Mexicans classify their own population as 60% Mestizo (Indian-European mix), 30% pure Indian and 10% white.
Mestizo 60 % (Indígena y español), indígena 30%, y 10% blanco
For Europeans, being French or Spanish or German or Italian or Polish is a matter of different ethnic groups within the same race.
In Mexico, however, race is a central part of the Mexican cultural identity and they embrace the race issue with their concepts of "La Raza" and the concept of "Mestizaje".
The Mexicans honor a certain Gonzalo Guerrero as "The Father of Mestizaje". Guerrero was a Spanish sailor who was shipwrecked in 1511 and was captured by the Mayans. While some of his shipmates were used as human sacrifice, Guerrero was spared and, as the time passed, "went native" and took the daughter of a Mayan chieftain as his wife. Mexicans now honor the children of that marriage as the "first Mexicans".
Guerrero is therefore considered the "Father of his Country"........literally.
Statue of Gonzalo Guerrero, his Mayan wife Zazil Há and their children, "the first Mexicans"
It is ironic that the forces of Political Correctness in the U.S. never use the terms "Mestizo" or even "Mexican". Instead, the tern "Hispanic" (pertaining to the ancient Roman province of Hispania) is used. The Mexicans are therefore stripped of their unique racial identity that they themselves honor in Mexico.