Zero Population

Dear Mexican: I’m sad that there aren’t more Mexicans here in the Detroit area. We’re one of the few areas in the country that is predominantly Catholic. We’ve welcomed wave after wave of Catholic immigrants for well over a hundred years, and they’ve intermingled and blended into our local society…

Cheese Quiz

Dear Mexican: I was born in beautiful El Paso, and my parents are from Juaritos. I always wondered why Mexican restaurants en los Estados Unidos use queso amarillo — which I associate with los Estados Unidos — on their food instead of queso asadero or queso Oaxaca, which taste so…

Stranger in a Strange Land

Dear Mexican: With a scant four weeks before I cram my mochila with a few clothes for me and a horde of presents for my future cuñadas, sobrinas y mi mera suegra, I found myself terror-stricken tonight as mi novio and I watched a home video of his family doing…

Hot Wheels

Dear Mexican: What’s the deal with Spanish-language car-dealership commercials that feature bikini-clad porn-star wannabes copulating with used cars? I just saw one where three girls were rubbing melted chocolate on each other. Surely no one in mainstream Caucasian America could get away with such overtly sexual, misogynistic advertising. Does this…

Thats Sick!

Dear Mexican: Is Lou Dobbs right when he says that close to eighty hospitals in California have been closed down because of the illegals, or is he lying?Cabrones No Necesitamos Dear CNN: Dobbs is right to a certain point, and only in spite of his idiocy. The father of two…

Beaner Bawl

Dear Mexican: I like to think that I’m an open-minded sorta guy for a teenager. I fervently oppose racial stereotypes, though I do think they’re sometimes good for a laugh or two. I have several Mexican friends, and none of them live up to the “Mexican standard” of lawn-mowing, stupidity…

Dead Letter Day

Dear Mexican: How do I go to the Mexican grocery store and bakery to buy supplies for our Día de los Muertos party without looking like I’m doing the kitschy-goofy thing I’m doing? I walk up to the register and smile ingratiatingly, saying “Gracias” as usual — but a basketful…

Help, I’m Dating a Mexican!

Dear Mexican: Why do so many of my peers assume I must have low self-esteem just because I’m dating a Mexican guy? I finally found someone with my same values who treats me way better than any gringo I ever dated. The same women who complain about “sleazy” Mexican men…

The Mexican Dismembers History

Dear Mexican: What is it with the Mexican hangup on body parts? When General Antonio López de Santa Anna was struck by a cannonball in one of his 8,000 wars, his right leg was removed from the knee down. When he returned to Mexico City, he ordered that a state…

Has-Beans

Dear Mexican: We were in a restaurant the other day, eating refried beans and green chile, when I overheard some gringos in the next booth making fun of Mexicans. One thing they said that really made me mad was, “Why do Mexicans refry their beans? Stupid Mexicans! Don’t they know…

Carlos Mencia: Racist Jerk or Thieving Jerk?

Dear Mexican: I’m a minority, and I know we can be overly sensitive sometimes, but I just can’t stand Carlos Mencia. Not only are his jokes asinine, but I feel they are actually racist. Whereas Dave Chappelle tried to make fun of society’s racist thoughts, Mencia seems to promote them…

Bilingual Education and Ignorance

Dear Mexican: After the great migration of Jews to this nation, a question was posed: “How long does it take a Jew to go from being a street sweeper to becoming a corporate attorney?” The answer: “One generation.” Not so for Mexicans. Most Mexicans seem to recoil from education like…

Mex and Match

Dear Readers: A couple of weeks ago, I asked half-breeds to write in with nicknames that describe their mixed Mexican heritage. Many, muchos responses continue to trickle in; gracias for the submissions. The following is a handy glossary that ustedes wrote, with the occasional Mexican commentary — enjoy! If you’re…

Papi Dont Preach

Dear Mexican: I am addressing this to both you and Dan Savage, hoping one of you will have an answer: Why do Mexican chicks yell for their papi during sex? Daddy del Diablo Dear Readers: After getting the above query, Dan Savage, author of the pinche hilarious column Savage Love,…

Funny Business

Dear Mexican: A new line of Speedy González clothing came out earlier this year. As a black vendor in a predominantly Mexican market, I immediately thought about selling some of these items. I am 35, and although I remember the cartoon coming on when I was a young kid, I…

Sit Down, Stand Up

Dear Mexican: Do you agree with immigration-rights activists calling Elvira Arellano, who is an illegal immigrant and a criminal, I might add, the Mexican Rosa Parks? The very idea that these people refer to her as such is deeply disturbing. Rosa Parks was a legal resident of this country and…

Read My Lip Liner

Dear readers: It’s not just questions and racist rants that invade the Mexican’s mailbox. Your feedback sneaks under my digital fence, también. Let’s start with Lean Like a K Street Chola, a former gangbanger turned lobbyist who wrote in a couple of weeks back wondering how she could explain to…

Brown Fields

Dear Mexican: I had a discussion with a couple of gringos who said immigration (both legal and illegal) needs to stop. I replied jokingly, “Then who will take our orders at McDonald’s or work in the fields?” They told me there are Americans willing to work those jobs, especially in…

Una Rosa by Any Other Name

Dear Mexican: I’ve run into a problem with my wife. I’d like to proudly display our last name on the back window of the family car, but she won’t allow it. Where did this name-display tradition start? Tejano Rick Dear Wab: A Mexican man who allows his mujer a say…

Lip Service

Dear Mexican: Why do Mexicans say “¡Ojalá Dios quiere!”? Ojalá refers to Allah, the Muslim god, and Dios is the Christian god. Do Mexicans want to cover their bases and get a double blessing, or maybe they can’t they make up their minds? ¿Qué pasó con los dos dioses? White…

Exposing His Cockney

Dear Readers: You love us, you really love us! Mere moments after publishing my July 12 column (in which a couple of Know Nothings had their say on the failed Senate amnesty bill), ustedes bombarded the Mexican with letters expressing your disgust toward those pendejos. Space prohibits printing them all,…

History Lesson

Dear Mexican: Why don’t Mexicans ever drop their Spanish? Even third- and fourth-generation Mexican-Americans still speak the language to some degree or other. I speak Japanese, but I’m losing it quickly, and when my mother passes on, so will my language. The typical Asian-American kid may attend Chinese, Korean or…