Dear Mexican: What is with the many gringos/gabachos who constantly slaughter Spanish words? Spanish is easy to pronounce (and spell) compared to English. The vowels (a, e, i, o, u) are always pronounced the same way. In English, vowels vary a lot — difficult for new learners. All of the…
Dear Mexican: I am from an Arabic-speaking country. After my education is completed here, I’ll be returning to my country or to Kuala Lumpur. Since I’ve been in this country, I’ve noticed there’s a rising tide of hatred toward Mexicans. I’ve talked to Mexicans, and they all say they’re proud…
Dear Mexican: I have some questions and observations. During George W. Bush’s administration, there was a lot of talk about comprehensive immigration reform (amnesty, to some). One remark that I recall was made by a Mexican and was something like, “Go back to Europe!” Aren’t Mexicans of European descent, also?…
Dear Mexican: I noticed that Mexican people don’t generally smoke. I’m not condoning smoking, but it’s interesting to see how some groups do or don’t smoke, and I have yet to see a Mexican person smoke cigarettes. Does the tobacco industry not target Latinos?Fulminating Fumador Dear Gabacho Smoker: American Lung…
Dear Mexican: The tragedy currently playing out on the U.S. southern border has reminded me to once again ask my (slightly tweaked) question, posed three years ago and perhaps more relevant than ever: If the U.S. had sponsored and funded infrastructural, educational, social and economic development in Mexico and Central…
Dear Mexican: I think I might be Mexican, but there are some people who might disagree. Being that you are the source of all knowledge mexicano, I thought I might ask you. Here’s the deal: My ancestors left the U.S. in 1847 knowingly and entered recognized territorio mexicano. The U.S…
Dear Mexican: Why do some Mexicans expect us to learn Spanish instead of them learning English? (Note: I said some, not most or all!) I’m offended whenever I am assaulted by listening to anything in Spanish on phone menus or see it on forms that I have to fill out…
Dear Mexican: If dark-skinned people are so “undesirable,” unwelcome and put down by gringos, how come gringos bake in the sun like zopilotes to get dark? Summer is fantasy time for all of them, when they can actually get some color in that white skin of theirs. Maybe the whole…
Dear Mexican: I am a Mexican who owns a successful wholesale liquidation business, which happens to be an industry dominated by Jews and Asians and some gringos. So why does almost everyone, including mexicanos, who visits my warehouse think my business — or any successful business, for that matter —…
Dear Mexican: While vacationing in Mexico, a couple of times I have had vendors or waiters address me as chica. I didn’t think much about it at the time, but while relating a conversation with one of these guys to a Mexican friend of mine back in the U.S., he…
Dear Mexican: I’m a half mexicana/half gabacha working as an appointment scheduler in a medical office. I’m one of a handful of schedulers there who speak Spanish. I’ve noticed in the years I’ve been working in this field that about seven to eight times out of ten, when a Spanish-speaking…
Dear Mexican: Our graphic artist walked out of the room the other day pissed because the publisher asked my opinion on a Cinco de Mayo advertisement they were planning to publish and ended up publishing. The graphic showed a row of chickens with sombreros. The publisher asked if I thought…
Dear Mexican: I’m a pocha and my husband is a gabacho (by the way, we loved the explanation in your book on why Mexicans and Irish get along so well; it really explained a lot about our marriage). We had the rehearsal dinner for our wedding catered by one of…
Dear Mexican: Is there a pecking order at the places where you see day laborers waiting to be hired? What’s the hierarchy? Are all those dudes Mexican, or are some Central and South American, and if so, who has priority when the random contractor comes by to pick up a…
Dear Mexican: Our grandparents came from Mexico. The entire next generation spoke Spanish. However, in my generation, pretty much none of us do. One cousin’s daughter does because the cousin married a fluently bilingual person. Most white people I know have long ago lost both awareness of what their actual…
Dear Mexican: I like reading your articles — they are funny, sad, insightful, crude, serious and even a little provocative and antagonizing at times. One thing I find a little antagonizing is the use of the term “Latino” as a synonym only for “Hispanic.” I’ve noticed that you tend to…
Dear Mexican: The use of the expression ¿Mande? (command me) by Mexicans has always struck me, though I have seen it happen with less frequency in the twenty years since I came to the United States. I personally see it as a symbolic legacy of submission, probably originating from the…
Dear Mexican: I’m a second-generation Orange County-raised pocho. Both sides of my family have been civil-rights activists since the 1940s. My mother’s family took part in the landmark case Mendez et al. vs. Westminster et al. in 1946. My father was a Chicano activist in the 1960s and 1970s. From…
Dear Mexican: Can you help me unravel the citrus dilemma? When I am in Mexico or a Mexican restaurant or market, I am unable to find lemons (yellow, egg-sized tart-tasting fruits). When I ask, I get green-colored fruits that look and taste like limes (green, smaller-than-egg-sized tart-tasting fruits). I understand…
Dear Mexican: What’s the story with Mexican pastries? Like most cultures, Mexicans seem to be cribbing from the French, but pan dulce just winds up tasting like a dinner roll with a little icing on top. So many other parts of Mexican cuisine emphasize strong flavors. Why must the best…
Dear Mexican: The current clothing trend is for ladies to wear low-cut jeans and belly shirts that expose their midriffs. That looks great on a hard-bodied woman, so why do so many fat Mexican mujeres insist on dressing like this? It’s one of the grossest things imaginable. Their gut hangs…
Dear Mexican: My dad says that when he was growing up in Downey, California, they used to open the local pool to mexicanos and negritos on Thursdays only because the pool was cleaned on Friday mornings. Is this an accurate account of racism in the 1940s or an exaggeration? Do…
