BarkellWH -> RE: Mad Max (Nov. 27 2014 20:50:46)
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We went to see Apocalypto. The depiction of the Mayan villages was very realistic, and brought out strong memories. After the first half hour of savage violence, as the city people kidnaped, murdered and raped the vilagers, Larisa turned to me and asked, "Are you ready to go?" The Spanish were about as cruel as they come when it came to dealing with the indigenous people of Mexico, Central, and South America. They literally practiced genocide, sparing only those they forced to work the silver mines. Unlike the Spanish (and in contrast to much of the "politically correct" thinking today), the United States Government never implemented a policy of genocide. In spite of certain individuals and groups who were out to kill indians (The "scalp-hunters" along the borderlands, so well-depicted in Cormac McCarthy's "Blood Meridian," being an example), the U.S. Government policy, bad as it was, was always to herd various tribes onto reservations. When the Indians objected and fled the reservations (Geroimo being a good example), the army would then hunt them down. But there was never a policy of extermination as the Spanish practiced in Latin America. I was assigned to both Honduras and Chile, and I have traveled a good deal around Mexico, Central, and South America. I am always struck by the attitudes of the governing and controlling elites of most of these countries. To be called an "Indio" remains a slur. Mexico is quite a bit different than the rest of Latin America. By and large, pride in their Indian heritage cuts across class lines in Mexico. Mexicans are not entirely free of prejudice, but there is much less of it than in the rest of Latin America. Even in Honduras, which is 90 percent mestizo, there is little pride exhibited in their Indian heritage. I would summarize the contasting attitudes toward the indigenous indian heritage in most of Latin America and in Mexico by noting two examples that manifest themselve publicly: In Mexico City, along the Paseo de la Reforma, there is a statue of Cuauhtemoc, the last Mexica (Aztec) ruler in Tenochtitlan before defeat at the hands of Cortez. In the central plaza (the "Plaza de Armas") in Lima Peru, there is a stature of Francisco Pizarro, the conquerer of the Inca Empire. Bill
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