I must live in a weird world then. Because most/all of the Mexicans I know claim Spanish over Indian ancestry. In fact, many Mexican Indian groups are still persecuted in Mexico, from the days of the conquistadors.
The Spanish/Mexican families I live an work with would be horrified to be classified as Mexican Indians. And, they only accept being called specifically 'Latino'. I have never heard of any 'indigenous people' being of Latin descent or speaking a Latin based language.
Are Mexicans 'Latinos' or not?
That has been a social and cultural thing for hundreds of years, and it makes perfect sense when you think about it. The governing Class since the Conquistadors was Spanish. This established descent from Spaniards as the marker for high social status.
The Spanish were brutal and vicious and they did not give a fig about being politically correct. They taught everyone that their culture was superior and that was that.
Now people want to claim Spanish ancestry (which probably most of them have some) as a measure of their social status. Oddly enough, the Australians want to claim they are descended from the early criminals sent to Australia when it was a penal colony.
It's all in what makes your social status higher.
I don't keep up much with things south of the border, but I have been informed by people that do, that this bias towards Spanish ancestry extends to their ruling classes and their entertainment. People tell me that the richer people are in Mexico, the whiter they tend to look. Same thing with the television shows and movies.
Occasionally i'll turn over to Univision and watch some Spanish programs. Dark Indian looking Mexicans are not all that common, while light skinned, even blond and blue eyed actors and actresses probably have more representation than would be warranted from their percentages of the population.
But people who live in, and have lived in Mexico, tells me this situation is rife throughout their society.
