Part of the Problem

By Jaime Garza On October 24, 2017

For many millennia, there have been invaders destroying, plundering, earning land, raping, murdering. Many of these invaders have been part of great empires. When growing up I learned about many great invasions and I thought that these people were the problem in the world. Spanish conquerors came to my land to destroy and decimate my people. Before that, there were invasions in Europe itself, with the Visigoths invading Spain from their nomadic way, which started at the north of the Black Sea. There were the hordes of Franks from the north. Portuguese were not only conquerors but dealt on slaves for centuries. English created the greatest empire in history, subduing many native people on the way. These conquerors and imperialists were the problem. They decimated the Indian populations of my ancestors. We even call Columbus Day as Día de la Raza, or day of our race as a celebration to both our Indian roots and our mestizaje.

Recently, I have been fervently reviewing the genealogy that my sister has been putting together. It spans a couple of millennia in some extreme cases. I knew that I had Jewish and Spanish in me, with some African and Indian blood (my ancestors.) But what I found astonished me. But more, it astonished me what I did not find. The record is shallow when it comes to my Indian roots, and I have not found any indication of it so far. It must be there. The same is happening with my African blood. No indication yet. But the record has many generations on my father side of Jewish ancestry, together with another great discovery. There is a branch of my blood line that descends from the conquerors of Mexico and the conquerors of Cuba. In some of these lines there is evidence of nobility from my Spanish side. But there are French, Portuguese and even English and German nobles. I guess I never had the curiosity to know why I was a tall 6’ 1” Mexican, why my father may have had green eyes, and why my sister is suspiciously fair skinned. Also, I found that I have a strong line of that Visigoth blood who conquered Spain in the middle of the first millennia. All invaders.

Am I part of the problem? Which one is my raza? Having come to the USA, am I as nomadic as those Jewish and Europeans in my blood line? Where is my Indian tradition? I love that I am part of the Mexico City tradition, but neither of my parents were from there. Both, you guessed, immigrants to the metropolis. My stay did not span a new generation. My kids left very young, really growing in the USA. One generation chilango.

I find some pleasure finding royal ancestry on the Spanish, Portuguese, French, English and German sides of my family. It is fun. Or is it? One of my ancestors, King Phillip of Swabia, of house Hohenstaufen had the distinction of being the first German King to be assasinated. My favorite name so far is on the English side: ​Ælfthryth of Wessex. One vowel, a weird one at that. Awesome. Or Louis VI “The Fat King” of France. No wonder the weight issues. But perhaps the most satisfying of them all is Alfonso X el Sabio, of Spain. Renowned poet and wise king. I always admired his writings while I was a young kid in Mexico. Good job great great great great … grandfather.

But the most amazing part is imagining all those women in my line that made me possible. One of them, Juana de Porcallo, was assassinated by her husband the Governor of Nuevo León Diego de Montemayor. But another one of my ancestors is also the wife (second wife) of the same Murderer. Another one also murdered. Unknown circumstances. They were for sure not part of the problem. I just wonder about what language was used in each multi-cultural household.

I guess that is what it is to be Mexican. No purity of blood, and that is a blessing.