Maya

After reading and watching the videos this week, I had to take in a lot of information but a few things stood out to me very vividly. The first thing is how the Maya people don't fully express themselves such as with what they wear and how they act for the reason of they are afraid of people judging them and calling them Indian. This is a form of racism and hits me hard. I am not a racist person at all. Obviously when you see someone without meeting them, all you can do is judge them by what they look like or how they are acting. To go as far as calling them a name, limiting their privileges, or not even giving them a chance because they are different from you. Racism is definitely something that has faded over the years and people have grown to not be as judgmental towards others. Something that goes along with this is being proud of who you are and where you are from. I find it sad that they feel like they need to hold back on expressing themselves. Like Rigoberta Menchu said, she didn't want to give too much detail. She wanted people to be able to read her book, put themselves in her shoes and relate, not judge. She ended up winning the Nobel Peace Prize for her book which I find absolutely amazing. No matter who you are, there are always going to be people that are different from you and that are going to judge you or put you down for not being like them, but I feel that the Mayas have nothing to be ashamed of. They come from a beautiful place, they left amazing art and stories behind and are a huge part of history. I think them, just like everyone else needs to take pride in themselves no matter what anyone else has to say!