......The devastation was horrific. In 1492, the population on the island of Hispaniola (Haiti and the Dominican Republic) was estimated at above 3 million. Within 20 years it was reduced to only 60,000, and within 50 years, not a single original native inhabitant was left.This opened the door for the African slave trade. The great majority of African slaves went to sugar colonies in the Caribbean and Brazil. It is estimated that 12.5 million Africans were shipped to the New World, with about 10.7 million surviving the voyages. About 600,000 slaves were imported into the U.S., and at least 200,000 African slaves were imported to Mexico, which is significant considering that by the 17th century, the population of New Spain once 25/28 million, dropped to less than a million natives, and no more than 250,000 Spaniards migrated to what is now Mexico during the entire colonial period.African slaves did not compromise the major source of forced labor in New Spain; the Indians were also made slaves and performed most of the forced labor in the fields, mines and other projects.Columbus set in place a system based on race that was expanded in New Spain (Mexico), perpetuating a caste system based on color. The rule of thumb was the more Spanish blood or the more Spanish a person looked the more privileges he or she had.The truth be told, Mexicans are still suffering the devastation and the racism caused by Columbus. The legacy of Columbus’ “discovery” can today be seen in the streets of Mexico City where little children sell gum for handouts, and poverty is almost solely represented by los de abajo of the castas.Anyone who has any sense of justice or history knows that the ancestors of these children built great civilizations with cities larger than those of contemporary Europe. They had books that the sons of Columbus destroyed; they had an advanced mathematical system, calendars, architecture, agriculture, and a defined cosmology. They were destroyed by the children of Columbus, who reduced the natives to selling gum.Celebrating El Día de la Raza is not an innocuous act. Holidays are important in forming approved memories. Identity is formed by culture that in turn shapes our behavior, beliefs and cultural narratives. Holidays are part of our memory and form our narratives. Popular events such as holidays are sanctioned by society, and they act as a form of social control that help maintain a social order and a popular consensus. It is in this context that terms such as el día de la raza are important because they avoid the need for providing a historical context, and thus absolve the Europeans for their sins.....
Posted on: Fri, 04 Oct 2013 22:08:47 +0000
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