Aztec & Spanish = Equally Brutal

THANK GOD FOR MY ARCHAEOLOGY PROFESSOR!!!! I'm absolutely loving him right now! He is presenting an UNBIASED approach to Aztec history and the Spanish Conquest. When I read the book "The True History of Chocolate," those authors would have one believe that the Aztec were these poor little helpless creatures, or ones who suffered the mighty wrath of the "brutal, ethnocentric, genocidal, gold-hungry" Spanish. (I complained about that bias in my book review). However, my professor is not masking any of the truth with his own prejudices (even though many sociologists and anthropologists might, because it's very fashionable to hate the Spanish now). As a Spaniard myself (or at the very least, the daughter of one), I find it offensive when people present the Spanish as these brutal people, and the Aztec as these "noble savages" who never would've harmed a fly. I admit, the Spanish were brutal conquerors. So were the Aztec. The Aztec were hated by everybody they had conquered. The Spanish burned valuable historical books that would have told us about Aztec life. So did the Aztec. The Aztec burned any records of history and religion that any nation they conquered had. The Aztec believed that by burning their records, they would erase history, and therefore made sure to record much of their records in stone, so it wouldn't be erased. Do you sense a pattern here? The Spanish decimated the Aztec people within the course of a few days. How? Smallpox. The Aztec decimated over 20,000 people each year. How? Mass human sacrifice to appease the gods. The Spanish brought devastating diseases that the natives had absolutely no immunity against. So did the Aztec. They had syphillis. Granted, you weren't granted a painful but swift death as in smallpox, you were granted a slow, torturous death. There is much brutality on both sides of the ocean. I want to thank my Archaeology professor for not villifying the Spanish or the Aztec, but revealing history for what it was and is: humans destroy one another whenever possible if it will serve their interests. It's a gruesome history, but I'd much rather have the truth than idealistic wishes. I may wish the Spanish Conquistadores to be a kind, gentle, tolerant group of men, to glorify my own heritage, but they weren't. I may wish the Aztec to be a group of pacifistic, noble, utterly uncorrupted group of natives to exalt and glorify, because I want to be a good person and hate anyone who destroyed such innocence, but they absolutely were not. History is brutal, gruesome, and terrible. Often, it's embarassing. However, we should not adapt it to suit our own interests. The bloody truth should be told when something terrible and devastating happens, as well as the amazing truth when someone does something phenomenally great and noble. I hate it when everything gets politicized. Kindness and goodness does not have to equate with political correctness.