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Gustavo Arellano, he/el of ASK-A-MEXICAN fame, appears in the March 2, 2007 edition of the Los Angeles Times; therein the sure-to-be-damned, wicked Chicano columnist holds forth on recent racist college party trends--namely, all-the-rage Latino-themed bacchanals wherein costumed gringos y gringas (other human flavors no doubt attend as well) don sombreros and fake mustaches, while siphoning barrels of tequila and beer down their gullets--this, as a means (but of course!) of channeling our intrinsically Dionysian inner Chicana/o Dasein. It turns out simulating barrio Mexicans might be the NEXT big story since Paris Hilton's storage locker turned up on Ebay. Our African-American hermanos y hermanas have put up with these shenanigans (2) for over a century, so we may be in for one hell of a ride:
That Arrellano elects to anoint Tex[t]-Mex with a mention at the end of his piece means I have to buy him a beeg beeg regalito/regalote this coming navidad! Abrazos Gustavo! Abrazos!
First off, Gustavo Arellano's "Ask A Mexican" column is pretty humorous, which makes me feel a little more comfortable discussing race since the guy who writes it is Mexican. Second, having attended parties like the "Drinko por Cinco" back when I was a wee freshman, I know the only reason to go is to get drunk and engage in other, uh, let’s just say things you wouldn’t want your Grandma knowing about. Costumes are a silly ice breaker, a way to meet people, and just have fun. When you go to a school like SDSU, someone throws a party and the first thing out of their mouth is “What’s the theme?” So here’s my beef with this: why do some people make a fuss about a bunch of dumb college kids throwing a Mexican themed party, when there are ‘ghetto fabulous’ parties, ‘white trash’ parties, etc? I am white and I don’t get offended by white trash parties. I know it’s not to be taken seriously, and I agree with Arellano- “To laugh at others is human; to appropriate the laughter, divine.” If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em and viva la fiesta!
ReplyDelete-Maureen Clardy