Menchaca Acuna and Race Reconstruction, Research Paper Example

Idea That They Were Free:

Mexican Fate in Spanish Hands

The earliest interactions of native Mexicans and conquerors from Spain- and people from Europe by extension- created a dynamic of the powerful and powerless. It is not a new dynamic, but the effects of it echo in the modern stereotypes of the Mexican people as men’s men and willing members of the labor force. The separation between modern groups of American Hispanics also illustrates that the stigma between the groups separated by degrees of European blood outlasted the laws which bound the people to these acts. The fact that the laws were taken away did not instantly change the way the entire country of people felt about a lifetime of following commands from across an ocean.

Freedom founded on a pledge of loyalty requires either absolute respect of the authority of the ruler or blind obedience. The governors of Mexico worked hard to keep their colonies prospering and balance the demands of the Spanish motherland. Martha Menchaca writes that the Spanish left the tribes in place on the condition that they obeyed orders from across the ocean, but they were still treated as lesser citizens because they were born among a less advanced society and later considered less worthy of their rights. (49) However, the innovations of Aztec life were no less complicated than the tea parties of the British but focused on spiritual and agricultural growth and were taken for granted. It is not difficult to guess that the proud, thriving tlatoques likely resented the Spanish for treating them as puppet rulers and forcing them to take harsh action against any rebels among their own people. (50-51) The conquering Spanish heroes, who probably filled indigenous Americans’ nightmares, even lived on large pieces of land taken from the beaten people and provided with what Menchaca calls ‘free labor and material goods.’ (51) The Native Americans became slaves and pawns against one another. Although this happened long before Spain officially freed Mexico, the heritage of this pattern of behavior continues to impact national identity and cultural stereotypes of the inexpensive labor force. It also developed the tough structure which created such a large gap between the rich and the poor in Mexico.

Eventually this distinction of blood lines defined Hispanic lifestyles in North America, and European countries shifted toward a convenient belief that their own blood was superior and that mixing with natives of pretty much any other country made their own superior races weaker. (60) Menchaca explains that Native Americans of Mexican heritage reported that they were ‘pure’ and were allowed to enjoy the rights of citizenship. (284-5) Even after the strict rule of Spain over Mexico ended, the traditions of preference for European blood kept up an entire system of benefits which rewarded lighter skin and racial separation. These same categories were used to determine what types of jobs the men could hold. System of government only allowed the purest, supposedly-whitest to enter certain levels. (52) Every aspect of indigenous Americans’ lives was decided for them from the moment that the foreigners’ boats arrived.

Menchaca writes about Mexico’s separation and its conflict with America as inevitable, claiming that Spanish rule during colonization formed just one small part of colonization. The first stage was the conquering and intermarriage described above, giving each person a degree of good blood which decided their way of life. Mexico continued with this system. Finally, the Americans swept in and- for different reasons- claimed the land as rightfully theirs. (67) Each stage still included the heritage of separating these groups. Although marriages between Spaniards and native Mexicans were common and encouraged, these descendants were punished and given many different names to describe the degree of their European blood- and so also of their social value. (34) Ironically, white Europeans accepted the heritage of the darker-skinned Spaniards more than they did the light-skinned children of intermarriage. (52-58) The whole idea of purer blood was part of a ruse which allowed the same exploited labor that the original Spanish conquistadors enjoyed. It might be observed that Spanish culture tends to be much stricter regarding the freedom of women and that this, too, affects the way that the population developed into a strong group of people who were born into a way of life that rewarded them for doing what they were told.

The greatest act of slavery which Spain held over the native Mexicans was the idea that they were free. From the very beginning, Spain made the choices of where everyone would live, who they would report to, what their religious beliefs would be, and how they worked, lived, and died. During the whole time, they allowed Mexico to develop a culture, while they pulled the strings of the leaders. They then told Mexicans what was wrong with their culture based upon religious beliefs. They replaced a religion of thousands of years with a newer one which came with a lot of rules, rules which they could use to control the people more. Now, if the indigenous Mexicans resisted, then the Spaniards would just get their priests and tell them what hell was like and say that they would go there. In the future, this deal would be like spiritual blackmail. That’s what it was at that time. The impact of religion still holds much stronger in Mexican culture than in most of the rest of the Christian world, and these ancient monasteries are a part of that. You literally see God throughout Mexico, painted on rosaries, churches, and streets. The Catholic Church requires a strict moral code. Opinions about religion aside, this moral code ties Mexico to Spain and Italy as long as there is a large Catholic population, and this moral code supports everything that Spain wanted.

 Never Expect to Pay:

Manifest Destiny and the Way It Happened

In Chapter 1, “Not Just Pyramids, Explorers, and Heroes”, Acuna argues one point in the same way as Menchaca: the native Mexican population developed along a typical timeline for civilizations in Europe, but being both foreign and in an earlier stage of this development made the indigenous people throughout the Americas easier to take advantage of. With swords and the ability to make stronger buildings, forts, and weapons, controlling the production of food and the storing of water allowed the sons of the whiter European generation to claim that they helped these civilizations by providing them with new comforts. (Acuna 2-4) Readers who enjoy history notice the patterns of modern dictators, who begin by inspiring and unifying the people and promising benefits and end with the denial of many of the rights which the people had before their rise to power.

A powerful tool in their arsenal was religion. Converting the native Mexicans allowed them to be controlled by the Church, to assimilate them into the white labor force, and to include them in a mission to spread their faith from one shore to the other. The resistance still sprang up at times, the conversion “only partially successful. The northern frontier erupted again in 1751, when the Pimas rose up in rebellion.” (Gonzales 42) Following this crisis, the missions in Arizona were refilled to help contain Native American tribes. Containment and conversion were only the first steps in a growing sense of entitlement for the people of whiter European heritage. This entitlement grew as conquerors released inflammatory statements which depicted these lands as in need of salvation and its people as ‘sodomites and pederasts’, creating a stigma against the public homosexuality of the Mayas. (Acuna 4) Yet, at the same time, advances in agriculture, astronomy, literacy, city planning, and women’s rights flourished in many of the indigenous tribes of the Americas. (3-8)

However, a media plot had already developed. Reports of human sacrifice and homosexuality fought Native Americans on one front. On the other- in a way that is not as easy to see even in the texts- explorers visiting the new lands helped develop the idea of manifest destiny by describing the beauty and the resources of the land. Gonzales writes that Captain William Shaler wrote detailed description about the beauty of California but added that American energy was better suited to develop its natural resources. (55) After dwelling on the great things that they missed out on and how these lands were going to waste, as Shaler claimed, it was no surprise that Americans grew a little more hostile and started moving west in greater numbers.

The question that any reader is left with involves what sources can be trusted. If many sources were left behind that show the efforts to make indigenous Mexicans and Native Americans appear as a danger to America’s interests, then it seems that the whole situation was a set-up from the beginning. Once attacked, they would act the part of the brutal savage in order to save the homes that some strange men showed up and wanted. This follows the way that manifest destiny spread as an idea, many relocations, and then as outright fighting between the indigenous people and the new arrivals. If this is to be believed, then it makes sense that Acuna writes that the official history, which we all learn as children, has been changed to fit the story- what he calls “revisionist historiography”. (45) The legend of the Alamo, for example, is one of the most famous examples of American bravery in a fight against injustice. If we look at it with fresh eyes, from the view of Mexico, the Texans were Americans who were allowed to live in a very desirable piece of land in an immigration deal which required that they follow Mexican laws and do nothing to hurt the government. (45-54) This obviously didn’t happen, and America needed a reason to justify war. Since their war against England said that injustice should make the people rise up, Americans latched onto this idea to remove Spain and France from their rightful territories. The Americans were rude guests who took over the party.

The whole political game was one of chess and numbers. One move here, one move there, and each of the many wars which Spain, Mexico, France, England, America, and the Native Americans got into spread the resistance to manifest destiny. There was too much fighting for Mexico to be able to win with few resources and more distractions. During the Civil War, Americans fled into Mexican territories. Then they decided to make the change permanent when their lands were taken, and they finally had enough people to do it. If Mexico had been a heartless neighbor, then the idea of manifest destiny may or may not have come true since some of the western territories under the control of Spain could grow, build, and mine everything that was needed. The whole history of America pushed other people around and pushed them away. First, the Native Americans and indigenous Mexicans were conquered and bred like cattle, then they were punished for their mixed blood. Next, the colonies were taken from England, then from France and Spain. (Gonzales 90-95)

In short, manifest destiny came down to jealousy and to finding a reason to say that America was right and great and true. For some reason, the injustice of that belief is recognized for Native Americans and not for indigenous Mexicans or for the later Mexican government. Acuna makes the best case, that the history was changed because they had already convinced everyone and action had already been taken. Changing the history would have admitted guilt, which would have meant more expensive benefits for people wronged. America is far into debt. We have our own legacies. We take what we want, we call it right, and we never expect to pay.

Works Cited

Manuel G. Gonzales. Mexicanos: A History of Mexicans in the United States. 2000. Indiana University Press, Print.

Martha Menchaca. Recovering History, Reconstructing Race. 2001.

Rodolfo Acuna, from Occupied America: A History of Chicanos, 3rd ed. (Harper & Row, 1988)