Salem Monthly is preparing to publish the award-winning "Ask a Mexican" column by Gustavo Arellano. Every month the Mexican-American columnist will tackle reader- submitted questions such as why Latinos call Americans gringos (they don't, they call them gabachos) or why the daughters of Hispanic immigrants become "fat old bags"!

While his column is meant to be humorous, Arellano doesn't shy from serious questions about immigration or those that are racist or cruel. His goal is to give Salem Monthly readers a steaming hot dish of Mexican wisdom served Orange County-style.

Salem Monthly spoke with Arellano to learn about his inspiration and whether he is viewed as a traitor to his countrymen or a hero to immigrants everywhere.

Salem Monthly: Did your parents come to this country legally?

Gustavo Arellano: My mother is a legal immigrant and my father is an illegal immigrant. He came here in the trunk of a Chevy in 1969 along with three other men. He always tells great tales of him coming into this country illegally.

I was born in this country in 1979 and only spoke Spanish until I entered kindergarten. I try to tell people my story as proof that not only does assimilation happen among Mexicans, but it's really the law rather than the rule. This is even more specific for the children of Mexican immigrants.

SM: What was the inspiration for your "Ask a Mexican" column?

GA: One of the big stories in Orange County for years, which is now a big issue across the United States... is immigration.  It has been a huge, huge subject of grief and of joy for decades.

As a reporter you are always trying to take a new angle on any story you do. I infiltrated hate groups. I did first-person testimonials about my family and interviewed immigrants. I took every approach possible. The way I approached the Ask a Mexican column was just going to be another approach on immigration.

The way it started was my editor was driving through Santa Ana, which is one of the most Mexican cities in the state, and he saw a billboard for a radio station with a Mexican wearing a Viking helmet and staring off into the ocean. It was a really goofy billboard. When he came back he asked me about it and I told him the symbolism ... and he said this seems like a guy who can answer any question about Mexicans so he asked me to write it.

It was supposed to be a satirical take on the immigration debate in Orange County and how silly it is. How even though Latinos are a third of the county's population many people don't know why they do what they do.

SM: People have called you a traitor to your heritage. Have you ever felt disloyal to your Mexican heritage?

GA: Please!  This talk of ethnic identity and loyalty to your ethnicity is a bunch of bull frankly. My parents don't think I'm a traitor to the Mexican cause. A helluva lot more Mexicans actually think I'm a good person ... someone who does much better to promote the cause of Mexicans.
There are some Mexicans who say the column is dumb or offensive. Whatever, let them have their opinions but for them to pretend they're the ultimate arbiters of what constitutes a real Mexican and what doesn't is as racist as Minutemen saying whether Mexicans are Americans or not.

SM: How would you shape your column to fit the specifics of the immigration debate in Oregon?

GA: Some questions are going to be universal. Questions about assimilation or questions about history. My favorite questions are ones about etymology (history and evolution of words): why do some Mexicans say this or use certain words and phrases. These are questions that are applicable no matter where you are in the United States if you have a Mexican population.

If I do get a regional question I'll answer it but I'll also explain it to my regional audience.

SM: What has been your favorite question to date? Are there any you won't answer?

GA: I think all the questions have been my favorite questions. I answer them all, even the racist ones. Throughout the archives there have been some very vile questions. There's been some nice ones and some funny ones but I'll answer anything.

I actually like the racist questions the best because they are the ones that really allow me to execute what the original purpose of the column was, which was to combat hate, debunk stereotypes about Mexicans and really just give it to those racists who are out there.