I've been schooled

Seeing as that the whole immigration debate is hot right now, I thought it would be good to introduce y'all to Gustavo Arellano. Trust me, if you don't know this name now, you should commit it to memory. If you have heard of him, then you already know that he is somewhat of a local celebrity in the OC, or at least in the OC Weekly reading circles. He's an OC native, graduate of Chapman U. and UCLA (unfortunately) and is the writer of the politically incorrect column, Ask a Mexican. Although I must admit it is an acquired taste, his column is funny and smart and a not-so-subtle attempt to squash Mexican stereotypes. I read it regularly because I often find myself learning a lot from his answers. A sample (which I can personally relate to):

I’m a Mexican güero: light-skinned, green-eyed and blond/brown-haired. I experience more racism from my own people than gabachos. Why so much hate toward Mexican güeros by my darker-skinned raza? Do I remind the pinches indios too much of their Spanish conquerors? Are they just jealous that their horny rucas and sisters keep putting the moves on me? All of the above?

Güero and Loving It!

Dear Pocho,
The only thing Mexicans alternately love and hate more than los Estados Unidos are güero (light-skinned) Mexicans. Blame the Aztecs: when the light-skinned, bearded Spaniards showed up in Mexico in 1519, Moctezuma and amigos thought the conquistadors were manifestations of Quetzalcoatl, a light-skinned, bearded deity that oral tradition promised would return to save mankind in 1519—the very year the Spaniards showed up. The Spaniards quickly put that myth to waste by destroying the Aztec empire, but that initial reverence for güeros seared itself in the Mexican psyche. Light skin became synonymous with power, wealth, destruction. Dark skin meant indio: loser, poor, estúpido enough to believe that marauders were gods. Not even the efforts of Mexican intellectuals during the 1920s to popularize the idea of Mexicans as la raza cósmica (the cosmic race, made up of black, Indian and white blood) could destroy the stranglehold guerismo has on Mexico. That’s why you see light-skinned Mexicans on television, in the presidential palaces and in corporate offices. Being a Mexican güero takes you only so far, though, Güero and Loving It: you’re still Mexican, after all.

So the brilliant Mr. Arellano had an op-ed in the LA Times yesterday that was particularly eye-opening, titled, "O.C. can you say...'anti-Mexican'?." It was a history of anti-Mexican sentiment in Orange County. Some of the references I had no idea about and some were particularly eye-opening. I look forward to his book with bated breath.