I've been in a couple major cities on this trip. I've been in Guadalajara, LA, San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, Victoria, Vancouver, and Calgary. Each city has its own flavor and style, each city has it's own issues, and all of them are a beauty to just dive into and comb through. Mexico City is no different in this regard, but it is in a league of its own. It's one of the major cities of the planet. The sheer number of inhabitants and it's massive geographical sprawl can intimidate travelers that are driving themselves, whether it be by 2 wheels or more.
When you're traveling like I am, the majority of your time is obviously spent in the countryside. Geographically, you're going to spend a lot of your time in wide open spaces. Once you aim your tires toward a city, you're going to feel the gradient. Here in Mexico, the density of human activity begins to rise. There's more congestion. The air gets thicker. You can see the smog start to bleach the blue sky white. Once you get into the most dense reaches of the belly of a city here, you'll see pedestrians, stray dogs moving in packs, street performers at red lights asking for loose change, and strange 1-way streets that have you navigating in strange manner.
This is an old part of the world.
Most of the United States has been built within the last 150 years. When you think about it, as a Millennial, that's only your grandparents' grandparents. It's not THAT far back from now. Mexico, however, had colonies established a good 1-2 centuries BEFORE any European power tried doing so on the east coast of today's 13 colonies. Cities down here are old, and we're talking 300-500 years old. Even a few predate European contact like Cholula or Ajijic. The cities of Mexico spent centuries growing and establishing themselves before the railroads connected them and mixed their cultures. Because of this, many cities (or Mexican states) have their own foods, accents, and stereotypes about each other.
Mexico city is the oldest capital in our hemisphere. It was once known as Tenochtitlan, the capital of the Aztec Empire. The Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortes made a surprise appearance in 1519 and changed the city forever. Once the Spanish had established themselves as rulers and turned the city into their own, you could start to see the elements of the old Aztec empire fade but they're very much still here.
Might makes Right, White Flight, Urban Fright.
The thing about Spanish colonization that differentiates itself from North America is who came over. When the US and Canada were colonized and populated from waves of immigration from Europe, people came as families. Men, women and children came over for land, work, and sometimes from freedom of religious persecution.
In the Spanish and Portuguese world, which is just about everything south of the Rio Grande, the Iberian powers sent over MEN. Not women, not children, not families, MEN-- and loads of them. They didn't come to esablish homes and settle down. They came to conquer, evangelize, and exploit. An interestng result of the one-sided gender influx of European genetic flow is that it created racial mixing. You don't see that in North America, but you see it all over Latin America.
There are parts of Latin America that had well-established indigenous population centers like Peru, Nicaragua, and Mexico. Because of this, the locals are very dark-skinned and harbor other indigenous features such as straight black hair, hooked noses, and deep brown eyes.
When I came to Mexico city, however, I found myself walking amongst the small band of society known as the "upper-middle class" in Mexico. In coffee shops, on the street, or walking around malls and college campuses, I saw skinny, well-dressed white people that would pass as European. You wouldn't know they were Mexican until they spoke. These folk do NOT fit the description of a "Latino" from Yankee eyes.
In the typical US experience, we have an idea of what a "Latino" looks like from who comes to the states as immigrants. Most immigrants coming to the US from Latin America are from poor regions looking for unskilled labor. These are typically short, dark-skinned, and indigenous looking.
The thing is, Latin America has a massive range of racial makeup. The US only sees the darkest skinned because they're the ones from the poorest regions hit hardest by narco violence or poverty. Many Latinos are also white-skinned, blue or green-eyed, blonde, and sunburn as easy as I do.
In Mexico city, I got to see the way the white Latinos lived. I spoke with many of them. English comprehension is higher. Their income and level of education is higher. Their cars are just as new as anyone in the states. The malls they shop in and the sky scrapers they work in are just as modern and sleek as any newly-developing city in the states.
Then, I heard what they'd say about the rest of Mexico. The white flight is real. They'd speak about greater Mexico the way a frightened suburbanite would about the inner city in the states. When I said I came from places like Sinaloa or Zacatecas, I was met with shock. They were surprised to hear I'd been to those places and wondered how I'd survived. They would even let their prejudice slip and call themselves "normal" Mexicans compared to the "rest".
The reason for who or what to 'blame for the poverty' was much different than what I'd expected. In the states, we blame the poor for being poor A LOT.
For example: if an American is born in a broken home, acts out their traumas in school by barely participating, then drops out to deal drugs, who do we blame for this? Is it the parents? Is it the person for not breaking the cycle? Is it the schools for not getting through to them? In the US, we tend to put the blame on "personal responsibility". In Mexico, people are much more empathetic.
It could be the Catholicism, it could be the fact they're surrounded by poverty much more and can't hide from it as easily, but people seem to have much more sympathy for the poor in Mexico. Giving a few pesos in coins to homeless street performers or begging children isn't frowned upon or seen as a socially risky act. Blame on poverty varies wildly. It could be government corruption, government not acting enough, colonial exploitation, or Mexican culture itself not caring enough. One thing I have NOT heard, is that it's THEIR fault for being poor. In the states you hear it ad nausium. Here? I don't think I've heard it once. I rarely hear that people are the cause for their own problems.
The thing is, in my experience, all of these sources of blame can be right at the same time. In one person it could be a mix of any of them.
A Study of the Contrast
City layouts are also quite different than in the states. In the US, the invention and availability of the car in the mid-20th century gave rise to the American Suburb. Whites would flee the inner city in search of land to build their wealth. Housing developments would 'redline' black and brown Americans, preventing them from access to loans and land. Those white Americans would die off eventually, but their land would pass to their children all paid off, sometimes in full. That inter-generational wealth lead to a massive income disparity between whites and the rest of Americans as the decades went by.
Here in Mexico, there was no such white flight. The car wasn't as available and Mexico wasn't a world superpower in the mid 20th century. Because of this, the inner reaches of major cities are the more desirable parts. People want to be able to walk around their neighborhoods and get to work through public transit. It makes life easier and cheaper when living in an apartment without a car nor use for one.
The apartment I'm in would be a perfect example. Right now, I'm typing this from an apartment in Mexico city I'm going to spend some time in. When I would show people the location of the apartment, I heard local Mexicans say they didn't think the neighborhood was safe. The owner of the apartment told me the neighborhood wasn't safe. "You're very white, so you'll be a target. It's very dangerous here." He'd say.
The security here is TIGHT. We need to sign in at the front desk, ritually identify ourselves to them at the front door, and being labeled as "an AirBnB stay" person was a hassle for the front desk. They had to be aware of who we were because we were new faces.
The thing is, I went out for a walk out in this neighborhood on the first night I was here. Yes, it was definitely working-class, but dangerous? At 8PM I found a taco street vendor and it was delicious. Children were out on a trampoline and on the jungle gym in the park. Families were out for walks. In the corner of a block, a street party playing mariachi music raged on as people danced here and there. A couple guys were looking under the hood of a car to possibly diagnose an issue. I saw a girl or two walking alone or with dogs.
Yes, this place has poor, but dangerous? The Apartment I'm in is upper-middle class with CAR ELEVATORS for cars to be parked on top of each other in their spots. It obviously isn't fitting the neighborhood aesthetic but I'll be damned if it isn't UNSAFE.
The major dividing lines of rich and poor are highways. The major thoroughfares that run through the city cut neighborhoods in twain, also dividing their income levels. My neighborhood is fine, but 2 blocks over? It could be something completely different.
CENTER OF POLITICS
Of course, like DC or any other capital, DF is the political heart of Mexico. It's here you'll find politicians living in their 2nd homes to attend to their duties to the country. Wheeling and dealing. Paranoia. Protests in the streets. Religious revitalization movements also pepper the center square as it's just outside the Templo Mayor, the remains of the Aztec Central Temple of Tenochtitlan.
I saw people protesting El Presidente Andrés Manuel López Obrador (known as AMLO), and I also saw people camped out with signs of support. I saw indigenous people protesting their rights to land. I saw protests against missing people. At one point, an entire highway down a major street was blocked off by police and protestors for a march for salaries for teachers. I saw a march against violence against women. I saw a slew of feminists on the street protesting against elected and appointed female politicians that have betrayed their cause.
I new friend I made at the Monkey Butt Biker Cafe lives in a very, very wealthy neighborhood. I know because I went to his place before we went on a ride. There are police posted outside of a house next to his apartment day and night, either because cops hang out there or they're protecting someone. I've been told people go missing in this town and few know why. Private security can be found peppered throughout the loads of police that patrol the streets. Sometimes a caravan of unmarked tinted-window SUVs will roll through here and there, no doubt towing precious political cargo. I've been in many country's capitals (Central America, Dublin) but never in a country this big. I've never been to DC or Ottowa. The sheer size of Mexico is reflected in its capital.
In due time, I'll have more to report on when it comes to Mexican Politics. I'm fascinated by this stuff, so you'll see something on their political parties, the history of their parties, what their biggest issues are, and where things are headed. Also, ground rules are different here- just like they're different in Canada and the US. The focus piece will also have some history too. I'm also thinking about creating a quick history on the Cartel Politics as well, the war shrouded in secrecy, going on just beneath the surface of Mexico's political arena. They, too, have their own history, conflict, and 'ground rules' even if it's all fought in the shadows.
-JT
3/1/2023