* A few days to 5 months
* Haiku #57
* Nightime
* Carnaval!
* Chick-a-dee Wanna-bees
* The Bears and The Boy with The Golden Hair
* Salpicado
* Song of the Puffer Fish
* Agua Monarka
* December is here, Christmas is Coming
* A Jack Kerouac
* In La Paz, Hot Dogs are King
* New Dispatches from Abroad
* Miguel Angels Workshop
* Latinoamerica en bicicleta | El viaje ha comenzado
* Sunken Treasure
* Harry Potter in trouble with Minstrelcy Police
* Bite of the Apple
* Stings and Bites
October 13, 2004
October 12 is Columbus Day here in Mexico. It is called "the day of the races" and the main event taking place in Mazatlan today is a relay race.
However, "Race" in this case I believe refers to the celebration of the Indigenous races mixing with the Old World races, not races with relays, boats, or runners.
In America, Christopher Columbus has always been regarded as a visionary, a hero; the first European to escape the tyrannical Old World in the New.
In Mexico, the mixed race population doesn't necessarily see the coming of European conquerors as a blessing. They believe Colon and the Conquistadors didn't come to America for freedom, they came for God and Greed.
Yesterday at the Hotel Belmar, located in Old Mazatlan, I asked the Senora at the front desk about La Dia de Cristobal Colon.
"What events are taking place for Columbus Day?" I asked.
"None that I'm aware of."
"No parades or fiestas?"
"Columbus Day isn't really celebrated in Mexico."
"Why not?"
"Because of his race." She said.
"You mean because he was an Italian?"
"No, because he's white."
View from balcony at Hotel Belmar
Eric, I would think most Native Americans would feel the same way. I feel the same way.
Posted by: Mum on October 13, 2004 07:16 AMI'm sure they do too. The conquest of mexico left many of the indigenous wiped out but the many that were left were at least allowed to take a place of integration in society, at the lowest slavery level.
The peoples of the United States werent so lucky. Most peoples were exterminated or completely isolated. No such integration, only segregation.
So, the Native Americans probably feel the same way. And for Mexico, through this integration the majority of the population identifies with the native population, so the popular view point is different here than in Canada or the US.
The victors write the history, and the US tends to view events through rose colored lenses.
Posted by: Eric on October 13, 2004 01:17 PM