Trending
MOST READ
Food-industry heroes: Cameron Davies and Matthew Marshall of Cruising Kitchens

Food-industry heroes: Cameron Davies and Matthew Marshall of Cruising Kitchens

Best of SA 2012 Critic Pick: Countless food shows featuring celebrity chefs have cast a bright light on the "back of the house," the kitchens that create the artful delicacies that drive restaurant success. 4/25/2012
2012 Best of San Antonio Food Winners List

2012 Best of San Antonio Food Winners List

Best of 2012: 2012 Best of San Antonio Food Winners List 4/25/2012
Best Beard

Best Beard

Best of SA 2013: 4/24/2013
'The Flu Season'

'The Flu Season'

Arts & Culture: A quarter of the way through The Flu Season, Will Eno’s 2003 absurdist exercise set in a psychiatric hospital, patients in the TV room watch a report on how an entire family fell through early-winter ice and died. Skating on a thin dramatic surface, the pla By Steven G. Kellman 5/17/2013
2013 Tejano Conjunto Festival Explores The Genre's Family Tree

2013 Tejano Conjunto Festival Explores The Genre's Family Tree

Music: If San Antonio is the mecca of conjunto, then the Tejano Conjunto Festival serves as the genre’s hajj — a chance to pay homage to accomplished... By Jeffrey Wright 5/15/2013
Calendar

Search hundreds of restaurants in our database.

Search hundreds of clubs in our database.

Follow us on Instagram @sacurrent

Print Email

¡ASK A MEXICAN!

Photo: , License: N/A


Dear Mexican: I live in Upstate New York (that’s any part of the state north of the city, for you West Coasters), and while we have a relatively small Mexican population, we have a large number of Puerto Ricans, especially in the community I live in. Here’s my question: a number of times I’ve overheard my PR friends accuse each other of being “lazy Mexicans” as a good-humored insult. I’m wondering if on the West Coast, where I expect that there are more Mexicans than Puerto Ricans, if you ever accuse each other of being “lazy Puerto Ricans?” I’ve asked my PR friends this question, but they think it’s crazy. I’m of Irish heritage, and I was surprised one day to find out that all of the Polish jokes I grew up with were Irish jokes in England. I’m curious if maybe it’s the same thing here. Basically, I see my friends as being Latino, and they don’t have a problem with that until someone calls them a Mexican. Kind of like someone saying I’m Irish, but accusing me of being Protestant when I’m Catholic.

— Son of Erin

 

Dear Mick: Ah, another opportunity to trot out my all-time favorite joke: Why aren’t there any Puerto Ricans on Star Trek? Because they don’t work in the future, either. Silly chiste, but that’s the point. As brilliantly put forth by Christie Davies in his examination of ethnic humor, The Mirth of Nations, mere jokes by one ethnic group against another signifies latent hostility toward the joked-upon, but nothing serious. Ethnic insults, on the other hand, suggest a deeper-rooted hatred between the groups. In other words, Mexicans don’t really care about Puerto Ricans, because we always kick their ass in boxing and aren’t as colonized as boricuas, so any tweaking of them is relegated to jokes — and even then, I can’t think of a single Puerto Rican joke with roots in Mexico. But Puerto Ricans throwing around slurs like “lazy Mexicans” show they’re as American as they come, because while Mexican jokes do exist in the American humor realm, bona fide slurs — wetback, chili belly, taco bender, wab, and many, many more — are as numerous as beans in a burrito. “The number and nature of nicknames, and particularly derogatory nicknames for particular ethnic groups in America,” wrote Davies, “is a reflection of the strengths of the ethnic conflicts in which they have been involved and the kinds of ill-feeling that such conflicts generate.” Diós bless America!

 

My fiancé and I were debating this the other night: where did the idea of La Matanzas come from? How did they start? I’m of the belief that they were to provide food for an entire village during long, hard winters and have become a reason to party outside in the middle of winter. He says he doesn’t think so. He said they are probably a local thing (we’re from New Mexico) and other self-respecting Mexicans would never have fiestas like this. Can you clarify?

We welcome user discussion on our site, under the following guidelines:

To comment you must first create a profile and sign-in with a verified DISQUS account or social network ID. Sign up here.

Comments in violation of the rules will be denied, and repeat violators will be banned. Please help police the community by flagging offensive comments for our moderators to review. By posting a comment, you agree to our full terms and conditions. Click here to read terms and conditions.
comments powered by Disqus