Karla Daniela Reyes Morales
Dr. Hacker
POSC 2103: Introduction to U.S. Government
8 of July 2022
We are Too Different, aren't We?
Mexico and its "friendly" neighbor, the U.S., have been fighting a lot since the U.S. stole
half of the Mexican territory. From that moment on, both ways started to be almost together
throughout history. We can notice this even in the last years, our societies have had many
encounters, most centered on the idea that "we are the best country" or "don't compare us with
them, we are a better democracy" and so on. But are we so different? Of course, the history of both
countries had their particularities, but in the end, we have almost the same result, a flawed
democracy; and a rotten society.
We should start at the beginning, our natives. Some of the Spanish colonizers mated with
the natives and had children. Even though they knew their children would be 3rd class, these were
known as mestizos. It is worth mentioning that some of them raped or had fun with our women
while they worked for them. The personality of our society has revolved around the mestizos,
thanks to this fact. After everything, it may sound barbarous. Our ideals, at least those promoted
by the government, say that we should be proud of our origins and see what the Spanish did as a
tragic event with both good and bad things. They also state and emphasize that we should not allow
foreign meddling; these attitudes developed from the moment we were "free" and independent. I
say "free" because those who made our independence possible were the Spaniards born in Mexico,
2nd class citizens.
On the other hand, our neighbors came here looking for a dream, looking to be free to do
what they wanted to do in their way. Strike like a very peaceful idea, doesn't it? Well, it wasn't, at
least not for the natives. The natives taught the English how to survive in those lands; they even
gave them gifts. But their beliefs and ambitions did not stop the Englishmen from genocide; they
believed the Caucasians were doomed to renew and reorganize the world because the creator said
so. They killed the "inferior" race that helped them survive an amount of 108 battles. Leaving that
in the past, their culture does not even recognize this event. Most history books for children or
teenagers read in their schools omit this fact or even mention it as a good deed. Americans did not
interbreed with the natives because of their ideals of being a pure race. In the name of freedom,
the United States did a lot of damage to many communities and countries.
As we notice, the Mexican people are mainly composed of mestizos; more precisely, they
represent 90%. Natives represent 7%, and the rest are immigrants. The immigrant population in
Mexico is mainly American, Spanish, and Guatemalan. Some of us have a few prejudices about
certain immigrant groups, but mostly we try to learn more about them and their culture. The United
States is one of the most diverse countries in the world, 18.3% of the total population is Latino,
Asians 5.6%, African Americans 12.7%, and 3.3% identify as two or more races. The rest, as you
can imagine, are white, although 60.1% is still a sizable number against the rest. In the entire
history of the United States, whites have never had such low numbers. It is curious how the
Englishmen of the 19-century wanted to be a pure race and crush the other races. And now, it is
one of the most diverse and one of the countries with the highest number of race combinations.
The only common factor in both backgrounds seems to be the idea that Europeans had
about white people’s superiority against other races, despite that this seems to be something of the
past, almost every country on the American continent was and is being affected by this idea. All
beauty standards and opportunities seem to be affected by your skin color. History always has
remnants in our society and our lives.
The history of the United States began to change course in the 20th century when more
immigrants came to the country; the market grew, etc. The country grew and changed
progressively, but one thing never changed throughout its history; the relentless pursuit of freedom.
All the people who arrived at the beginning and during the immigration process came to this
continent with the promise that they would fulfill their dreams and have a better life, at least a free
one. People became obsessed with this idea, believing that if they needed to trample on others to
be free, they would do it because the creator wanted them to. Today, one part of their society seeks
to be free individuals contemplated as equals, and the other part wants to follow the original ideals
of the colonizers, "only we deserve to be free because of our skin color." At least that is what they
think. The widespread diversity and the idea of white superiority eventually will cause some
groups to conflict. One group would win, and one would end up resenting the other. This
resentment would become deeply ingrained in their society, making it almost impossible for one
group to give in to the needs of the other. Thus, generating a perception that each group represents
the United States and the rest only impedes their vision of the country they want.
When Mexico was finally free, the people in charge never had the power before, so they
didn’t know how to manage a country. Eventually, this was obvious because they began to ask for
loans from other foreign banks. Most of the money spent was for administrative expenses or
military equipment. The banks made the country pay almost double the loan amount, so as you
could imagine during all our history our country had a bad economy and a lot of debts. This
poorness made the community sick of power and richness. Most of the governors since we were
free used the money from society to build their wealth, but one of them made a lot of illegal
businesses, this was discovered after he ended his mandate. The next president (Porfirio Diaz)
spared him, then he was re-elected. The government adopted this corruption, and it seemed to work
well, the ones that had the power made their wealth and businesses which created new jobs for the
rest of the community. Eventually, corruption escalated even to the lowest positions. Example: A
man that had ten brothers and no richness took advantage of their friends and contacts to have a
job in PEMEX. He worked there for 11 years before retiring and moving into his large mansion
(Krauze, 1995). Nowadays, we repeat the phrase “Quién no tranza no avanza,” which means “who
is not corrupt does not advance.”
Both countries have an enormous history and ideologies behind them, which are different
from each other. Both of them have a very low political efficacy in the end. Only 2% of Mexico
believes in the government, and the rest of the country does not trust it. In the U.S only 20% believe
in the government. For distinct reasons, we don't trust our governments, we hate a group or
community, and we think that those groups are screwing our societies. The same problem but with
different motives and perspectives.
References
Diario Reforma. (1995, December). Breve historia de la corrupción. Enrique Krauze.
https://www.ingenieria.unam.mx/dcsyhfi/material_didactico/Literatura_Hispanoamerican
a_Contemporanea/Autores_K/KRAUZE/Breve.pdf
Martínez, G., & Rangel, H. (2013, October). El impacto del mestizaje en México. Investigación y
Ciencia. Retrieved the 9 July 2022, of
https://www.investigacionyciencia.es/revistas/investigacion-y-ciencia/matemticas-delplaneta-tierra-585/el-impacto-del-mestizaje-en-mxico11442#:%7E:text=El%20mestizaje%20en%20M%C3%A9xico%20comenz%C3%B3,los
%20aztecas%20en%20el%20centro.
Morris, G. T., & Maghakyan, S. (2021, 29 April). The U.S. has finally acknowledged the
genocide of Armenians. What about Native Americans? The Washington Post:
Democracy Dies in Darkness. Retrieved the 9 July 2022, of
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/04/29/us-biden-armenian-genocidenative-americans-recognition/
Muciño, F. (2014, 16 September). Historia del primer crédito a México como país
independiente. Forbes México. Retrieved the 9 July 2022, of
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%20pesos%20de%20aquella%20%C3%A9poca.
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Statista. (2021, 2 July). Porcentaje de población perteneciente a los diferentes grupos étnicos
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https://es.statista.com/estadisticas/581497/porcentaje-de-poblacion-perteneciente-a-losdiferentes-grupos-etnicos-mexico/
PEW RESEARCH CENTER. (2021, 25 May). Americans’ Views of Government: Low Trust, but
Some Positive Performance Ratings. Pew Research Center - U.S. Politics & Policy. .
Retrieved the 9 July 2022, of
https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2020/09/14/americans-views-of-government-lowtrust-but-some-positive-performance-ratings/
Político, R. A. (2017, 17 October). El 98% de los mexicanos no confía en el actual gobierno, ni
cree en la democracia: estudio. Animal Político. Retrieved the 9 July 2022, of
https://www.animalpolitico.com/2017/10/mexicanos-confian-democracia-gobiernoestudio/
Redacción el tiempo. (2016, 12 October). Los colonos que exterminaron a los pueblos indios en
EE. UU. El Tiempo. Retrieved the 9 July 2022, of
https://www.eltiempo.com/mundo/eeuu-y-canada/colonizacion-de-pueblos-indigenas-enestados-unidos-41971