October 12th, Columbus Day, is traditionally Día de la Raza in Latin America. But, as in the U.S., Columbus’ stock has gone down in Latin America. In 2020, then-President AMLO changed the name of the celebration in Mexico to Día de la Nación Pluricultural, “Day of the Multicultural Nation”.
On October 12th, 2026, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum me with Mexican Indian and Afromexican leaders. There the Mexican president said that “All Mexicans have an obligation to recognize the legacy of greatness of the indigenous and Afromexican peoples.”
Notice she is lumping Indians and African-descended people together. But the African-descended people would not be in Mexico had it not been for the Spaniards.
“That’s why October 12th now is not the Día de la Raza (Day of the Race) it is the day of the Multicultural Nation.”
But Día de la Raza recognized the mestizo race, a hybrid race formed by Europeans and Indians. This race would not exist had it not been for the Spaniards.
“But we also like to recognize it as the Day of Resistance of the Indigenous and Afromexican Peoples.”
“Day of Resistance”? Is she referring to resistance today or resistance in the past?
There’s more to the speech, if you click here and start after the 58 minute mark you can hear what she said before the comments above, it’s a putdown of the Spaniards and an implication that European culture was inferior.
Claudia Sheinbaum, by the way, has shallow roots in Mexico, all her ancestors arrived in the 20th century.
It’s true that the Pre-Columbian cultures, such as the Maya and Aztec, had some great accomplishments. There was a lot of violence in that area too, however.
Were it not for the arrival of the Europeans, the current nation-state of Mexico would not exist. The majority of Mexicans have both Indian and Spanish ancestors, so none of them would exist either.
The best approach is for Mexico to respect both their Indian and Spanish ancestors, while working to make the Mexico of today a better place.