PLZ HELP How did colonialism affect the nations of Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean?

Some colonial legacies are good, others are bad. It is valuable, in particular, that the Spanish language is now shared, with few exceptions, from the USA’s southern border to the southern tip of the continent – and is also spoken by many people in the USA. Diverse cuisines, music, architecture and landscaping are positive too. Tourists appreciate what is called “colonial style” in historic city centres, parks and hotels.
On the other hand, colonialism has forced Mexicans to ponder their identity for a long time. The Creoles (the descendants of the Spaniards) have never been to their ancestors’ homeland. The Mestizo (“half-breeds”) are now the majority, but they were rejected by all races that the colonial caste system considered. The recognised races were Spaniards, Indios, Africans and Asians. The term “Mestizo” only applied to the offspring of Spaniards and Indios, so another set of absurd categories was invented to be able to name the roots of every single person.
Such categorisation was extremely limited. It did not take into account the ethnic diversity within each group, but only focussed on world regions. Nonetheless, the system kept becoming even more complex. While its merits were most dubious, it served to allocate privileges and left permanent marks on society