the devil ever condemns you to visit Orange County, pick up the OC Weekly!). To honor our Best Of, here’s a doozy from 2006. If you’ve ever heard me…

Why do Chicanos want to claim Aztec heritage?

Dear Mexican: Why do so many Chicanos claim to be Aztec? Chicano Stuck in Leavenworth Dear Gabacho: You’re right. The beaner love for everything Aztec mostly stems from the Chicano movement, which appropriated various Mexican iconography (the stylized United Farm Workers black eagle, the concept of Aztlán, the airbrushed paintings…

Why do you lie about Mexicans?

Dear Mexican: Hey, mojado, since when do you think it’s okay to fuck up the facts of your wretched culture and concentrate on the few who have done something with their lives? For the most part, Mexicans are perverted, short, dark, little disgusting animals. You fit into that category. They…

Why do gabachos always talk about money?

Dear Mexican: Why do gabachos always feel the need to talk about money or trips they have taken? I always notice this when I am at any restaurant, like they don’t have nada más de que hablar. They make a point to speak loudly for everybody to hear…especially if there…

How do Latinos refer to themselves?

Dear Mexican: Is it just me, or has what to call our friends from south of the border become a partisan issue? While taking in both political conventions over the last couple of weeks, I’ve noticed that Republicans invariably use the word “Hispanics,” while Democrats are far more likely to say “Latino/a.”…

Why does my money make my friends uncomfortable?

Dear Mexican: One of your readers wrote a question about “DREAMers,” and I have a thought on the subject. This is not a criticism, although I have criticized your column before. I know that most Hispanics in the United States are in favor of the DREAM Act, but what if…

What do the colors of the Mexican flag mean?

Dear Mexican: What is the reason for the colors of the Mexican flag? Is there any razón it resembles the Italian flag, minus the águila y serpiente? Conozco más mexicanos que estadounidenses, pero none of mis ‘manitos morenos seem to know why… El Girafe Dear Male Giraffe Gabacho: Good for you…

How do I explain what DREAMers are?

Dear Mexican: I was in a taco shop in the bathroom stall and saw your racist dribble in La Prensa San Diego (the paper was being used as ass-wipe, I guess). Whatever you say or write will always be foreshadowed by the fact that you and all the dark-skinned Mexis…

Why do Mexicans put memorials on their rear windows?

Dear Readers: The Mexican is currently smuggling mescal out of Oaxaca and into hipster bars nationwide, and thus is serving you two oldies but goodies. But first, I want to give a shout-out to Olympic silver medalist Leo Manzano, a former undocumented immigrant who’s turning out to be the greatest…

Are Mexicans more likely to be sexual deviants?

Dear Mexican: So often when we see Mexican bands perform in the U.S. and Mexico, the crowd at some point starts chanting “Cu-le-ro!” (“Asshole!”) Why does the crowd yell “Cu-le-ro!” at a band that they seemingly adore and paid a lot of money to see perform? Even fellow Latinos are…

Why do gabachos complain so damn much?!

Dear Mexican: I’m a Mexican-American high school student, and just as patriotic as the Joneses who live next to me. In my neighborhood, a gabacho got mad when someone hung a Mexican flag and ended up cutting it down. I think this whole idea of putting one’s flag up and…

This gringo wants to work legally in Mexico

Dear Mexican: I know I might sound like a gabacho borracho, but I’m really just a gringo trying to make progress toward getting work legally in Mexico, a side of the immigration debate we rarely hear about. Most gringos that move to Mexico are students at UNAM, or they are…