"feliz" día de la raza

How is it that I didn't know it's Hispanic Heritage Month? And how is it that hispanic heritage month includes Columbus Day, el día de la raza, the celebration of the slaughter, rape, and destruction of countless Mesoamericans, and the beginning of the inglorious cultural conflation that eventually begot what we now recognize as latinos?

First of all, the term "hispanic heritage" is slightly misleading. One source says this: "The term Hispanic, as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau, refers to Spanish-speaking people in the United States of any race." However, what they fail to consider is that this definition pertains specifically to citizens/residents of the United States. As far as global definitions go, Hispania refers to España, the Spanish empire of the Iberian peninsula, and hispanic denotes anyone of Spanish descent (and Latin American descent by default).

Hispanos, or españoles, love el día de la raza. It celebrates the beginning of the Spanish empire's reach to the new world, and the power that came with such conquests. But hispanic heritage month isn't about the heritage of Iberian peninsulars. It's about the heritage of the mestizos and mulatos, the half-breeds and the illegitimate sons and daughters. It's about the imposition of Iberian blood onto the face of the Maya, the Aztec, and the Inca, and the resulting bastard culture that suffered at the hands of its sire for centuries. It isn't the heritage of the Iberians. It's the heritage of la chingada.

So, everyone, feliz día de la chingada and happy chingada heritage month. Break out the party hats.

(Click on image for a larger view of the torture, rape, and murder of

innocent people under the guise of "religion" and "civilization".)
Diego Rivera's La Conquista