I received a lot of information from the speaker and upon reflection, I feel strongly about what this man spoke of regarding the racism that still exists in Mexico today. I can relate in many ways, having seen the racism back home in my community in the United States. I struggle to understand and comprehend why people are so cruel towards one another on the basis of their race and this alone. After hearing this speaker discuss the various racisms amongst people of Mexico, I found this issue even more disheartening. In the U.S., people of Mexican descent are can be referred to as “Hispanic,” “Mexican,” or “Mexican-American.” To the people of the U.S., we group many of these people together as one “race” yet here in Mexico, people are very aware of their culture and ethnic identity and the complexities that they entail.After the conquest of the Spanish, to be indigenous was to be of a lower class. Furthermore, the Spaniards began to “mix” with the people of Mexico and people were born of a lighter skin color. This lighter skin color began to have a higher status than the darker skin color. The Spaniards were at the top of the pyramid regarding class and status, so the more one appeared like a Spaniard, the higher class they appeared in the social realm of Mexico. Light-skinned people, especially with blond hair and colored eyes are still tend to be of higher status and/or class. For this reason, indigenous people have been and continue to be oppressed and to fight to keep their culture alive for more than 300 years.
Many people have forgotten the indigenous or look past them, forgetting we are all of one being – the same, no matter what our skin color is. This racism and classism is still very much a problem in today’s reality. In Mexico, we see it much in the class and stat
us of the color of one's skin-there are places in Mexico one is not able to go to or where people are unwelcome due to the color of their skin. This is much like the USA where there is much racism amongst and toward the various different ethnic groups, races as well as discrimination toward people of non-heterosexual identity, such as people who identify as GLBTQ.Have we all forgotten that we were made the same, we all have red blood, like the man we spoke with said, and we were meant to be on Earth as one together? Why is there so much hate and pain amongst people who are “different” than one another?
-Amy Voigt (Augsburg College)
Amy, your comments are all too true. I am glad that the expereince helped you relfect on language and on issues of discrimination within the U.S. context. Your comments are very thoughtful. Thank you!
ResponderEliminarHaving been in Mexico several times myself, I am in complete agreement with this. The history of Mexico is one that is different from the history of the United States, but not completely. During the times of slavery, “mixing” occurred in many of the same ways, and there was (is still) a hierarchy in the United States based on one’s skin color or perceived race and/or ethnicity. I liked your comment about how people look past the indigenous people in Mexico, because it is very true. I wonder how many people still think about what happened to the Native Americans or about the fact that they still exist today. It would be nice to think that we, “United Statesians,” don’t have to deal with these issues, but we are just as guilty of many of these things as many of the people in Mexico. To this day, depending on where you are in the US, people still feel very unwelcomed because of the color of their skin, and I too hope that one day people will celebrate our differences instead of stigmatizing and prioritizing them.
ResponderEliminar