Dear Mexican: I believe that the words people use to describe other people, intentionally or unintentionally, reflect their political values. But I want to give you the benefit of the doubt, so I write to you. You described Cesar Chavez as hating “illegals” in a previous column, and as being ethnocentric early in his career. This isn’t the first time that you’ve used the word “illegal” to describe undocumented immigrants, and I have problems with that. Now, if we are going to use that term to describe undocumented immigrants, then a lot of U.S. citizens who have committed crimes such as drug trafficking, corruption, murder, embezzlement, rape, warrant-less wiretapping, harassment, stealing, and many, many others, including the ones perpetrated by our departed president are really the ones who should be called ILLEGALS. Using this term only plays out to the right-wing agenda (the Minutemen, Rush Limbaugh, the Real Housewives of Orange County, the wackos in Congress, etc.) and contributes to the bashing of immigrants and Latinos in general, whether they are documented or not. You must realize that Latinos, especially if they are poor and uneducated, are perhaps the last “safe” target for bigotry and scapegoating in our land of the free and home of the brave.
Saw You Once Moderate a Panel Discussion
Dear Pocha: This was the question I fished out of your ramble: “Why do you use the term ‘illegal immigrant’ in your column, when it’s such a hateful term to describe human beings?” The easy answer is that this is my column, and why aren’t you upset that I regularly call Mexicans wabs, gabachos gabachos, African-Americans negritos, Asian-Americans chinitos, Muslims Mohammedans and bash Guatemalans (the true last acceptable target for bigotry) every couple of weeks? Read a bit more closely, and you’ll realize any slur used against a group of gente in ¡Ask a Mexian! is for satirical, reappropriating reasons ; the only sacred vaca I’ll never slander is undocumented college students.
On a more fundamental level, however, I use “illegal immigrant” to make a point. As it stands, it’s the most moderate term to describe those millions of folks who live in this country in violation of immigration law. Think about it: Know Nothings love to use “illegal alien” because it allows them to describe Mexicans as an invading menace. Aztlanistas, on the otra hand, use “undocumented immigrant,” as gratuitous a bit of P.C. pendejada as Chicana/o. For leftists like yourself, Saw You Once, to avoid using “illegal” in describing someone’s immigration status implies that something is shameful about the word and their status, and we should all therefore avoid using it. Not this Mexican. On that note, I’ll always use “illegal immigrant” and “illegals” with pride and turn the question around to others, one asked long ago by the iconic Chicago Chicano punk group Los Crudos: Ilegal, ¿y que?
I’m engaged to a Mexican who doesn’t have papers, but I’m an American. For two years, he supported me while I was a stay-at-home mom. But recently, he has been unable to work because his working permit expired, so I got a good job and started supporting the family. To me, he is doing the best thing he could for his family by being a stay-at-home dad. Why is it that his familia can’t be just as supportive about it? Since I started working, they haven’t stopped nagging at him about him not being the man of the house, and letting a woman support him. If he doesn’t have a problem with it, why should they care?
Chulo, I’m Home!
Dear Gabacha: What a bola of pendejos! Let me assure you that your problem is all in your man’s family and not a Mexican thing, since a gabacho solely supporting us is as big a Mexican wet dream as retaking over the southwest United States and Guatemala for good.
Get all your Mexican fun at myspace.com/ocwab, youtube.com/askamexicano, or send your questions to themexican@askamexican.net!
A Note From the Publisher
Dear Readers,
The last two years have been some of the hardest in Eugene Weekly’s 43 years. There were moments when keeping the paper alive felt uncertain. And yet, here we are — still publishing, still investigating, still showing up every week.
That’s because of you!
Not just because of financial support (though that matters enormously), but because of the emails, notes, conversations, encouragement and ideas you shared along the way. You reminded us why this paper exists and who it’s for.
Listening to readers has always been at the heart of Eugene Weekly. This year, that meant launching our popular weekly Activist Alert column, after many of you told us there was no single, reliable place to find information about rallies, meetings and ways to get involved. You asked. We responded.
We’ve also continued to deepen the coverage that sets Eugene Weekly apart, including our in-depth reporting on local real estate development through Bricks & Mortar — digging into what’s being built, who’s behind it and how those decisions shape our community.
And, of course, we’ve continued to bring you the stories and features many of you depend on: investigations and local government reporting, arts and culture coverage, sudoku and crossword puzzles, Savage Love, and our extensive community events calendar. We feature award-winning stories by University of Oregon student reporters getting real world journalism experience. All free. In print and online.
None of this happens by accident. It happens because readers step up and say: this matters.
As we head into a new year, please consider supporting Eugene Weekly if you’re able. Every dollar helps keep us digging, questioning, celebrating — and yes, occasionally annoying exactly the right people. We consider that a public service.
Thank you for standing with us!
Publisher
Eugene Weekly
P.S. If you’d like to talk about supporting EW, I’d love to hear from you!
jody@eugeneweekly.com
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