Dear Mexican: I’m a pan blanco and my wife is puertorriqueña. Our son looks basically white, while a casual observer might admit that there is some Latin going on there. He is a high-functioning autistic 12-year-old. The way he looks and behaves makes him a target for bullies. He doesn’t understand sarcasm or how to be cool. He studies hard and gets good grades. He is a classic four-eyed Harry Potter dork. He doesn’t bother anyone, but he gets teased and bullied by cruel classmates. It breaks my heart and makes me furious.
Today, a bigger kid came up and twisted his arm behind him. After he told me about it, he asked me “Daddy, why is it that every time I’m bullied, it’s by a Mexican?”
I’m wondering the same thing. Every time that he’s been bullied and tormented since we moved to California three years ago, it’s been a Mexican kid. The Mexican students are in the minority in his school; a large minority, but a minority, nonetheless. It’s not like he’s the only white kid in the yard. I’m truly at a loss as to why this seems to be so. Are all of these kids beaten by their fathers so they have to take it out on what they might perceive to be a pampered gringo? Other than teach my kid how to defend himself, I don’t see what can be done about it.
Is it cultural? I wonder if you could suggest what I might say to my son to prevent him from hating Mexicans by the time he reaches adulthood, if not before. Or what I might say to myself. Why is it always a Mexican kid tormenting my son? Every time. Why? I don’t like the dark place my mind is going to. Can you help me? —A Good Papi
Dear Readers: The more I think about this question, the more it saddens me—about the bullied kid, of course, but also about the father’s thought process. The dad’s not a racist pig—just an understandably upset papi. But pendejos exist in every ethnicity, and there’s no reason to use those fuck-ups to smear a group as a whole. It’s a natural inclination to do so, but a wrong one. To the dad: My best advice is to get on the school administration’s ass to protect your son. And trust me: At some point in his life, there’ll be a good Mexican kid who’ll kick the asses of those bullies like any good person would.
Dear Mexican: Whenever I read something of Mexican history, I’m always amazed at the variety of first names that apparently have no English equivalent. I’m only 40 pages into a book about Pancho Villa, and already I’ve seen such beauties as Indalecio, Fidencio, Maclovio, Nemesio and Belisario. I’ve tried Google but can’t seem to find the origins of these names and their meanings. Any suggestions? —Flummoxed in Flagstaff
Dear Gabacho: Try Google again. All the names you mentioned are the Hispanicized nombres of Catholic saints, with the exception of Belisario, which refers to the great Roman general Belisarius. Mexicans traditionally pulled their names from the Bible and the Papist calendar. This resulted in two separate celebrations for someone’s birth—the cumpleaños (the actual birthday) and the día de santo, the feast day of the saint corresponding to the person’s name. Those traditions and names are unfortunately disappearing, because American culture devours all.
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