‘I Think You’re Just Getting Lazy—You Mexican!’
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THE DRAPES MATCH THE DRAPES
You have got to be kidding me [Albert Ching’s “Wag the Vessel Tongue,” Feb. 13]. It is an absolute travesty to compare this band with Queens of the Stone Age. I have seen them live, and I will say the band has potential musically, but the singer’s voice is like nails on a chalkboard. To compare him to the brilliance of Josh Homme is simply crazy! He can’t sing, and he doesn’t even play an instrument. I will give you the fact that they both have red hair, but even then, there is no comparison.
Steve, via ocweekly.com
SO DO WE
I miss the funnies! Please bring them back.
Ross Tuomala, Fullerton, via e-mail
MEXICAN EDUCATION
Great answer to “Disgrace/Not Proud to be a Hispanic” [Gustavo Arellano’s ¡Ask a Mexican! Feb. 13]. Ese pendejo needs to know the difference between teaching and education, between motivating and collecting a pinche paycheck. Echele.
Rocky, via ocweekly.com
This recession will eventually do for Mexican middle-school and high-school kids what the contraction of the steel industry did for Polacks and Italians and other immigrant descendants in the Rust Belt during the late ’70s and early ’80s. It will make them appreciate education because the manual-labor jobs their parents had will have withered away due to many factors, such as more DIY, eating in, and increases in passive (e-verify) and active (raids) enforcement.
Education has never really been revered in this country to the extent that it is in Asia. If most white, native-born people could do the same industrial jobs as their great-grandparents and at the same adjusted wage level, the CSU and UC campuses would be ghost towns. It’s just that the Mexican has been “market dominant” in fields that require little advanced education, and as long as they have the hook-up, why bother with that book learning? In South-Central, a football coach merely has to keep the big, strong, black kid away from the gangs; but he has to keep the big, strong, Mexican kid from the gang and the work truck.
Urbanleftbehind, Chicago, via ocweekly.com
It certainly is not true that all Mexicans are “plant specialists.” Everyone knows that all Mexican boys are “natural mechanics” who can fix any car.
El Gringo, GuadaLaHabra, via ocweekly.com
I would have liked to have seen a better comeback than the one given regarding “Not so proud of my heritage.” I think you’re just getting lazy—you Mexican!
Beaner4life, via ocweekly.com
INJUNCTION JUNCTION
I’m impressed with the article on the whole San Juan Capistrano/San Clemente rivalry and the injunctions issued to residents of both cities [Daffodil J. Altan’s “South Side Story,” Jan. 30]. When I first heard of these injunctions, my immediate reaction was “Really?” After reading a brief description of the injunction, I knew what was going to happen: Police officers would be given more leverage to use on people who “looked” like they were affiliated with the gangs (read: Mexican, shaved head, baggy clothes). And these injunctions gave police a reason to stop people for no apparent reason, other than driving downtown at night. Being that I’ve lived in San Juan Capistrano my entire life and have grown up in the “safety zones” of these injunctions, with family in the gang and affiliated with the gang, I’ve witnessed the constant police discrimination firsthand.
Chances are, if you’ve been around SJC long enough and you’re Mexican, you’re either in the gang, have been accused of being in the gang, have been put in the gang file, or have been a victim of police racism. I think the people named in this injunction should contact the ACLU or any civil-rights organization and keep protesting this intrusion on their civil liberties. Rallies should be held weekly or monthly, and the community should work together (those named in the injunction and those not named) to try to keep these cops from throwing innocent people in jail. The money that went into these injunctions could have been put into community outreach for children in these cities.
This affects us all, whether we want to deny it or not. Sure, the streets might seem a little safer because people can stand no less than 10 feet from one another, but we still have to keep our police in check.
Adrian, via e-mail
NO BONES TO PICK
I found the article on Chief David Belardes very interesting and enlightening [Matt Coker’s “Chief Belardes Makes His Stand,” Feb. 6]. After I finished reading it, I came to this conclusion: When you strip away all the drama and emotion, one thing remains. Chief Belardes has worked alongside developers and archeologists who have followed the laws of the county and state prior to building for years. Seems to me, the only thing he’s trying to do is to see that Mission San Juan Capistrano follows those same laws/guidelines. In my book, that’s called “doing the right thing.”
Anonymous, Dana Point
Editor’s note: The drama surrounding Belardes continues. Please go to Matt Coker’s “Blood Feud.”
