Dear Gabacho: The same reason mentally deranged gabachos who go on murderous sprees get classified as “disturbed,” while mentally deranged brown folks, whether Mexican or Muslim, get their killings attributed to race or religion. Same reason why neo-Nazis get their idiocies dismissed as the mere ramblings of meth heads, while Chicano Studies majors get their discipline savaged as teachings on par with those of Goebbels. As I continually argue, culture isn’t the sole determinant to all the pathologies of an ethnic group or even the most important one, which leads me to …
Dear Mexican: I work in the education field and have a serious concern about the performance of Hispanic children in our school district. There seems to be a misguided approach to bring back bilingual education for Hispanic children. The poor performance of these children and other minority groups has been ongoing. The group of children that bucks this trend is Asian students. Now, there are exceptions to this general breakdown but the numbers are undeniable. As we hear more and more sound bites of how Hispanics/Latinos are the new force, where will they fall in the future? The educated will get better, and the future based on this point will go to the Asians. I want to get your opinion. Just want you to know that I am an American first, but of Hispanic ethnicity. —Not of the Asian Persuasion
Dear Pocho: I can cite stats that show bilingual education hold down Mexis or create little Einsteins out of them. If parents want their chamacos in dual immersion classes, why don’t you let them have that option—you know, that whole parental choice thing. On the issue of chinito superiority—sure, a chingo more of them go onto higher education, but not all of them. The National Commission on Asian American and Pacific Island Research in Education published a 2010 report that found Cambodians, Hmongs, Laotians, and most Pacific Islander groups had the same abysmal college graduation rates as Latinos, rates that lagged far behind other Asian-American groups. But rather than dwell on culture, the report noted that many factors contributed to the low numbers, the same factors that affect Mexican students. I’m not offering excuses—far from it, this Mexican tries to speak at least once a month to high school students about the necessity of finishing la prepa and beyond—but I don’t dwell on the achievement gap, and neither should you. If you care about Mexis and education, do something about it—don’t whine that chinitos are better.
Ask the Mexican at themexican@askamexican.net, myspace.com/ocwab, facebook.com/garellano, youtube.com/askamexicano, find him on, Twitter, or write via snail mail at: Gustavo Arellano, P.O. Box 1433, Anaheim, CA 92815-1433!
More by Gustavo Arellano
-
Uptight Gringo Ladies
Also: Why the bedsheet dresses?
- Nov 7, 2011
-
B to the W to the S-Words
The three anti-Mexi slurs you used are so 1950s—the only people who use those words nowadays are old gabachos and Alabamans.
- Nov 1, 2011
-
Conquests & 9/11
Also: Is 'Mexican' Offensive?
- Oct 24, 2011
- More »
Latest in Ask a Mexican
