Many news media really focus on the violence and troubles that the U.S-Mexico border seems to have, but there is a border that is much worse. The border of Mexico-Guatemala. As Guatemalans flourish to the Mexican border to go to the U.S, 1,600 migrants are abducted every month in Mexico, and are subject to abuse, rape, theft and even death. My father actually experienced this firsthand on his journey to the United States. He left Guatemala when he was 19 to escape the poverty, violence and his parents in Guatemala. To travel to the U.S, he would first have to go through Mexico and the infamous Mexican border. I say "infamous" because before his journey, a few of his friends warned him the Mexican people and police are not to fond of Guatemalans. My father discouraged that and continues on his journey. After taking a few trains ad hitching a few rides, he finally got to the Mexican border. One day upon entering Mexico, my father was walking at night to gain a few miles. On his way, he was jumped by a couple of Mexicans. They beat him up pretty bad, stole his money and his bag, and even stole all of his clothes, leaving him naked, penniless and hurt. Luckily, someone saw the beating and helped him after the thieves left. This is a very common incident that happens to Guatemalans who enter through Mexico. The question remains, why? Why do Mexicans do this kind of stuff to those so racially close to them? I have asked a lot of my Mexican friends and their families about this. They did not have one concrete answer, but they said that some reasons are that they generalize all Guatemalans for the actions of the Mara Salvatrucha, some Mexicans are just bad people, and some Mexicans do not like Guatemala's indigenous roots.
Speaking of indigenous roots, those who are Mayan in Guatemala face a lot of racism as well. Mayans often find themselves on the margins of society, with limited access to education, health care and other basic services. Many people and even the Guatemalan government believe that the indigenous people are not civilized or even worthy of being treated like people which stems from the violent civil war in Guatemala from 19960-1966. During this period, more than 200,000 people were killed, 83% or which were Mayan. 100,000 women were raped as a method to destroy their culture. Another incident of violence against those indigenous happened on July 4, 2012. The indigenous people of the K'iche' community gathered from buses for a peaceful protest on racism towards those who are indigenous by the President and his political party. However, things got violent when the bus was intercepted by a group of people armed with sticks, rocks, machetes and knives. The attackers stabbed a woman, stoned an 11-year-old girl, and knocked a woman’s teeth out.
In conclusion, racism even exists between neighboring countries and even by your country folk. We still have not been able to escape, but we can find ways to combat it. I know I did by dating a Mexican for five years to this year and you already know my parents were not to keen on it, but we as a society can not group a whole race based on the actions of a few.
www.ticotimes.net/Region/Mayans-today-face-discrimination-poverty_Friday-December-21-2012
www.ticotimes.net/Region/Mayans-today-face-discrimination-poverty_Friday-December-21-2012
http://www.voxxi.com/guatemala-mexico-border-dangerous-us-border/
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