Gustavo Arellano
The '¡Ask a Mexican!' columnist on stereotypes, the Mexican-hating capital of America, and loving Mo
Ever wondered why Mexicans swim in the ocean with their clothes on, but were just too damn politically correct to ask? Well, OC Weekly columnist Gustavo Arellano is neither afraid of the question, nor afraid to give you a truthful, well-researched, and often hilarious answer. A compilation of his nationally syndicated "¡Ask a Mexican!" columns has just been released as a similarly titled book and should be required reading for every gabacho who thinks he knows just where he stands on immigration, burritos, and the Virgin of Guadalupe. Beloved for its bravery and derided for entertaining patently offensive notions of cultural stereotype, Arellano's refreshing approach is to accept any question and research an answer that is rooted in history, etymology, and the best scholarship available. The effect is one of brilliant detournement, rendering explosive, hate-filled suppositions into lessons on culture and habit. Oh, and he might rip you a new culo while he's at it.
And the reason you see all that denim at the beach? Arellano writes: "Unlike gabachos, Mexicans respect the public when it comes to flashing our flabby chichis, pompis, and cerveza guts - so when we're out near the pool or by the beach, we cover up. It ain't Catholicism, machismo, or an homage to our swim across the Rio Grande. It's good manners."
-Dean Kuipers
CityBeat: Why make yourself the token Mexican?
Gustavo Arellano: "¡Ask a Mexican!" started as a column back in November 2004, and at first it was just a joke between me and my then-editor Will Swaim. We wanted to play off the crazy racism against Mexicans that seems to be the national sport here in Orange County. It quickly transformed from a joke to a way to address stereotypes, to really becoming a forum about Mexicans that has now transformed itself into a book and also a nationally syndicated column.
Do you think that anti-Mexican racism is worse in O.C. than in other parts of the country?
I've always maintained that Orange County is the Mexican-hating capital of America, and you can see the historical record going back to Mendez v. Westminster, the 1947 case that desegregated schools in California, to the citrus camps where my grandfather and great grandfather had to live as segregated in the Mexican part of town, to the modern day with the rise of Proposition 187 back in 1994, to the Minutemen project and laws prohibiting day laborers.
Was this a way to fight racism?
I've been covering the immigration war in Orange County for my entire career at the OC Weekly and I had taken every approach possible: investigative reporting, profiles, satire. By doing this column, I really discovered the best way to confront something that's very personal. My mom was discriminated against. Myself, I really wasn't discriminated against, just because, by the time I grew up in Anaheim, we were all Mexican. So, the only real discrimination I faced was that as a nerd, and everyone picked on me, not just whites, but Mexicans, too.
You're pretty civil to people asking very uncivil questions. Why be so kind?
[Laughs] If all I did with my column was tell people, "Oh you're so racist," then the column would get really boring. The trick in answering these questions is stringing people along long enough to think you sympathize with them, and then, when they least expect it, just nail them in the gut. My approach is really the "Trojan horse" approach.
You also avoid political correctness. Is that something you wanted to undo with your column?
I think political correctness is really thought police. I abhor racism. I abhor bad thoughts, but I don't want to prohibit anyone from thinking or saying those thoughts. My take is that people should be allowed to say whatever they want. That said, they better be able to defend why they said it. The only criticism that my mom has ever told me about the column, besides the sex and cuss words, is that she doesn't like that I tell the truth so much. In other words, discussing some of the seedier or less-positive aspects of Mexican culture. In the book, I discuss racism against African Americans that a lot of Mexicans have, also homophobia. When it comes to hate in any context, the best way to approach it is by shining a light on it. If you shine a light, you'll be surprised to see how quickly the hate scatters away or disappears.
Where, for you, is the line between being irreverent and being racist or sexist?
To me, there is no line. The very fact that people send in questions is, in a way, offensive. That Mexicans are still such a mystery to most Americans, and even most Mexicans, for that matter; that a column like "¡Ask a Mexican!" has to exist. I could either cry about the sad situation, or I could do something about it and answer them in the most articulate, yet infuriating way possible.
Are there questions you won't answer?
My boast is that I'll answer any and all questions about Mexicans. Some of them are going to take much longer than others. For instance, I once received a question, "Why do Mexicans create such ridiculous nicknames?" Like, how does Jesus become Chuy, or Guillermo becomes Memo, or Lorenzo becomes Lencho? With a question like that, I really want to know the etymological reason. So I looked through academic journals for weeks, until I finally discovered an article that addressed that very issue. It was up at UCLA, though, so [it took] a good three or four months. But when I answered it, it was etymologically sound.
My response to people who say, "Oh you're too much of a pussy to answer my question," I tell them, "Are you an illegal immigrant? Because otherwise you have to wait in line like everyone else."
Do you get negative feedback from the Mexican or Latino community?
Oh, absolutely! What offends people usually at first is the column's logo; the big, fat Mexican bandito. I try to explain that, yes, it's offensive, but it's also the Mexican that's been in the minds of Americans for about 150 years. We need to re-appropriate that image, because it's really nothing more than a stupid cartoon.
And then the other big criticism that I get is people assume that I'm just providing entertainment for Mexican-hating gabachos. I'm doing the work of the white man. Which is such bullshit, because if people actually bothered to read the column, it really almost splits like 40-40 between Latinos who ask questions, and white people who ask questions, 10 percent Asian, 10 percent African Americans. Mexicans will send in Mexican-hating questions and they'll also send white-hating questions, too.
Why do Mexicans love Morrissey so much?
The longest section of the book is a 4,500-word story that I did in 2002 for the OC Weekly, and it examines every possible theory there is about Mexicans loving Morrissey; from his immigrant background to the similarities between his music and Ranchera music to the
fact that Morrissey and the Smiths came of age during the 1980s - a time when KROQ was taking off and a lot of Latinos were coming of age in Los Angeles. A lot of Latinos assimilated New Wave music - the Smiths, the Cure, 80's music ...
Especially sort of the Goth stuff.
Exactly, the more melancholy bits. They're all popular amongst Latinos, and you could attribute that to a fatalistic streak in the Mexican soul. I just say Mexicans have better taste than other people.
Published: 05/03/2007
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