U.S.'s Arrogant Disregard for Mexico Must End

Unfortunately, most Americans ignore that record and focus on the doomsday nonsense that a crowd of pseudo-scholars has tied to the Maya calculations. It’s part and parcel of the western world’s condescending approach to pre-Columbian society—typified by the popular canard that if the Maya did rival the Greeks in any arena, then space aliens must have shown them how. It also reflects the maddening American disregard, if not disdain, for Mexico and Latin America, which persists even today as Escalante’s now grown-up Chicano students and the rest of the Latino community prove their political clout. So since today is all about new beginnings—and since Mexico itself is endeavoring a fresh start right now—we also ought to consider an overhaul of the tiresomely arrogant and indifferent way we look at the world south of the border.