Discriminations in Mexico – but how does this make sense?

Warning: The deepest blog entry so far:

I like Mexico very much but there is one thing I have yet not understood. Mexicans have very strong opinions about some of their historical characters; some are honoured as something everyone should be proud of (with statues, street names and even city names) and some, just as influential, are considered objects of shame.

Some of the most loved people were Benito Juarez (played an important role in the independence movement), Miguel Hidalgo (the priest who launched the war of independence), Cuauhtémoc (Aztec leader who resisted the Spanish) and Pancho Villa (a revolutionary character). Similarly, amongst the most hated people are Hernán Cortés (the Spanish conquistador), Santa Anna (the president who lost Texas, California, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona to USA), La Malinche (the indigenous woman who became Cortés’ interpreter and lover) and Carlos Salinas de Gortari (the president blamed for the peso crisis, drugs trade, corruption, etc, you name it).

It is clear that Mexicans have chosen side and adore the culture of indigenous people at the same time as they dislike the settlers from Spain. But most of today’s Mexicans descend from both cultures and it is a mystery why they don’t want to identify themselves with the Spanish immigrants.

What is more intriguing is that all good is not good and all evil is not evil. Miguel Hidalgo for example was a pretty bad priest at the time who feasted on alcohol, women and gambling. Pancho Villa was recruited as a revolutionary leader only because of his ability to fight; before this he was an outlaw and bully who made a living out of stealing. And Cuauhtémoc was feared and disliked amongst all other tribes around Mexico. The Aztecs were at the time of the Spanish invasion very powerful but they were also a people who loved war; they raped the women of other tribes and they captured prisoners and warriors to be sacrificed. The Aztec belief was that if the god Huizilopochtli didn’t get his regular diet of warriors, he may not want not keep the sun moving the next day.

Hernán Cortés on the other hand allied with a number of smaller tribes (now considered traitors) and together they managed to take out the (evil?) Aztecs. However, a true Mexican would never see it this way.

And the most absurd thing of all; if Mexicans love their indigenous past so much, why are today the Maya people discriminated against? The pure Maya people should be considered the elite of the society but instead they are fighting discrimination and all sorts of rights. This led to the War of the Castes in 1847 when Mexican military fought off Mayan forces, who had to rebel against the government. Discrimination continues until this day and Mexicans continue to show off their hypocritical passion.

During my quest for answers I came across a book named ” El Laberinto de la soledad” by Octavio Paz, which discusses this very phenomenon. The same author was also awarded the Nobel Prize in Litterature by the Swedish Academy in 1990 for his works within poetry and many book-length studies in poetics, literary and art criticism, as well as on Mexican history, politics and culture; so it is certainly not any random author. If I ever find this works in a language I can understand I will surely read it and I expect class.