The diverse roots in the cultural mestizaje of the province of Zacatula (current Costa Grande de Guerrero), Mexico

In our America the cultural mestizaje of diverse roots is evident. Native populations, when they were drastically decimated, mixed with Europeans and African enslaved people who arrived during the colonial era. In addition, the so-called “Chinese Indians” arrived in New Spain, in the territory of the province of Zacatula (present-day Costa Grande de Guerrero) on the Manila Galleon. In addition to this, there were also African, Asian and European migrations after Mexican independence. Despite this, in Mexico it was not until the 1940s that Gonzalo Aguirre Beltrán began his studies on the black population and with his work The black population of Mexico (1946) historically confirmed the African roots in the cultural mestizaje of the Mexican population. Previously (and even later), the Mexican mestizo was considered the same as in colonial times, as the descendant of Spanish and indigenous. As for the studies on Asian migration, they are more recent and need to be more widely disseminated