Letters From OC Weekly Readers

'As an Evil, Predatory Gabacho, I Relish the Mexicans' Lack of Respect for Education and Reading'

Letters may be edited for clarity and length. E-mail to letters@ocweekly.com, or mail to Letters to the Editor, c/o OC Weekly, 1666 N. Main St., Ste. 500, Santa Ana, CA 92701. Or fax to (714) 550-5908.

LOVE AT FIRST READ
I love Tegan and Sara. Thank you for doing such a nice article about them [Kate Carraway's "Twin Powers," April 18]. Please tell Sara to settle down with me, and I will raise her babies and teach her to cook.

Katy Norris, via e-mail

IT'S A RACE
The day Vickie Chang stops juxtaposing Asian girls vs. white girls via fashion is the day that she will see how one-sided her racially inspired posts are [Trendzilla, April 25].

And It Don't Stop, via e-mail

Editor's note: That column didn't say anything about "Asian girls vs. white girls." Very strange letter.

CLASSROOM TO COURTROOM
As a Capistrano Valley High School grad in 1991, [I thought] you might find some irony in the fact that James Corbett was a vocal critic of John Peloza (CVHS biology teacher) for being opinionated in the classroom about his own religious opinions [Gustavo Arellano and Daffodil J. Altan's "Class Warfare: A History," April 11]. And he was named as a defendant in Peloza's case against the district that was heard by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal [in which the Circuit Court upheld the lower court's dismissal of Peloza's lawsuit, which challenged the district's requirement that he teach evolution, but reversed the lower court's decision that Peloza be required to pay the defendants' attorney's fees]. Corbett believes in free speech and "challenging" students when it fits his worldview.

Erik Richards, via e-mail

RACISMO BILINGÜE
Librería Martinez suffers from an inescapable and uncomfortable reality [Gustavo Arellano's "Book End?" May 2]: Its customers don't want its product. Most Mexican immigrants are poorly educated rural folk who don't really care about books. Trying to blame the economy is missing the point. In a culture in which adults consider comic books literature, Rueben Martinez has an uphill battle.

Don't get me wrong: As an evil, predatory gabacho, I relish the Mexicans' lack of respect for education and reading. It makes a labor force even more exploitable and gullible. But given the scores of great authors in the Spanish language, it must be pretty embarrassing that their own genteprefer to buy Lincoln Navigators with spinning rims over something that could expand their worldview and lead them out of serfdom. Oh, well, sigue la marcha a la profunda.

Oh, and your assertion that Mexicans are assimilating muy rapidois contradicted by the title of your column. You still cling to a nationality that treats its people like remote ATMs at best and other immigrants (chapines, Hondurans) as subhuman. Have a good weekend. I look forward to your writings each week.

Y.O., via e-mail

PACKING A PUNCH
Your story is excellent and touching [Derek Olson's "Sparring With Shadows," May 2]. Thank you.

Jerry Milani, via e-mail

BULLSHIT?
Agreed, it's a little late to be responding to your article about the "Las Vegas Diaspora" exhibit at the Laguna Art Museum [Greg Stacy's "Know When to Fold 'Em," March 28], but having just read it online, I have a few questions for the author. First of all, let's address what you said in regards to my own work. "Curtis Fairman makes neat, monstrous little objects out of plastic bowls from thrift stores and other cheap crap." I assume it's meant as a backhanded compliment, but seriously, Greg, did you actually travel to the museum to see the work? Or did you just Google some of our names? Even without your evaluative comments, it really sounds like you didn't even see what was on display.

Better yet, your assessment of Tim Bavington's painting and process is neither fair nor accurate. You conjure a ridiculous background based on your bad experiences with art, and then have the gall to refer to his methods as some sort of "bullshit."

You could have easily read more about any of the artists' methods at the front desk, in any one of our numerous catalogs, or, better yet, spoken directly to us at the opening. This isn't criticism. This isn't even opinion. It's just name-calling.

If you plan on reviewing art, I would sincerely ask you to look and evaluate based on facts. I love to hear opinions about our work, even the negative, because it gives an artist insight into who the audience is and on what levels we are connecting. I think that if this review is a typical sample of your critical abilities, then you have done your readers a great disservice. More so, I think you have done greater damage to the community at large. Rather than bolster an interest in the arts by offering sincere opinions and insights, you choose to bash the approach of 20 talented artists and a city they once called home.

Very classy.

Curtis Fairman, via e-mail