Some time ago, in a Political Theory class I learned that Mexico was considered by Political Scientists as a broken country. I found this intriguing and decided to find out more information about it. I didn't understand what they were referring to and after a long investigation I realized that this couldn't be closer to the truth.
But what does this mean?
A country with a broken identity is a country that has a fragmented society. Sadly, Mexican society today more than ever is divided and this is not only because social classes are separated, but also because of racial segmentation caused by miscegenation. Every day terms like "Chairos" and "Fifís", "Nacos" and "Whitexicans" are heard more often, ironically the term "indigenous" continues to be used as an offense or there are people who try to hide their native origins from Mexico, declaring themselves Spanish or European. In the country, around 10 women are killed a day just for the fact of being women. The poverty gap increased. The resentment between classes is felt increasingly worse in the streets and instead of fighting for a better Mexico we fight for our skin color or way of speaking. We turn democracy and politics into an issue of social classes, instead of electing a ruler based on his ability and proposals. Friendships or families have even been broken by the simple fact of talking about whether one supports a political party or not.
I refuse to accept this. There is a lot to work on, but we are a country full of life. We have to learn that we are not "Chairos" or "Fifis", nor "conquerors" nor "conquered", we are all Mexicans. We are the country that becomes international news for the help we give to each other when there is an earthquake or some problem. We are the country full of color and culture that every tourist who sets foot in falls in love with. We are a megadiverse country that contains 70% of the world's species diversity. The place where a party is created by the smallest detail. The country that supports its soccer team with all its heart every World Cup, even knowing that we have not gone to the fifth game since 1986. Those that can create a protest with more than 60,000 people in each city to defend our ideals. Those of us who invented the wave. We are those people who love to receive and welcome new people, opening the doors of our homes to them, even turning them into family. We are people who love irony, and what better example than Day of the Dead, when we turn something so sad into something so happy and alive. We are that country whose food is considered by UNESCO to be Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
We are Mexico, and once and for all I am going to say that I am neither "Chairo" nor "Fifí", I am proudly Mexican.
A few months ago, in a Political Theory class, I learned that Mexico was considered by Political Scientists as a broken country. I found this intriguing and decided to find out more about it. I did not understand what they were referring to and after a long investigation, I realized that this could not be closer to the truth.
But what does this mean?
A country with a broken identity is a country that has a fragmented society. Sadly, Mexican society today is more divided than ever, and this is not only because social classes are separated, but also because of racial segmentation caused by miscegenation. Everyday terms such as "Chairos" and "Fifís", "Nacos" and "Whitexicans" are heard more often. Ironically, the term "indigenous" continues to be used as an offense, or people try to hide their native origins from Mexico, declaring themselves Spanish or European. Around 10 women are killed in the country every day just for the fact of being women. The poverty gap increased. The resentment between classes is felt worse and worse in the streets. Instead of fighting for a better Mexico, we fight for our skin color or our way of speaking. We turn democracy and politics into a matter of social classes, instead of electing a ruler based on his capacity and proposals. Friendships and families have even been broken for the simple fact of talking about whether to support a political party or not.
But I refuse to accept this. There is a lot to work on, but we are a country full of life. We have to learn that we are not "Chairos" or "Fifis", nor "conquerors" nor "conquered", we are all Mexicans. We are a country that appears in international news because of the way that we raise and help each other when there is an earthquake or any problem. We are a country full of color and culture that makes every tourist who steps on it fall in love. We are a megadiverse country with 70% of the world's species diversity. The place that parties for everything. The country that supports its soccer team with all its heart every World Cup, even knowing that we haven't gone to the fifth game since 1986. Those that can create a protest with more than 60,000 people in each city to defend our ideals. Those who invented the wave. We are those people who love to receive and welcome new people, opening the doors of our houses to them, and treating them like family. We are the people who love irony, and what better example than the Day of the Dead, when we turn something so sad into something so happy and full of life. We are that country whose food is considered by UNESCO as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
We are Mexico, and once and for all I am going to say that I am neither "Chairo" nor "Fifi", I am proudly Mexican!
Comments