Dear Mexican,
My question is simple: Can you please confirm the fact that there
are doctors, lawyers and other professionals living in Mexico? I’m a
Mexican-American woman living in Chicago who had a heated discussion
about that topic. My friend who is a teacher at a local school was of
the opinion that there really aren’t any. Her point was that when we
see immigrants on television, none are doctors, lawyers or any other
professionals, for that matter. She believes that the only wealthy
Mexicans are drug lords. There seems to be a lot of ignorance and
confusion about this topic. Please enlighten her and those who think
like her.
Incensed in Chicago
Dear Brazer,
Por supuesto there are doctors, lawyers, accountants,
scientists and other professionals in Mexico — who do you think
sews up the narcos after a gun battle, fights off American
extradition efforts, launders their money and devises nuevas ways to smuggle?
Dear Mexican,
Something I’ve never understood about other Mexicans, as I am
one…when speaking to other Mexicans about higher education and its
importance, they always interrupt me to place an emphasis on the
associate’s degree. I’ve wanted to slap a primo/prima/amigo silly. Why the
low standard? I’ve asked educators about this before and been told it
was a low achievement standard that was placed on Mexican-American
students in the 1960s and 1970s by mainly high school counselors.
True?
Párate and Deliver
Dear Wab,
Instead of giving your primo/prima/amigo a cachetada, why
don’t you help them transfer to a four-year university? Heaven knows
America needs more of its Mexicans at institutes of higher learning
— on top of our abysmal high school graduation rates, not enough
of us go on to get a college diploma. The 2008 U.S. Census Bureau
Current Population Survey’s Annual Social and Economic Supplement found
that only 28 percent of Latinos who finished high school went on to
earn at least a bachelor’s degree — and the percentage for Mexis
is undoubtedly smaller (the survey didn’t break down its figures by
Latin American nationality). Why the low standard? Ignorance, silly!
Not just limited to Know Nothings! Oh, and I don’t think there was a
widespread gabacho counselor conspiracy in the 1960s to funnel Mexicans
of that generation into community college — most encouraged their
charges to not bother with education, period.
Dear Mexican,
Why are Mexicans so…laid-back?
Crazy and Lazy
Dear Gabacho,
Mañana, mañana. Que será,
será. Mexicans sleeping under a cactus. All iconic American
commentaries on our inherent relaxed nature. La verdad is,
Mexicans are more neurotic than Woody Allen’s on-screen persona —
and if you don’t believe me, you try living life avoiding la
migra or knowing that if white teens in a Pennsylvania hick town
murder you, they’ll get off with simple assault.
Dear Mexican,
I recently worked security at a Tumbleweeds concert here in
Albuquerque. I guess they are a very popular musical group with the
Mexicans, but anyways, as I was checking IDs and letting people into
the beer area, I noticed that almost all of the Mexican guys held onto
their wives’/girlfriends’/lady friends’ IDs. The women don’t hold their
own IDs, the guys hold them, show them, then put the IDs back into
their own wallets. What’s up with that? I asked a co-worker about this
and she told me it’s a power thing. So what’s the deal?
Curious Gringo
Dear Gabacho,
Could be a power-trip macho thing, but probably it’s that the
chica didn’t want to carry a purse and would rather let her man
carry the ID than stick it between her chichis. Sometimes,
Mexicans aren’t rocket science.
This article appears in May 28 – Jun 3, 2009.