Does My Smoking Pot Support Mexican Cartels?

Dear Mexican: I am a half-breed, as they say (Mexican father, Anglo mother), and recently I’ve been reading a lot about the drug violence in Mexico. I’ve become increasingly disturbed by the way in which we Americans are directly contributing to this war by supplying the demand for drugs while…

Do Mexicans Hate Puerto Ricans?

Dear Mexican: I live in upstate New York (that’s any part of the state north of the city, for you West Coasters), and while we have a relatively small Mexican population, we have a large number of Puerto Ricans, especially in the community where I live. Here’s my question: A…

Why Do Mexicans Work as Day Laborers?

Dear Mexican: I’m a young white dude who drives to work every day, and on my daily commute, I get off the freeway and drive through the streets. Every single day between the hours of 5 a.m. and 12 p.m., there are AT LEAST 100 Mexican men out there waiting…

How Much of a Pendejo is Gustavo?

Dear Mexican: I see a lot of vatos around wearing the clam-digger pants with the knee-high white socks and white sneakers. While this is nothing new, I’ve noticed recently that the shoes and socks are the whitest white I’ve ever seen. If I wear white sneakers and socks, they get…

The Mexican Lends an Ear …

Dear Mexican: This is going to sound absolutely and totally Caucasian. Lately, we have been trying to lighten the mood around the office with delicate bits of international confections. With all that’s going on in the world, who needs one more worry? With that said, we are struck with yet…

Do Mexicans Hate the Spanish?

Dear Mexican: A few years back when I was in high school, my social studies teacher and the leader of our high school M.E.Ch.A. club had deep resentment toward the Spaniards/conquistadors who killed hundreds — probably thousands — of Aztecs. He went so far as to deny that his own…

How do Mennonites cut the cheese in Mexico?

Dear Mexican: A few years ago, my girlfriend and I visited the beautiful city of Merida in the Yucatan. We were surprised to see a sentence in our guidebook warning us to be on the lookout for Mennonites peddling queso in the mercado. Sure enough, we bumped into a bearded,…

Is the Term “Mexican” Becoming Extinct?

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 cleaning up your dump nation as you do sneaking in here, your…

Maybe Mexico should build a fence to keep US out.

Dear Mexican: I’m wondering how Mexicans feel about the communities of American expats springing up all over Mexico (especially those who live near or in these communities). Also, are there places in Mexico where it doesn’t get so hot that Americans are generally pretty comfortable year round? Could you name…

Is Spanglish Something to Celebrate?

Dear Mexican: I’m a Spanish court interpreter in Santa Barbara, California; I’ve also worked in Los Angeles courts. I just read your most recent column regarding the promotion of the learning and practicing of English by Latinos in the United States. Generally, I agree with your view. But my question…

Wait: Are there Mexican Jews?

Dear Mexican: What happened to my friend? She is white (Irish—her only aunt was a Catholic nun!), she grew up in Pico Rivera (so most people think she is Mexican with green eyes), she is converting to Judaism, and guess what? All she meets are Mexicans! And all she likes…

Is Mexico a Tea Party paradise?

Dear Mexican: I can’t help thinking of Mexico as a Tea Party paradise. Mexican taxes are very low. There are few regulations, and environmentalists, socialists and liberals are few and far between. There is no Obamacare, and Mexico is the home of Carlos Slim, the world’s richest man, a tribute…

Who is More Mexican?

Dear Mexican: Please settle a dispute. I’m an Anglo living and working in Mexico for years, in Culiacán, Sinaloa (I married one of the famous Sinaloa beauties). My Spanish is passable, and I live and function in Spanish. Where I live, there are virtually no other North Americans, other than…

Mexicans Get a Bad Rap

Dear Mexican: Why does every Mexican rap/hip-hop song always contain the lines “No paramos,” “Nunca paramos,” or some other logically equivalent statement (e.g. “Siempre avanzaremos,” “No acabaremos de seguir,” etc.)? Can’t you people be more original? I mean, come on! It’s not like you all speak a language that makes…

Do Mexicans Poop in the Fields?

Dear Mexican: You seem like a smart guy and your input regarding an ethnic phenomenon I’ve observed would be of interest. I live in a tiny, gated neighborhood that I would describe as solidly middle- to upper-middle-class. On each side of me live Vietnamese small-business owners whose kids attend prestigious…