Something to think about today, especially for mestizo Latinx, is how colonization shaped our existence and thinking. How are we overreaching? How are we ignoring what& #39;s around us? We have to stop the colonizer in our minds.

Machismo and enforcement of gender roles came from somewhere, and I suspect it was not from our respective ancestral tribes. (Not to say there weren& #39;t problematic views within pre-contact Mesoamerican society, but Spanish influence certainly didn& #39;t help matters.)

By the same token, unless we have cultural ties to our ancestral tribes, *don& #39;t* try to claim a random tribe the Raza Cósmica crap either -- it& #39;s all echoes of Spanish racism.

To the white people reading this thread: I encourage you to also examine how you reenact colonial behavior and have a colonizing mindset. Don& #39;t just rag on Columbus. Acknowledge how you are part of this, and see what steps you can take.