I'm actually surprised that redditors hated Natlan because it was "racist" and didn't include brown people. Natlan itself is designed to be a not-so-subtle joke and critique of the USA. People felt confused that the desgins weren't really African/Mesoamerican/Native because they didn't realize Natlan was supposed to be the nation of the USA itself. This is why there are cowboys, early 2000's emo boys, and pixel gamer dragons; The intent is neither to show a racist post-colonial africa/america, nor to whitewash the Natlanese, it is in effect saying
>The entire cultural history and future of the USA is stolen. The rightful heirs and ancestors are the Africans/Mesoamericans/etc.
Cowboys aren't for the USA or white people, they're Apache. Pixel dragons? They're Incan. 2000's urbanwear? African. You own nothing. You are nothing. Your nation is illegitimate.
From a Chinese nationalist and western bourgeois socialist viewpoint, this is a very fun and incisive insult to the USA as a nation, but unfortunately for Hoyo the average Westerner (white or brown) views everything from a purely racial lens (No white? Woke! No black people? Racist!), and the average genshin player is as as sharp as a wet fucking brick.