Hey, Gustavo, Where Are You? I Miss My Mexican!
I know this post does not have to do with being a woman or plus-size, angry or whatever.
This is some 411 for those of us that live in a big city should not ignore.
As most of you know, I'm in Los Angeles County where the population is something like 47% Hispanic/Latino, 27% White, 11% Black (and some Haitians/Dominicans/Puerto Ricans out here are not claiming Black, which is what they look like upon first sight but I digress) and the rest of the Asians/Pacific Islanders/Indians make up the remaining 15%. Like I said, these are rough figures. This is not about who should stay or go because we all have our baggage as both individuals and a race.
When I was coming along, everybody was everybody. Blacks with money lived near poor Whites, it was not unusual to see a Mexican having dinner at a Chinese household and so on. This did not last long as my experiences with different races has been both visible as lint (hint: we are people first, not a color) and sometimes a mind-blowing experience (because people watch too much damn television, especially the news).
My real efforts to learn the Spanish language began with my first stint with the L.A. school system. It was not to communicate with students or even their parents but my damn co-workers at the time. Without going into details of the ignorant (written rules stated that English was the only language to be spoken in the workplace), it was always nice to meet someone who did not mind sharing in detail the struggles that come with illegal immigration or history outside of Cinco de Mayo.
In the 21st century, that seemed to change as every cover story that had a Brown or Black face, was someone in trouble. Either with the law or had extensive unemployment or some other sociopolitical wrong. So around 2004, they began a column called Ask a Mexican!
Gustavo Arellano, author and journalist for the OC Weekly, would respond to questions starting with 'Dear Gabacho'. It wasn't always nice but you got the facts as they were. I began to think of it as a continuing ed Civics class and looked forward to it every Thursday until April 1, 2008 when Arellano announced that this column would be his last due to the negative feedback he was receiving. Though I'd never seen him, I became very concerned and wanted for him to go on teaching. This news did not make my morning so when I got home and turned on the TV to Pizza Hut's ongoing campaign that they were changing their name to Pasta Hut (ha,ha...yawn) I still wondered about what words could have cut through this man so deep that he wanted to throw in the towel.
The following Thursday, he let the public know that April Fool's was on his mind too and he wasn't going anywhere. It was like your best friend saying they were just kidding about messing around with your man, thye just wanted to see your reaction. Of course, within a month you would find it was true. While Arellano is plugging his new book on a tour, that's no reason to mess with the heads of us non-shallow Angelenos. Come back,homes,come back!
Comments