Which of the two cartoons at the top of the two columns (left and right) is a negative stereotype, unflattering, meant to ridicule, and is racist at its core and in its intention. 

          The one on the left is aimed at Jewish people.  It's meant to portray all Jews as ugly, filthy, evil, and as something less than human. We all know that this is not true, but white supremacists use this type of cartoon to be a repulsive representation of all Jews.  There may be few Jews who look like the cartoon (but not so vile or evil), but the vileness that is portrayed in this cartoon is meant to make you hate all of the people who are associated with this racist caricature: this is supposed to be a portrait of all Jews.

          The one on the right is aimed at Mexican people.  It is also meant to portray Mexicans as ugly, filthy, evil, and something less than human.  A few of our people may look like what is being portrayed in this cartoon (also, not so vile or evil, or stupid), but the manner in which he is presented here is meant to make you be repulsed and to hate all of the people associated with this racist caricature: this is supposed to be a portrait of all Mexicans.  You would expect the KKK or Stormfont or some Neo-Nazi organization like the Minutemen as the persons behind this "Mexican cartoon".  Except that the cartoon on the upper right is done for a vendido person of Mexican descent doing a column running in several newspapers in the Los Angeles and Orange County area, it's called ASK A MEXICAN. The content of this column is equally racist.  This is the same vendido who ridiculed us when we were protesting Disney's attempt to use a Spaniard (European) to portray Emiliano Zapata. He didn't care if it was a European.  We protested at Disneyland for over a year and finally got Disney to kill the project.

          What if there was an ASK A JEW with the cartoon at the upper left?  Or how about ASK A BLACK MAN with the cartoon at the left of the black boy with the baseball cap? Not so funny?  You might even say it was a really racist cartoon, even if it was done by a Jew or a Black man? 

          None of these cartoons are meant to be attractive, flattering or positive.  There is a racist evil hiding behind the mind of "It's just meant to be funny.  Can't you take a joke".  These racist cartoons are meant to take away our humanity, to defile our dignity, to deface our culture, and they are meant to create deep shame in the people that are supposedly being portrayed.

          Where are the equivalent cartoons of white people as ugly, evil, or ridiculous (surely there are some white people who are all those things)?  And that are presented as a representation of all European descent people? 

          At the bottom of this column is a cartoon of a white boy in the same comic strip as the black boy on the left. How come he has no exaggerated features?  Why isn't he portrayed as ugly and vile, and stupid?  The two are from the racist Memin Pinguin comic strip out of Mexico. This is promoted by the white supremacists who run Mexico.           White people want to be portrayed as this perfection of the boy at the bottom, this goodness, this handsomeness, this intelligence, this purity.  Well, so would all of the other races of humanity!  We have all of those qualities too! 

         The unchallenged white supremacy manifested in these cartoons has to be stopped! Especially when it comes from our own people! Are you planning to do anything about it, or are you going to continue to take these attacks, from vendidos?  Write letters to the papers carrying it, protest the vendido, write to the publisher, and learn to not tolerate any white supremacist attacks on our people.

jdjdjd

Below is an article that came out in the Los Angeles Times May 19, 2007.  Gurza has a good handle on this, but he forgot to mention the cartoon.  Incidentally, the LA Weekly doesn't carry the cartoon, but they carry the column.  Do they think the cartoon is racist?  Maybe they should read his column, it is even more racist than the cartoon.

THERE'S A NEW VENDIDO IN TOWN

(Leticia Martinez photo)

http://www.ocexcelsior.com/guia_oc/recomiendan/0310_guia_recomiendan.shtml

Don't ask me about 'The Mexican'
By Agustin Gurza, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
Article by the Los Angeles Times

Gustavo Arellano is like the Paris Hilton of the so-called Latino journalism world. He pops up everywhere, the media love him, and he thoroughly relishes the attention.

The difference is he's no airhead and he's not going to jail, though some consider his celebrity an offense. Arellano has capitalized on the novelty of his syndicated column, "¡Ask a Mexican!," in which he fields often racist questions about Mexicans with answers that are often racist themselves.

Since launching the provocative feature for the OC Weekly three years ago, like it or not, "The Mexican," as he calls himself, has become the voice of a people. He's a frequent guest on public radio and local talk radio, and he's made appearances on NBC's "Today" show, ABC's "Nightline" and Comedy Central's "The Colbert Report."

Now he's on tour promoting his new book of the same name, published by Scribner. The author appeared in April on a panel at the L.A. Times Book Fair and he's coming to a bookstore near you to autograph his book, the cover of which is emblazoned with a Chihuahua, a bottle of tequila, a rooster, a big sombrero and a bullet-riddled car.

In his four-page list of acknowledgments, Arellano thanks radio DJs who gave him weekly exposure, including KPCC's Larry Mantle and KABC's Al Rantel, and credits the Los Angeles Times for a front-page profile in 2006 that brought him national attention. (Arellano also writes occasional opinion pieces for this paper.)

You won't find my name among the thank-yous. I have reluctantly become the Anti-Mexican, a go-to guy for reporters seeking a dissenting voice to balance the chorus of praise that otherwise packs profiles of my colleague.

Arellano's shtick is to be the lightning rod for Mexican haters and for the politically correct critics he calls Chicano Yaktivists, admittedly a funny term. I once debated him in a meeting of L.A. so-called Latino journalists, some of whom dismissed our disagreements as generational. Apparently, I'm too much of an old fogy to get how cool and hilarious The Mexican is.

That's not true. I get it. His satirical comedy is a cross between Andrew Dice Clay and Don Rickles. (Ooops, did I just date myself?) The problem is, one man's joke is another man's insult. Besides, I was born in Mexico (unlike The Mexican, who's actually an Anaheim native) but I rarely recognize myself in his answers: I don't wear street clothes while swimming in the ocean, I'm not especially attracted to women with large derrieres and I'm not a big fan of Morrissey.

After a while, his answers start to sound formulaic. There's an insulting retort, an endorsement of the stereotype in question, an outrageous explanation that makes the stereotype worse, and a Google search to provide journalistic cover with related factoids to sound informed.

For example, one waitress writes on Page 142 that Mexicans ("brown-skinned losers") are bad tippers, so she spits in their drinks. In response, The Mexican cites an academic study that found Mexicans to be generous tippers. But then he goes on to say that Mexican men are motivated to give more if the waitress is caliente, dresses sexy and jiggles for her reward. For better tips, Arellano advises, "get some … implants."

On Thursday I spoke to Arellano, who had just returned from another successful book signing in Houston. He says his column has evolved, becoming more educational and informative.

"People have the misconception that the column just deals with stereotypes and racist rants," he told me. "That might have been the case in its inception, but now it covers anything and everything about Mexican society."

Arellano says his strategy is to neutralize stereotypes by embracing them, killing them with overuse à la Spike Lee's "Do the Right Thing."

I'm not sure that's working.

Elsewhere in his book, he addresses an Italian with a derogatory name, refers to gays with a Spanish slur, and allows a questioner on Page 177 to blithely refer to blacks with one of the worst ethnic slurs in the English language — the n-word.

I'm tired of hearing myself complain about the column: It reinforces stereotypes, trivializes racism, claims to speak for all Mexicans, blah, blah, blah. Still, I'm astounded that in this post-Don Imus world more people don't call Arellano on this stuff.

After all, he's using the old Imus defense: Lighten up, gente. The Mexican is just trying to be funny.

ASK A REAL MEXICAN

Dear Real Mexican,

I am a sniveling self-hating little vendido who writes a column called Ask A Mexican.  In my column I normally show my disgust for my own people, and use all the racist terms against them, repeating them again and again, so that the white man knows that I am their perrrrrrro.  I hate my people because they are not white.  I ridicule them while pretending to be standing up for them.  This is a form of spitting on them, a form of racism.  I am pretty racist against my own people, that I will admit.  I love the white man who hires me to shit on my people.  They print my books because they know my work will have more white people hating Mexicans.  I know who butters my white bread (the readership is mostly white, and mostly redneck, in Orange County, known for its Republican and white supremacist base). I am a hit with the vendidos too.  In my column I often playfully tease the Anglos that I love so much with what appears to be a scolding, but what I really do is reinforce their racist hate against Mexicans. 

My question for you REAL MEXICAN, is this:  I normally call myself Latino because I've always hated Mexicans. Latino sounds Latin, Italian, European, white.  I consider myself white, or Mediterranean type, not nordic of course (unless I dye my hair), but definitely not an Indio.  So, how do I totally make sure that people don't take me for a real Mexican.

Soy un puto vendido

Dear Whore Sellout,

We don't accept you as Mexican or as Nican Tlaca (Indigenous), so don't worry, get back to your whoring, but be aware that more and more of our people are waking up to what you're up to.  I'd start worrying more about pickets and boycotts against you than anything else.  Expect a picket sometime soon from the Mexica Movement.

A Real Mexican