Dear Ask a Wetback: You and your fellow law-breaking wetbacks don’t like Arizona’s SB 1070? Too damn bad. Trot back to Make Sick O and protest there; see where it gets you. If you’d work half as hard at cleaning up your dump nation as you do at sneaking in here, your nation would be worth staying. But … you lazy illegal mooches would rather live off the dole. Get the point, Jose? Go to hell.
Kerns Kan Kreat
Dear KKK: “Make Sick O”? Clever! Gotta steal that one, like we Mexis have stolen the Southwest …
It is just me, or is referring to oneself as Mexican no longer acceptable? Hispanic, Latino, Indian-Spanish mix—take your pick. We even have a Mexican actor (Edward James Olmos) referring himself as Jewish because some old fool told him that “Olmos” is an old Jewish name. Really? On that basis, you are no longer our favorite pachuco in Zoot Suit. How can this be?
Do you think sometime in the next couple of decades, the term “Mexican” will no longer exist? In the future, will your column be referred to as Ask a Hispanic?
Digital Compadre
Dear Wab: Primeramente, it’s not some old fool who told Olmos he’s of Jewish descent—it’s the actor’s own genealogical research that found he’s descended from Jews who escaped Hungary, landed in Spain and became conversos under penalty of death, then migrated to Mexico with their modified name, Olmos. And Olmos has never claimed full tribe membership: He always makes it a point to say that’s he’s a mix of everything—the classic raza cósmica argument that puritan pendejos such as yourself have abandoned in favor of some fantasy heritage in which we’re all descended from Cuauhtémoc.
On that note, you’re also wrong in thinking the ethnic identifier “Mexican” will disappear in the United States—quite the opposite. Time was, to paraphrase the libro of legendary Chicano scholar Rudy Acuña, when brownies were anything but Mexican. We called ourselves Latin, Mexican American, Hispanos, Californios, the hilariously stupid “Spanish,” Chicano and even plain-ol’ American, but saying “Mexican” was fighting words as recently as the 1960s, when Consuelas turned to Connies and Franciscos became Franks.
Nowadays, my generation of Mexis is more than happy to call ourselves Mexicans—what’s the shame in it? Why mitigate our mexicanidad with a hyphen or a euphemism? Just like the Irish in Southie, or guidos in Jersey, we revel in our heritage to distinguish ourselves from those boring gabachos who long ago forsook their ethnic identity out of shame.
As for this column becoming Ask a Hispanic—I’d sooner turn migra than subject myself to that much self-loathing.
GOOD MEXICAN OF THE WEEK!
Speaking of Acuña, the godfather of Chicano studies definitely deserves a shout-out. Although the profe ain’t teaching much anymore at his home base of California State University at Northridge, Acuña still pens pertinent essays, nowadays mostly on the pendejo purges of Chicano studies being instituted by Know Nothings across the United States. Find out why the discipline is so dangerous by reading his Holy Trinity of tracts: Occupied America: A History of Chicanos; Sometimes There Is No Other Side: Essays on Truth and Objectivity; and Anything but Mexican: Chicanos in Contemporary Los Angeles. Acuña dares write about Mexicans in history without resorting to greaser caricatures or painting them with the false glaze of gay caballeros and fan-possessing señoritas—and he dares to write the truth, getting Know Nothings’ chonis all in a bunch. Fight the troglodytes, and buy Acuña’s books, preferably from your finer Chicano coffee shops.
This article appears in Jul 21-27, 2011.
Waste of space!
If the southwest and California were still ruled by Mexico today,or given back to them, all we would see in an extention of what currently in happening in the Mexican states.
Mass poverty, murders, drug cartels running rampart, corruption at all levels of the governmet and police.
This seems to be a way of life there and the people do not seem to have the heart to take their country back or be willing to pay whatever price it requires to restore normalcy there…..it is easier to jump the border and avoid any sense of responsibility!
To: norm9do you need to study Mexican history a little more. The reason the country of Mexico is in such dire straits is due to one thing, corruption. The ruling party for some 80 years was stealing elections, money, land and whatever else they could get their hands on. The current and last president of Mexico have tried with all their vigor to change things. They have had some but small success. this is due to 1) a national assembly with purely self-serving actions (much like the one here in Arizona) and 2) the president is limited to one 6 year term, what an idea. You’re right about the the entire drug problem, but, if it weren’t for the high demand here in the USA, or for the lack of legalization of drugs here (what a source of tax revenue, think alcohol and cigerettes)
this would not exist. Mexico’s top contributors to their GDP are 1) oil production; 2) tourism; 3) the billions coming back to Mexico from farm workers, etc. sending money to support their families. Much of this, not all, has US taxes withheld. We need a guest worker program to legitimize this whole process.
Finally, while there are a few altruistic top officials trying to take Mexico in the right direction, here in the US they are thinking only of themselves and the top 5% (the wealthy) on how they can make their life better. And yes, I’m waiting to see who is elected for 2012, and I may very well be going to Guadalajara, Jalisco state.
ricmar4346 USMC retired
Guadalajara is fantastic although it looks alot like Phoenix which makes me a little ill :). Remittance could was #1 because oil belongs only to the government and is used by the government to pay for social programs and stangely subsidizing gas. I have friends who cross back accross the border yearly for Christmas and they pay 3-5k to get back (some to the border patrol) to his job in AZ. Think of it if we issued a state work visa to this guy who would pay 3k for it yearly. Him and 200k of his friends would gladly pay 1500-3000 to have a safe trip back and would contribute 600 million dollars to our rediculous budget. Hey maybe with 600 mil we could open the city pools back up! As far as the racist letter writer and norm9do. Your both as dumb as bricks and have very little motivation or understanding of economics.
I read this article because I find it amusing. I am an American Indian who grew up amongst Latinos and have absolutely nothing against anyone being proud of their heritage as long as respect is given to others. However, if I may make a point about our neighbour to the south, and when she controlled all the land in Arizona, that in order for her to rule it, she had to steal it. Tucson and south-central Arizona is and forever will be the Tohono O’odham Nation, don’t ever forget that. We were here first and Mexico stole it from us first.