The Mexican-American war began in 1948 after the United States claimed that American blood had been shed on American land. But many politicians continued to question why American military was pushing deeper into Mexico if the goal had been to only defend the border. In Acuna’s text, he states that “the poorly equipped …show more content…
Ours is a government of white men. The great misfortune of what was formerly Spanish America, is to be traced to the fatal error of placing the colored race on an equality with the white (Castro)” Article XI from the Treaty of Hidalgo promised full citizenship to those who were living in the new U.S territory, but the US violated the Treaty by allowing Southwestern states to apply racial laws to Mexicans, giving them second-class citizenship, where darker skin meant more discrimination. Even whiter skin did not grant the full privileges of citizenship, leading to the legacy of "legally white, socially Mexican.” According to the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo classified Mexicans as “white”, but there was an attempt in 1930 Census to classify Mexicans as a separate race. These actions relate to institutional discrimination in many ways- the dominant race, which in this case had been the Euro-Americans, easily found ways to control the Mexicans and implement policies that were intended to have a harmful effect on them. Like Acuńa explains, the lack of enforcement not only lost them their rights, but it also has lost them a measure of