"Navajos Look Like Mexicans": Marley Shebala of Navajo Nation onArizona's Anti-"Immigrant" Laws

Marley Shebal,a of the Navajo Times, is Interviewed by Paul DeMain, of Native News Update(for May 13, 2010) About the Navajo Nation's concerns about Arizona's SB1070 & the state's ban on "ethnic"(read non-white) studies. Navajos are already suffering from these laws, before they're officially in Effect. The Nation is considering issuing papers to it's citizens, and it's considering suing the state.

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• Arizona
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[AhuitzotlTlazohtla]

@Davis54pa That's a stupid, ignorant remark. Mexicans are, of course, indigenous to our own homeland. Our homeland. depending on how broadly or narrowly we define Mexican, extends from well into Nicaragua, to East Texas, Northern California, Central Colorado, Central Utah & western Nevada. Also notice that all these place names are based on tribes that went into making the Mexican nation, or are otherwise based on indigenous words, or are in our adopted language, Spanish. Go learn something!

[BayAreaBum]

mexicans are native americans, so are the canadians, peruvians and bolivians and brazilians. natives dont only live is the U.S they live ON AMERICA from alaska all the way down to tierra del fuego

[ANARCHYGOD2012]

@yanfeb15 those so called hispanics with dark skin you saw or see are actually native american as well. Spanish is white if you see some1 nonwhite they cannot be spanish. Hispanic comes from the old roman name of spain hispania. Again who comes from spain WHITES

[yanfeb15]

@destroyer919 ...that's silly :/ if you're Navajo, nothing should change that. They shouldn't care where u were born :(

[yanfeb15]

@niamtxiv ....if you do your research, you would know that here in the US, Mexicans had to be labeled as "white" because of the US cencus. It wasn't exactly their choice, but the government's choice. IF you're talking about Mexicans in Mexico not liking Native Americans, well I have to say that yes, there's a huge problem with racism in Mexico as well. The natives there (and other Hispanic countries as well) tend to be segregated from society and tend to be the poorest.

[yanfeb15]

@jinh817 .... you have to keep in mind that not everyone learns this though. I have many friends from Southern Mexico who are straight up Native but they don't consider themselves as Natives because it was just something that wasn't mentioned or taught in their family. Many of them believe they're only Mestizo, like the majority of Mexicans.

[yanfeb15]

Navajos DO NOT look like Mexicans. lol Whoever makes this mistake is stupid, and needs to spend a day in Arizona. The natives here are VERY different from Hispanics. Stupid people just assume this because they see that some Hispanics and Natives have dark skin -_-

[MrJarante]

We are all humans we should not be split into "Races" for we are one race.

[niggaT42000]

SPANISH PEOPLE OR MEXICANS ARE NATIVE AMERICANS (INDIANS)

THAT WAS ONE OF THE GOALS THE (WHITE) SPANISH PEOPLE THOUGHT OF WHEN COMING TO THE CENTRAL AMERICAN AND SOUTH AMERICAN CONTINENTS.....

START A NATION OF OR LIKE A (MELTING POT)

THE SAD THING IS PEOPLE DON'T KNOW THIS SHIT, IT'S ALL HISTORY, JUST READ IT

INDIANS ARE SAID TO HAVE CROSSED INTO AMERICA AFTER THE ICE AGE (10,000 B.C.), MAYBE EVEN EARLIER, THEY ROAMED ALL OF THE AMERICAS

[BayAreaBum]

@DarkMichael89 i think @AhuitzotlTlazohtla pretty much covered it

[AhuitzotlTlazohtla]

[con'd] to call indigenous. For example my full-blooded Yaqui grandmother was officially "white" when she entered the U.S. because she came from "Latin America".

[AhuitzotlTlazohtla]

[con'd] instead, & think every other group is a race too. I even hear people calling Jews & Muslims races. Since ethnic Mexicans are overwhelmingly of indigenous racial descent, and look it, an ethnic Mexican who doesn't look that way, will often not be accepted as Mexican, not only by "whites" but even by other, U.S. born & raised, ethnic Mexicans. But I'm sure that BayAreaBum only meant to refer to the indigenous people of those countries, & not just the ones that the gov'ts are willing [TBC]