In english i can't think of anything ... Vasconcelos must have been translated, but i don't know where ... here is his Raza C¢smica - analitica.com
... he was the secretary of education in the 1920s, very influential ... i just pulled out a sixth grade textbook, 'Historia', printed maybe ten years ago, but in spanish of course, and without an ISBN number, not generally available ... an american named Prescott wrote on the conquest of Cort‚s shortly before the US invasions of 1846/47, he is translated in spanish and respected ... the last two paragraphs of this chapter [just above the note concerning them] are instructive of perceptions at the time - bbslaguna.com.mx
.. time will tell if he will prove correct that 'all that constituted its individuality as a race are effaced for ever.' ... imho he is being proven wrong now, as people begin to learn pride in native roots ... or you could say he is right, as a new people build from the mixture.
The history you know as the Davy Crockett story is to a mexicano the story of a sparsely-populated and newly independent nation struggling in its rebellion [which was inspired by your own parting with the british crown and that of the french with theirs] from the spanish, led by a succession of megalomaniac and/or incompetent and/or quickly-shot leaders, heavily in debt from the start ... etc [there is much more, for instance our area of the mayas was at the time in rebellion against rule from the cities] .. being taken advantage of by stronger pressure from the anglo north .... i don't think it's a matter of finding something written from the other perspective, but of the way the bare facts are viewed by members of the respective societies ... although of course the commonly-known facts will change with point of view .... sorry, i can't think of anything on the events of 1820-47 ... Tazio might ...
None of this is a great big deal, or a cause for worry, imho ... but it is useful to be aware of the varying perceptions ... yes, those who cross tend to be young, and yes, the border has been there for generacions before them, but among the most moral of people there is abolutely no moral restriction on going where they please ... only the practical considerations ... as Mao put it, 'from the barrel of a gun' ... but the rights people feel are just there, like the wind, passed on not by books or schools or even oral story-telling to any degree, they are just there, as part of the culture, they know they are from this place ... nothing really to do with the territory controlled by past or current national entities, actually ... and yes, i know you for a student, i could take lessons from you on that, probably ... not to worry.
Steven upthread posted an article which mentioned Clarence Streit ... a friend just left a box of books here with one of his in it [friend haunts used book stores] ... very interesting, 'Union Now With Britain', printed 1941 ... i've only glanced at it, but there are some great quotes in the early pages, here's one apropos maybe -
'As the barbarism of the present old Governments expires, ... the moral condition of Nations with respect to each other will be changed. Man will not be brought up with the savage idea of considering his species as his enemy, because the accident of birth gave the individuals existence in countries distinguished by different names.'
- Thomas Paine, Rights of Man |
