{"id":2230,"date":"2018-10-12T08:00:03","date_gmt":"2018-10-12T13:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/?p=2230"},"modified":"2018-10-12T09:32:31","modified_gmt":"2018-10-12T14:32:31","slug":"the-long-history-of-dia-de-la-raza-in-mexico","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/2018\/10\/12\/the-long-history-of-dia-de-la-raza-in-mexico\/","title":{"rendered":"The Long History of \u201cD\u00eda de la Raza” in Mexico"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Photo of Indigenous Women, some holding children, outside of a Church in Chiapas, Mexico. Photo by Adam Jones, Flickr CC<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

More and more Americans have begun observing Indigenous Peoples Day, at least in part to push back against national narratives of \u201cdiscovery\u201d associated with Christopher Columbus and his commemoration. While a relatively recent development in the United States, other nations of the Americas officially acknowledged the importance of their Indigenous heritage for much longer. For example, in Mexico,\u00a0D\u00eda de la Raza<\/a> or \u201cThe Day of the Race\u201d was officially recognized back in 1928 and was part of a larger national project that emphasized that all<\/em> Mexicans share a history of racial and cultural mixing — known as mestizaje\u00a0<\/em>— since the coming of the Spanish. Sociological research highlights how this recognition of Indigenous people as integral to the formation of the nation has actually had mixed consequences for Indigenous peoples and cultures of Mexico.<\/p>\n

The notion of\u00a0mestizaje<\/em> emphasized that all Mexicans were fundamentally \u201cmixed\u201d individuals, or \u201cmestizos.\u201d It was adopted by the State in an effort to promote inclusion and national cohesion across racial lines — including Indigenous peoples — and even resulted in the removal of racial categories from the census (after 1921). In this spirit, the Mexican government sought to \u201cimprove\u201d Indigenous individuals through education, social integration, and economic development, assimilating them into the newly defined mestizo nation. While some benefited, some lost their language and cultural identity, and many others, especially those with darker skin, faced further marginalization and found themselves pushed underground.<\/h5>\n