Lies / Truths

This section still Under Construction

Lie: We Chicanos and Mexicans are "half-spanish".
Truth: What a BIG FAT LIE...one told to make us ashamed of our "Indian" heritage. Also, try telling that lie to the 10 million Indigenous people of Mexico.

The Spaniard may have won the political/economic war, but genetically, the "Indian" won over the Spaniard. Genetically, we are much more of the "Indian" than Spaniard. Only 300,000 Spaniards came to Mexico, and they were mainly men. There were 24,000,000 (million) Indigenous people in Mexico. That's a 98.5 to 1.5 percent racial differential.

Need more proof? Visit the following biological study on our people which demonstrates our Indigenous-genetic inheritance (caution:contains technical language that may confuse some readers):
http://home.att.net/~xochime/research/NewWorld.htm

For most of us, our last Spanish ancestor was over 300 or 400 years ago! How long into the future do we have to continue calling ourselves half Spanish...500 years? 5 thousand years??

You are only "half-Spanish" if one of your parents was Spanish. Having a great-great-great grandfather who was Spanish does not make you "half-Spanish"! Sorry! (I am well aware that many of us would love to claim some White blood, even a few drops!)

Most of us were not born in Spain, nor have we ever traveled to Spain.
Spain and Mexico are not the same thing, being separated by continents and a thing called the Atlantic Ocean. Mexico has not been governed by Spain in along time!

The American Diabetes Association claims that both "American Indians" and "Hispanics" (by that they really mean Mexicans) are both at a higher risk for diabetes than Europeans and Whites. By this we can see that it is because we share the INDIGENOUS "blood", which Europeans and Whites do not have as a group, but which we do.

Not many people know this, but did you know that not very many Spanish women ever came to Mexico after the Conquest? The bulk of the Spanish ancestry we have is mainly from MEN, who interbred with Native women. And often, they did it by rape or some other means of coercion. There was no real interbreeding between Native men and Spanish White women: it was against the law! This is hardly the beautiful interracial fairy-tale many of us have often heard. This is not made up. This is amply documented. It's hardly something we can claim to be proud of.

One last thing: speaking Spanish does not mean one is from Spain or has Spanish ancestors. Anyone with $20 and a tape recorder can learn to speak the language.

Lie: We should hate the Spanish blood in us. It is evil.
Truth: This is not about hating what's done, and that which we cannot change. We should not beat ourselves up over the color of our or our fellow brother's/sister's skin. We've all been brainswashed to love white skin, yes, but we should sober up from that experience, and not turn to hate.
We have enough self-hate as it is. Often, it is the darker of our our people who hold the most racist ideas, many times because they have encountered so much discrimination, that they throw in the towel in a "can't beat 'em, join em" attitude.

Lie: The true religion for us Chicanos is Roman Catholocism. After all, we've been Catholics for a long time. It's our tradition.
Truth: The Roman Catholic "faith" was never introduced to us in a peaceful, "Christian" way, as it claims to represent. It was forced on us by sword and cannon. In fact, laws were passed by the Spaniards, which made it a criminal offense to practice "pagan" and "satanic" Indigenous religions. The punishment: burn alive at the stake for your friends and family to witness.
There is another way for us Chicanos. It does not rely on Organized Religion to tell us what to think. It does not consist of "spirituality" (a European concept). It is the acknowledgement of a profound, sober, and creative outlook and practice that our ancestors used (see Theology section of this web site). It is a way that has survived since it was taught from books in the great Aztec city of Tenochtitlan (Mexico City). It requires no "belief", but acknowledgement instead.

Lie: We had "gods". The Spaniards said so. American archaeologists say so, too.
Truth: We had one Creator: Ometeotl, who was manifest in the thousands of forces in the Universe. The Roman Catholic theology is something that never existed here for thousands and thousands of years. It was forced on us. Our Creator is not a human (and therefore not a White man with a beard). If there are depictions of "people" in Aztec records, these are more like personifications for that which has specific behaviors/aspects of the one Creator, the one Creative Principle of Duality: Life/Death, Night/Day, Male/Female, Choas/Order, etc.

Lie: Aztecs never invented the wheel.
Truth: The Aztecs did invent the wheel, but it remained an item for children's toys since the terrain of the Valley of Mexico was so steep and rugged that it was difficult to use.  What made it even more difficult to use was that there were no horses or oxen in Mexico with which to domesticate!

Lie: The Aztecs were bloodthirsty because they practiced human sacrifice.
Truth: Europeans practiced human sacrifice, too: they burned their "witches" alive at the stake for all to watch! The Celts of Europe burned people alive in a constructed wicker chamber in the shape of a man. The Scythians would cut off their enemies heads, and the Romans would make people butcher each other for public entertainment.

The Aztecs fought war differently, as it had been done for centuries in Anahuac ("Mesoamerica"). War was a sacred duel. They did not kill just for the sake of killing like "civilized" Europeans did. The Aztecs subdued an opponent, and then that opponent was considered "dead". He knew the rules, too. he was then scheduled on the calendar for a date to be sacrificed, as a messenger to God. In this way, his life and death now signified something greater. Life and death were one and the same in Anahuac thought. There was no greater thing than to sacrifice your life for your people's honor.

 more Lies and Truth on the way.....