In primary school, I won a coloring contest for the best picture of the “discoverer” of America, Christopher Columbus. My prize was a large teddy bear (coincidentally, a cultural icon named for another enemy of native peoples in the American history pantheon—Theodore Roosevelt). When I was older, I learned that the Spanish arrival in the…

You are a Martian observing life on planet Earth for the first time. Your mission: to observe the Earthlings, gather data, and report back to your home planet. What are these strange creatures who call themselves humans?  They vary in their size and stature, the colors of their eyes and skin, the location and texture…