I'm No Racist, I Like My Mexican Friends

Dear Gabacho,

I will grant but uno comeback, one for you to use against anyone who hassles your amigos: "Don't act like me." Seriously, Beaner Buddy: Your letter reads like a long excuse to seek the Mexican's blessing to bash his raza. You start by claiming your opposition to stereotypes, yet quickly state they're funny before moving on to describe the typical Mexican as a stupid lawn mower. Your Mexican friends are supposedly as far away from the clichés as possible, but you criticize them for acting like whiny minorities. It's all busting balls, you insist, yet you're annoyed that Mexicans act like Mexicans. And then you conclude with a plea for choice invectives! Racial and ethnic slurs are fine in a tit-for-tat situation, but nowhere in your letter is it even suggested that your friends dismiss you as a gabacho culero.

After the amnesty bill was defeated, I noticed a lot of self-professed Christian conservatives were happy. They must've forgotten Leviticus 19:33-34: "And if a stranger sojourn with thee in your land, ye shall not vex him. But the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God." How can a true Christian disregard this passage?

Dear Readers,

PLEASE stop quoting biblical verses to bolster your position on illegal immigration. Many pro-immigrant advocates cite the above Leviticus passage to argue God is on their lado; Know Nothings shoot back with John 10:1, where Jesus told the disciples, "Verily, verily I say unto you: He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber." Pro-amnesty types reply with Paul's Letter to the Hebrews stressing, "Be not forgetful to entertain strangers"; Know Nothings respond, "Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's." If the Bible has taught us any lesson in our postmodern world, it's this: the Good Book is bueno nowadays only to bolster flimsy reasoning. The sole Bible passage that accurately describes illegal immigration is John 11:35—"Jesus wept." Apply to your vanities as need fits.

garellano@seattleweekly.com