By Mari D. González

I love personal stories and to see how they are part of the bigger picture. I have always been fascinated by the history of the borderlands. I majored in Business Management and Communications, but was allowed to do my senior research project on Chicano and Mexican-American Literature.

As a lighter-skin Mexican who had grown up believing the myth of having mostly European ancestry, this project was a real eye opening. The more I learned about who I considered the “other,” the more I felt connected with my indigenous side.

Culturally, Mexicans are more indigenous than we are ready to admit yet, “hay una directriz que nos separa,” there is fine line that separates us by color as a result of century-old-colonialist socialization.

To reconcile our true history, we must embrace our Indigenous, and our African ancestry along with our European. These three make up the Mexican culture and who we are. By seeing them as part of our broader culture, Mexicans will have acquired a broader ethnic identity.

* Image by Rajiv Perera