The arrival of the white invaders upon these shores in the year 1492 marked the beginning of an ongoing struggle for survival by the indigenous inhabitants of these lands. The whites brought with them scores of diseases, rats, roaches, and other filthy pestilences and a will to conquer and destroy all non-whites that stood in their path to supreme dominance.
The story of the conquering of the indigenous empires is a source of much controversy, littered with half-truths and outright lies. The truth is that for all the European's deadly gunpowder and time-honored war strategies they were never any match for the indigenous, particularly the indigenous throughout present-day Mexico, Central American and parts of South America.
What ultimately overcame the Aztecs, Mayas, Incas, and all other indigenous peoples were the scores of diseases imported by the whites. It is estimated that the many filthy diseases of the white man killed off some 200 million indigenous peoples. It is also very important to note that the indigenous engaged in battle in ways completely different from that of whites. The indigenous were forbidden to strike their enemies in the back or to strike their enemies if they stumbled and fell to the ground and/or dropped their weapons.
The indigenous thought it was disgraceful to attack their enemy if he laid weak or injured on the ground without his weapons or shield, in fact; the indigenous could only war against their enemy if their enemy was well fed, rested, and in possession of his weaponry. The indigenous often called for cease-fires each time they perceived their enemies to be tired or weak from hunger or thirst or exhaustion. At the end of each battle, the indigenous would provide their enemies with food and drink and their word that their would not be an attack while they slept so that they could fully recuperate their strength the whole night through. Furthermore, and most importantly, the indigenous were strictly forbidden from killing their enemies in battle! The indigenous believed that only the almighty creator (contrary to popular belief, the indigenous were a monolithic people) could give life or take it but no one else had either right.
In the case of the Aztecs, the whites were defeated and driven out once at sundown, a night that would forever be remembered by whites as "La Noche Triste/The night of sorrows". Unable to accept defeat, or devise another plan other than the total annihilation of the indigenous, the whites returned three years later in the year 1522. By this time the many highly contagious and deadly diseases imported by whites had already taken their toll. Thousands of Aztecs lay dead or dying, more over, the whites had sealed off the perimeter of the enormous and grandiose city of the Aztecs' Tenochtitlan. Stricken with deadly diseases and their food and water supply cutoff, the Aztecs and all other indigenous people became easy prey for the invading whites. Even so, the Aztecs put up quite a fight, a fight that would last well over three months before their defeat.
From this day forward, the Aztec and all the indigenous engaged in an ongoing war for survival and preservation of their histories and cultures, and this meant an appropriation of European civilization and culture (e.g. Christianity, the European languages, etc.) so as to better preserve their own civilizations and cultures.
The whites immediately setup a hierarchical society in which individuals were stratified based on their white lineage (or their lack of it). The Europe-born, pureblooded whites became the rulers of society and the indigenous and black were relegated to the lowest rung of the societal ladder.
Resistance among the indigenous cannot be refuted by anyone. Most all the indigenous engaged in various forms of resistance. Some choose to resist inconspicuously practicing their religions underground and creating secret guilds dedicated to the preservation of their language, histories, and cultures often times staging mock Christian ceremonies which were in fact full-fledged indigenous ceremonies in disguise. All this was facilitated by the racist society created by the whites.
It is a little known fact that Christian missionizing was a product of the 19th century and that prior to the 1800s, non-whites were forbidden to mingle with whites in any way, shape, or form, in fact; the indigenous couldn't even as much as set foot outside the haciendas they were property of and where they toiled long and hard hours under the rule of the inhumane whites. For this the indigenous setup their own makeshift places of worship and created their own religious orders known as "cofradias" many of which still exist today in remote rural Mexican towns and in occupied Aztlan in places like rural Nuevo Mexico, Southern Colorado, and throughout Tejas where clergymen are a rare find.
Though many chose to resist peacefully, many others chose to take up arms instead and fight whites with their very lives. Indeed, there were many such insurrections. For many of the indigenous, their coldhearted, inhumane treatment at the hands of whites was more than they could bear and came to the conclusion that it was more dignified to die in battle against the whites then to be worked to death on the haciendas. The uprisings were many and the indigenous slain were innumerable. When the English-speaking white man arrived to strip the Spanish-speaking white man of the land he had stolen approximately three centuries ago things only got worse for the indigenous. Now the indigenous Mexicans had more wicked whites to contend with. Still the indigenous resisted.
However, not all the indigenous chose resistance as a path to survival. Many indigenous internalized the white supremacy taught by all of the whites' many institutions (i.e. the schools, the justice system, the media, the Christian churches, etc.) and opted for assimilation rather than resistance. In time, many indigenous peoples opted for complacency and integration and for this they lightened their skin color, dyed their hair, spoke "proper Spanish" or "proper English" and they even went as far as mocking those who were darker skinned and consequently poorer and disadvantaged just as the whites had instructed them to do.
Even though whites as a whole never made more than 3% of the population, many indigenous claimed to be of white ancestry. Many of the indigenous were proud to be of mixed blood even though "mixed blood" really meant that your grandmother was brutally raped. Today, many indigenous sellouts spread lies to confuse people for their own benefit, they make up stories about marriages, "My great grandmother was pure-blooded Spanish and she married a pure blooded indio". The likelihood of such events would've been extremely rare, keep in mind that before the implementation of The Council of Trent Reforms in the Americas in the 19th century (almost three centuries after their creation in Europe) the indigenous were not even allowed to set foot in most places of Christian worship let alone marry a white person.
Uprising after uprising, costing the indigenous hundreds of thousands of lives have taken place since the arrival of the white invaders in 1492. For 500 years the indigenous of been resisting whites and their white supremacist hegemony. The strong indigenous have created their own language, religion, art, culture, clothing, food, celebrations, etc.
From the Aztec and other indigenous groups' revolts to the campesino uprisings in the rural haciendas to Bandido/Bandito raids to the Zoot Suit Pachuco revolts of the 20th Century; indigenous resistance lives on! Today, Mexicano/Chicano youth, keeping with the tradition of resistance began by their indigenous ancestors some 500 years ago, continue to resist white supremacy by modeling after the Pachuco/Zoot Suit Mexicano youths of the 1930s and 40s.
Just take a cruise down any Mexicano/Chicano varrio in Aztlan, from East Los, Califas to La Finiquera, Arizona to San Anto, Tejas, to San Jo, Norte Califas to Santa Fe, Nuevo Mexico, to Las Vegas, Nevada to Xicano, Illinois, to Pueblo, Colorado and points in between, you'll be sure to find Vatos locos and sporting baggies, Cortez Nikes, shaved heads (pelones), Mexicano/Chicano pride tattoos, rollin' in low-low ranflas, bumpin' the old school and Chicano Rap jammz loud and proud puttin' it down for the brown. The firme hynas rollin down the street lookin' fly with their beautiful long black locks of silky straight hair and beautiful brown hair and dark burgundy lipstick showin' off them seXXXy curves makin' all the vatos swerve on the BLVD tryin' to catch a glimpse of the fly, firme brown queens from around the way.
The baldies/pelones don't play. We protect our varrios from all enemies. Back in the day, Mexicanos/Chicanos couldn't count on the police/pigs for protection (not much has changed since then) so different neighborhood/varrio watch groups were created by the gente: White Fence, Maravilla, El Hoyo, etc. were designed to protect the Mexicano/Chicano families from the pigs and other whites that came to terrorize them most especially the military/servicemen.
To whites and other outsiders, these neighborhood/varrio watch groups were seen as criminals and labeled "gangs". These neighborhood groups would "jump-in" new recruits in order to test the strength and durability of new members and only enlist the strongest and bravest members. Remember, these varrio watch groups were entrusted with the protection of the varrios and often times they battled police and military/servicemen and other whites on a daily basis. So that's why new members needed to be jumped in, to prove to the varrio that they were strong and could protect the varrios. Whenever members fought a white invader and won, the new member was required to shave his head as a way of demonstrating that he was a soldier and that he had gone to war with the white enemy and defeated him.
Members had to upright and respectful and could never show skin from the neck down, for this they wore buttoned t-shirts and long socks whenever wearing shorts. They created a language known as "Cal� and/or Pachuco" to confuse whites and other outsiders and wore flashy Zoot Suits to be easily identified by members of the varrio they defend in case anyone was being attacked by the police or military/servicemen or other whites.
In time, the whites got smarter and devised new clever and wicked tricks and traps to thwart the indigenous resistance. The pigs under various names C.R.A.S.H., "The LAPigD VIKINGS", etc. setout to divide and conquer the varrios. The police created antagonisms which led to long and lasting bloody rivalries between the different varrios. The pigs would cross out varrio placazos and trick different varrios into fighting other varrios. The police plotted with various Italian Mafia kingpins and funneled tons of drugs and narcotics in the varrios. The government allowed thousands of unscrupulous liquor store owners and twisted Protestant religion sects to infiltrate the varrios.
Many indigenous sold-out and acted as provocateurs and infiltrators within the various varrio organizations to create infighting and power struggles. The pintas/torcidas where many carnales and carnalas became politicized were also infiltrated and divided. Today many our coming back to consciousness and resisting white supremacy all over again, taking up where their indigenous abuelitos and abuelitas left off.
To be continued...
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