Essay on Political Culture of Mexico

Gutiérrez’s analysis spans almost a century worth of history between Mexican Americans and Mexicans and how their relationship developed. Throughout his discussion he argues that the root of the conflict between these two groups long existed. He argues that “although most Mexican Americans retained their Mexican cultural orientations and maintained strong affinities to Mexico,” factors of American assimilation and essentially ideals of nativism

In the book “A Glorious Defeat, Mexico and its War with the United States” written by Timothy J. Henderson. Henderson, a professor of History at Auburn University, Montgomery, Alabama, analyses the political and social history of Mexico before and during the Mexican American War of 1846-1848. After the battel with Spain in 1821, the Mexican Government was a disaster, although they manage to be victorious for their independence. The main problem with the Mexican government and its social class was their racial system, for example the higher class will never share power with the lower classes. A small number of Mexicans were educated and most of them were from the upper class, and the lower class were considered to be troublemakers who needed

After the people of Mexico freed themselves from Spanish control, they faced difficulties trying to officially establish themselves as a country. Despite their independence, Mexico had to also live with the aftermath of Spanish colonialism. Part of the aftermath included socio-political issues amongst the Mexican people. In an effort to establish themselves as a nation, they first had to free themselves from a Spanish ideology, for Mexico truly was not free after their independence. The socio-political predicaments contribute to the evolution of modern day Mexico.

In the book “Mexico Profundo Reclaiming A Civilization” by Bonfil Bonilla shows the reality of a modern Mexico without neglecting the problems of the current government of Mexico. The Mexican society is composed by different diversities of Indigenism and of high social groups that forms two different types of Mexico such as the Mexico Profundo and the Imaginary Mexico which are different worlds that are interpreted as Mesoamerican and European civilizations. Before and after the Mexican Independence, the process from the pre-Columbian time to a modern world in Mexico, had been a complex movement, since there were battles, slavery, cultures, customs, democracy and struggles containing different experiences that lead to what makes Mexico contemporary, hence; through the historical erasure, and the people who resist colonization since the beginning of colonialism, it created a Mexico Profundo

II. Thesis Statement: Mexico is an interesting country, with many different and people and customs, as well as major problems.

Mexican culture dates far back as the 13th century. This is when the Aztecs were prevalent in northern mexico. Aztecs were a people who were all about war and honor. They made many enemies going to war with smaller tribes and brutally killed their enemies. In the 16th century the Aztecs Empire crumbled due to the invasion led by Hernan Cortez. Disease, superior weapons, and aid of the Aztec’s enemies were all contributing factors to the Aztecs downfall. Fast forward September 16th 1810 when Mexico gained its independence from Spain Mexico's identity started to develop. Mexican culture is defined by many things, its food, its language, its clothing, its art. However, There is one aspect that defines Mexican culture and that is family life. Mexicans have a very rich family life that defines the culture. The way that family is organized and the way each member acts can be traced back to the very beginning. It's a mixture of the indigenous peoples culture as well as the Spaniards culture. The indigenous peoples pass on their ideas of honor and machismo and the Spaniards pass on their ideas of catholicism, and family value and structure. I fit into this because I grew up on these ideas and my family still practices some of these ideas today.

Children are taught at a young age learning the three branches of the United States and how well they work however Mexico’s government is very similar to the US. Mexico’s government is a lot more developed than you might think; it has a good structure with three branches also called Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches.

The Mexican culture is a collectivist and enthusiastic of its traditions. The current Mexican culture it’s not simple because it has rich traditions and contrasts, outgrowth with history and modernization (Cultura, n.d.). The Mexican culture has a mixture of pre-Hispanic

The Spaniards made what we now know as Mexico into a racially segregated country, where the Europeans had priority in the casta. The white Caudillos were at the top of the pyramid, while the middle class, and then the Mexican Campesinos and the Mestizos were on the bottom. Each group of people worked against each other to try and distinguish themselves from another group. After Mexico gained its independence and the colonials went back to Spain, Mexico had to find a way to function as a country on their own. Society, let alone a democracy would not continue to work if all the racial groups continued to fight against each other. The different groups needed to learn to work together, which is what complicated Mexico forming a democracy. Colonial, racial, religious, and economic legacies served as roadblocks to Mexico’s independence and ability to establish a lasting democracy, because Mexicans could no longer compete against one another like they did under Spanish rule.

Around 1920—after a 10-year span of revolutionary efforts, what we know as Mexico today was transformed and recreated. The Mexican revolution has been hailed as a struggle to radically shift an authoritarian government by giving more power to the people and making the voices heard of the oppressed Mexican class. However, the narrative that has been told about the revolution has been romanticized overtime, and what happened in the nation after the revolution shows even more how there wasn’t a real sense of justice for everyone in Mexico. Mexico’s struggle to make sense of their identity through this time period can be seen through the films created shortly after the revolution. The time period in which these films were created is known

Alongside job losses and the increase of the dependence of Mexico on the United States, Mexico has deeply been affected on a cultural aspect after the NAFTA was put in place. Indeed, Zuloaga explains in her article that “The internal imbalances caused the Mexican people to question their independence and national identity”. (Zuolaga,2001) By these words, the author once again shows that cultural identity is well affected by economic integration measures, and thus, globalization. Further on, she also mentions the asymmetry of power among NAFTA’s member states, which is undeniably palpable looking at the lack of affirmation Mexico is offered to deliver, here in the cultural

For centuries, Mexican Americans have dealt with an enormous amount of hardships that date back to their early Aztec roots. The source of many problems in Mexican American history can be traced in the pre-colonial period, before the United States of America was even conceived. Major problems of this era in history not only affected the Aztecs, but also the following generations of Aztec and Mexican descent, and continue to have an impact on their descendents in contemporary American society.

The ideal Mexican people are defined as the mestizo. The mestizo was turned into a subject of popular consumption with the aim of spreading Mexican manliness symbolically representing the values and attitudes of patriarchal figures, and is often pictured with his idealistic female counterpart (Carter 55). Mexico City developed under a convergence and clashing of cultures existing in one of the most heavily populated and concentrated cities in the world. It is characterized by fifty-six ethnic groups, divided only by the history of their origin. The major groups that are referenced throughout the history of Mexico City, and the country as a whole, are known as mestizos, criollos, and Indians. These three prominent groups, derived from the colonial caste system, are defined as those of mixed native and European ancestry, the descendants of the Spaniards, and the indigenous people, respectively (Chong 45). It is the existence of this classification system that greatly perpetuates what has become the mythical identity of modern day Mexico City. The visual language of the national male and female, the mestizo couple, denotes the selective criteria for prototypical individuals in forming the idealized nation, validating the exclusion and judgements of a racial and ethnic nature against indigenous people (Carter 55). The early repression of Mexico’s indigenous people under the control of the criollos led to their exclusion from modern society, and the cultural domination of the

During this time, Mexico’s political elite began to divide into two opposing factions: conservatives and liberals. The conservatives favored a highly centralized government and wanted to maintain the Catholic Church’s power and control of educational facilities.

The ethnic- Mexican experience has changed over the years as American has progressed through certain period of times, e.g., the modernity and transformation of the southwest in the late 19th and early 20th century, the labor demands and shifting of U.S. immigration policy in the 20th century, and the Chicano Civil Rights Movement. Through these events Mexican Americans have established and shaped their culture, in order, to negotiate these precarious social and historical circumstances. Throughout the ethnic Mexicans cultural history in the United States, conflict and contradiction has played a key role in shaping their modalities of life. Beginning in the late 20th century and early 21st century ethnic Mexicans have come under distress