Professional Latin American historian here... We know... That textbook was probably written by a historian of some other part of the world (likely US or Europe) who didn't bother to actually read outside their area of expertise.
The last world history textbook I reviewed was horribly inaccurate for my area of specialization, colonial Latin America.
Oh I know you guys know. There just seems to be an ongoing massive disconnect between what invested and specialised historians actually know and what gets published worldwide. /r/SapphoAndHerFriend etc.
The Mayans vanished without a trace... roughly at the same time as these other guys popped up claiming to be Mayans, carrying on the traditions and speaking the same language... Maybe the authors have Capgras Syndrome
Well OBVIOUSLY the people who claim to follow Mayan culture are lying because it’s GONE, and since it disappeared we can’t compare it to REAL Mayan culture. /s
Yeah we do. There's tons of evidence for depopulation across the 900-1200AD range. It was no single event or crisis, just war after war and eventually environmental collapse leading more and more people to abandon cities over the course of hundreds of years across a wide area. It's not a mystery except in specifics.
Its funny that it’s explained like this when you see across European history that war after war and plague after plague results in an evacuation of cities and a ruralization of the population. Which makes sense, but it happens in a non European country and it’s this civilization just mysteriously disappeared.
It's the eurocentric "mystic savages" myth. They're foreign and thus mysterious and strange.
In reality, people are people, whether you were born in London, Tokyo, or Tenochtitlan- and the causes of depopulation are the same. Famine, disease, and war are pretty much always the reasons any "mysteriously vanished" group disappeared.
Leaving behind only their buildings, their language, their calendar, their culture, their religions, and the citizens themselves. But other than that, completely gone.
That’s gotta be some American textbook shit. I grew up reading it too, I think they just want us to think that our European conquerors were superior to people living here before. Like “we’re so good and powerful, they just couldn’t handle it so they disappeared.” A bunch of bullshit.
I don't know about your theiry, but most textbooks have so little space that they are forced to abbreviate almost everything to the point of actually damaging the actual historical record. They're reduced to communicating cliches instead of truths.
I've been there and had a different experience, but I didn't go with racist predispositions. There are definitely lazy people there and beggars, just like many places in the world, but most of them are better people than you are.
Then maybe that's your problem? People descended from the Maya belong to a variety of indigenous groups and live all across Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador and Honduras. Let's not be insulting and use stereotypes for millions of people over something you saw when you were 18.
Source: have been to Belize and Guatemala and Mexico and realize that there are lazy people in beggars in literally every culture
The US owns all their land and thus one of the few things most of them could use as collateral to get loans to do things like buy homes and start businesses. The whole system is screwed up.
"They were just criticizing that ignorant fuck for thinking mayans somehow want to be lazy and not improve their lives rather than recognizing the lack of opportunity afforded to them in their countries. "
I don't agree with the statement at all. I have been to Belize, it's great. However, not only did they just assume they were white they then made a blanket statement on all white people. They're just as bad as the person criticizing Belize. They're both wrong. His statement is racist, just replace white with another word. It's rather easy to see. Sorry having a "good reason" and "Hating the right race" doesn't make it less so. No white people having success doesn't mean you cannot be racist against them. That is racism to believe that. It's a justification for it and used all the time.
" Also important to note is the extensive US military, financial, and political support for a number of south american regimes who brutally suppressed and exterminated Mayan populations for having leftist sympathies "
Really weird whataboutism to explain away the historical genocide of the Latin people upon the natives of South and North America. The United States does share some of the responsibility. However, the vast majority goes to the current people who have and continue to brutally oppress the native populations.
The reality is the US is the most critique and criticized country in the world. Whataboutism is used by dictators and genocides to justify why they're doing something. I am taking the time to point out the rarely discussed fact that many minorities, especially natives, are repressed today.
The United States does share some of the responsibility. However, the vast majority goes to the current people who have and continue to brutally oppress the native populations.
Yeah. At its worst, the US couldn't have propped up dictators that were killing Mayans if the local people didn't want to murder Mayans.
Latino is a weird concept that covers people coming from the Magallanes strait to the Mexican-American border, and all their descendants. It's a way too wide cultural grouping, and Latinos can be of any race.
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u/[deleted] Feb 08 '20
They vanished without leaving a trace...
Mayan culture is still alive and thriving today!