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Dia de la Raza celebrates new race
Posted Online: Oct. 12, 2009, 12:00 am
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Greg Aguilar
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My boss Beverly Murray gave me a powerful insight on life that her grandfather William Muff used to tell her. He told her how people in his family would sometimes say, "The world is getting worse and worse every day. With the way things are going, our Earth is going to be an awful place for our children to live." Bev said, "My grandpa did not believe those words that others would say to him. He told me that the reality of life and this ever-changing world is that humans adapt to change. It does not matter how awful the world is getting, the human race will adapt to whatever the Earth brings." Today is Columbus Day, for the majority of the world it is known as Dia de la Raza, or Day of the Race. This is truly a great day for all of us living in the Western Hemisphere because Christopher Columbus" journey brought together two distinct races and two worlds to begin a new one; therefore Oct. 12th is a day to commemorate one of the biggest changes the world has ever seen. In 1492 Christopher Columbus tested his theory that the world was round and not flat like most people believed at the time. Columbus thought that he could find a quicker route from Europe to the Orient by sailing west on the ocean and ending up in the east. This theory was not well received and it took him a few years to find a country willing to sponsor his voyage. Eventually Spain agreed to fund his trip and he found that his theory was partially right. Columbus did not discover a quicker route to Asia; instead he found an entirely new hemisphere. The day Columbus discovered the Americas by accident was the day that the modern European world met the Western indigenous world. Mestizos were created, White Europeans mixed with Native Americans to create a new race of people, "La Raza". A new race began, one that had the blood of Aztec, Inca, and Mayans, the hearts and minds of indigenous warriors, kings, and queens. A new race with the blood of Spanish nobles, kings, queens, and knights. The people of the Earth and sky, who were of the strongest indigenous tribes the world has ever known, combined with the race of a world power that had technologically advanced ways of life. Masters of the stars met the commanders of the Spanish Empire, an empire that reached as far north as Canada and as far south as Chile. Many people don"t realize this fact, but the Spanish Empire reached the state of Iowa and a small piece of Illinois. Some of our area cities share their name with cities of Spain like Andalusia and Cordova. It is kind of funny that at one point in our history, Spanish was the official language of the Quad-Cities. Regardless of your beliefs and ancestry, we should all take some time to reflect on the importance of this day and celebrate the creation of the new American race that includes all of us from North, Central, and South America. Although we are from different countries, the rest of the world sees all of us as Americans! Greg Aguilar lives in East Moline. 
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