Mazahua Indians Should Look Elsewhere

Mazahua Indians Should Look Elsewhere
by Nathan Poole, Columnist

August 19, 2002

Contributor Nathan Poole Last week, more than 300 Mexican Indians protested outside of the American Embassy in Mexico City in an attempt gain political asylum in the United States. Wearing their colorful clothing and their hair in traditional braids, the Mazahua Indians held up signs requesting asylum for all of the 18,000 people who live in the small town of San Antonio Pueblo Nuevo, which is located 125 miles west of Mexico City. The Mazahua Indians reportedly demonstrated peacefully, sitting in front of the embassy handing out rice tacos to passers-by as riot police looked on. According to the Associated Press, "the Indians claim Mexican officials refuse to recognize their traditions and culture, so they want to live in the United States." The embassy does not currently have any plans to grant asylum to the 18,000 Mazahua Indians.

Just in case the embassy changes its mind, however, I would like to take this opportunity to offer a little free advice to the Mazahua people who believe that America will be the answer to their prayers.

Run!!!

Americans have never wanted the "Indians" that are already here, so they certainly would not take too kindly to 18,000 new problems…er, guests, showing up on their doorsteps. No sir, when the average racist white dude thinks of Native Americans, he thinks of a bunch of no-good Injuns' leaving their reservations to come into our wholesome, God-fearing communities to drink all of our whiskey and open up casinos in our backyards. Sure, the facts of the matter are quite different, but we've never let the truth of Native American history color how we have continuously presented it to our children, so why should we start now?

That is why I feel the need to warn these fine Mexican Indian folks about what sort of reception they will receive once they arrive in this free nation. First off, they will be shunned. They will not be permitted to participate in our free society unless they willingly begin to dress like us, speak like us, and act like us. If they ever earn enough money selling knick-knacks to buy a small worthless piece of land, we just might take it away and place them on an even smaller and even more worthless piece of land. Once they figure out a way to make a comfortable living, we'll spend millions of dollars in an attempt to take that living away from them.

Take the Native Americans in the Palm Springs, California area, for example. Their reservation was split up in such a way that the Native Americans ended up with a piece of reservation land on about every third block. When Californian Indians began to prosper with Indian casinos, the local government-funded by the Las Vegas Casinos-tried to make the case that the Native Americans should not be able to build casinos so close to neighborhoods. Never mind that they built the casinos on land that was given to them after their original land was stolen from them.

Please, my oppressed friends from Mexico, do not come here. Sure, you may be oppressed in your homeland, but at least you have a homeland. ***

A native of San Antonio, Texas and a veteran of the United States Air Force, Nathan Poole is employed by the United States Postal Service. He lives in Irwindale, California with his wife and family.

Photo of the author courtesy of staff files

Also on The American Partisan (related articles):

The Death of Responsibility (July 26, 2002 - by Tim Rollins)
A Creative Contradiction (July 26, 2002 by Raymond Green)