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<pre wrap=""><i>..."What your paper fails to realize in this is that the modern Mexican mestizo identity is
in fact a construction intended to counter European racism and discrimination.
While certainly it does not leave much room for individuals of entirely
indigenous descent it does acknowledge the cultural inheritance of indigenous
groups and has helped to improve their position within the Mexican nation and
consciousness. As anyother identity it is mutable an will change..."</i></pre>
Mestizo identity should be seen as a broad continuum. From
genetically pure white European to Pure African, and indigenous bloods,
what matters most is the CULTURAL life of the individual. I have seen
Lacandon people with Afros at the bus stop in Palenque, ruddy
complected Huicholes selling arts in Zacatecas, and<br>
dark skinned men passing out anti-immigrant leaflets at the local
shopping mall.<br>
<br>
The Spanish "castas" system is alive and well in some quarters. Some
idigenistas want to apply a BIA blood quantum to Chicano identity.
Others want to subsume Chicano identity into the greater "Latino"
pantheon. Either choice is an ignorant approach. The reality of the
21st century is that there are no indigenous peoples left in the world
who are completely and totally free of outside contact. And try and
pray as we might, indigenous cultures like all cultures are dynamic,
ever-changing and not set in stone. They were not before 1492, and
will be even less so in the 21st century.<br>
<br>
Those of us who are untested in helping indigenous people throughout
the world maintain their culture, most do so not from a curator's point
of view. Nor from a <br>
political strategist's. We must do so because we value the deep
historical, linguistic, and spiritual offerings that all indigenous
cultures bring to our global feasting table. <br>
<br>
To lose these ancient and venerable traditions, would be a great loss.
But to petrify them and demand that all indigenous people submit to a
"Hollywood" or "noble savage" version of what it means to be
indigenous would also be a crime.<br>
<br>
What it means to be Chicano/Mexicano/indigenous in the U.S. will also
change as the influence of Euro/Afro/Asian American culture interacts
with our Chicano/Mexicano/indigenous traditions. My children who were
born into the Chicano indigenous world view ( as opposed to me walking
into it at the age of 19 in 1974) are deeply proud of their culture,
participate in our Azteca dance ritual calendar.... and enjoy pesto,
Phó, hummus, kung pao chicken, Thai food, and hamburgers...... as well
as their chilaquiles, tamales, pozole, chile nuevo Mexico, and
guajolote on Thanksgiving.....<br>
<br>
if we are what we eat.... most of us are mestizo....<br>
<br>
<br>
mario<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
ROBERT SCHWALLER wrote:
<blockquote cite="mid200604151548.LAA07546@webmail16.cac.psu.edu"
type="cite">
<pre wrap="">I would have to agree with Dr. Karttunen. While I agree with your paper's
assertion that identity can be both imposed on an individual or a group or
constructed independently. The problem I see with the paper is that it fails to
recognize that even identities which may have been created by dominant elites
may in later times become modified and reapproproiated. The concept of a
mestizo identity is very interesting in this regard. During the colonial period
it was created by the Spanish to describe individuals of mixed Iberian and
indigenous descent. It did serve to distinguish these individuals from their
indigenous relatives. However, by the early 20th century, the intellectual
elite of Mexico had successfully reimagined the Mexican national identity as
being mestizo. Was this the same as the earlier Spanish colonial label? No,
obviously not, the major goal of this new mestizo identity was the valorization
of both European white culture AND native indigenous culture. Jose Vasconcelos
argued that Mexicans were "la raza cosmica" because of this unique blending of
culture and heritage. Was this new mestizo identity hegemonic? Yes, the
intellectual and political elite of Mexico, many of mostly European descent,
chose to construct this identity in order to counter largely European
assertions that as a nation of mixed-race individuals Mexico was inherantly
weak. This new formulation of the Mexican mestizo nation has been rather
successful in insuring the continued survival of indigenous culture within the
nation, because without its connection to indigenous groups, their culture, and
their past there could be no indigenous element. For example INAH, Instituto
Nacional de Antropologia e Historia, focuses far more of its archaeological
time on indigenous sites than on colonial ones because of the importance that
indigenous culture plays for the continuation of a mestizo identity. What your
paper fails to realize in this is that the modern Mexican mestizo identity is
in fact a construction intended to counter European racism and discrimination.
While certainly it does not leave much room for individuals of entirely
indigenous descent it does acknowledge the cultural inheritance of indigenous
groups and has helped to improve their position within the Mexican nation and
consciousness. As anyother identity it is mutable an will change. Your paper
needs to recognize that even imposed identities may be reappropriated overtime.
Rob
Robert Schwaller
Ph.D. Candidate
Penn State - Dept. of History
105 Weaver Bldg.
University Park PA, 16801
</pre>
</blockquote>
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