This is the abbreviated tale of Gustavo Arellano, a twerpy-looking 28-year-old flaco wearing canvas sneakers and horn-rimmed glasses. Not exactly the image of the radical Southern California Chicano you might expect if you’re a regular reader of his nationally syndicated column “Ask A Mexican!” – a column fabricated as a joke almost three years ago at the alternative newspaper Orange County Weekly, where Arellano works as an investigative reporter and food critic. The column, with irreverent social commentary and equally satirical take on the Mexican culture, became an instant hit.
27/09/2007
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An excellent article published by Andrew Greeley: in the Chicago Sun Times. I wonder when it will become unfashionable to engage in slurs against Mexican immigrants — they don’t work hard, they don’t learn to speak English, they are taking money away from other Americans, some of them may be terrorists, they don’t drive trucks safely. The well-educated, upper-middle-class nativist bigot will justify his position with the argument: I don’t have anything against them, but I resent the fact that they’re ILLEGAL!