I found Strayers depiction and explanation of the Americas and Africa seemingly frustrating. Strayer implied that historians must have denied historical acknowledgment of the Americas and Africa but honestly, Eurocentric opinions denied such history to be acknowledged seeing as white men were determining what did and didn't matter. People of color have historically been illustrated as beastly beings and I find it as no surprise that historians must have found the people of the Americas and Africa as animalistic and unworthy of recognition. The reading emphasized the writing and warfare of the Maya that traces back to the beginnings of the Mayan people. During the first millennium, a good number of urban areas with concentrated populations and monumental architecture emerged within the region. For example, in the northern region of Guatemala, El Miriador housed thousands and thousands of people. It wasn't until later that the Mayan civilizations most well known cultural achievements came to light. Intellectuals, mostly composed of educated priests, developed a mathematical system and the Mayan culture is widely known for the creation of an extremely elaborate writing system. What I find so frustrating is that the Mayans are an example of a culture composed of people of color with a culture and history is so distinctive and valuable and it’s unfortunate it has not always been viewed as such.
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