''¡Ask a Mexican!'' was a syndicated satirical weekly newspaper column written by

Gustavo Arellano Gustavo Arellano is an American writer and journalist. He is a featured contributor for the ''Los Angeles Times'' and the former publisher and editor of Orange County's alternative weekly ''OC Weekly''. He is most notable as the author of the c ...

in the

Orange County Orange County most commonly refers to: *Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area Orange County may also refer to: U.S. counties *Orange County, Florida, containing Orlando *Orange County, Indiana *Orange County, New ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

alternative weekly '' OC Weekly''. Publication of ''¡Ask a Mexican!'' began in 2004 as a one-time spoof, but popularity has made it one of the weekly's most popular columns.

History

Every week, readers submit their questions about Mexican-American people and culture, including their customs, labor issues, and illegal immigration. Arellano usually responds to two queries a week in a

politically incorrect ''Political correctness'' (adjectivally: ''politically correct''; commonly abbreviated ''PC'') is a term used to describe language, policies, or measures that are intended to avoid offense or disadvantage to members of particular groups in socie ...

manner often starting with the words "Dear '' Gabacho''." The column appears in about a dozen newspapers across the country. Arellano has won numerous awards for the column, including the 2006 and 2008 Best Non-Political Column in a large-circulation weekly from the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies, the 2007 Presidents Award from the Los Angeles Press Club and an Impacto Award from the National Hispanic Media Coalition, and a 2008 Latino Spirit award from the California Latino Legislative Caucus. The columns were collected in book form in 2008 as ''¡Ask a Mexican!'' (Scribners, ). On October 13, 2017, Arellano resigned his position with ''OC Weekly'' after refusing its owner's directive to fire half his staff. He told

Tom Leykis Tom or TOM may refer to: * Tom (given name), a diminutive of Thomas or Tomás or an independent Aramaic given name (and a list of people with the name) Characters * Tom Anderson, a character in ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' * Tom Beck, a character ...

that the paper owns the "

copyright A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, educatio ...

" (actually

trademark A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a type of intellectual property consisting of a recognizable sign, design, or expression that identifies products or services from a particular source and distinguishes them from othe ...

) on the name ''¡Ask a Mexican!'', but that he intended to continue writing for other venues.

References

External links

OC Weekly
*Mireya Navarro.

. ''The New York Times,'' 23 June 2007.
Interview with Arellano on ''Ask a Mexican'', February 10, 2016
C-SPAN {{DEFAULTSORT:Ask A Mexican! Satirical columns Mexican-American culture in California Orange County, California 2004 introductions