Essay On The Mexican Revolution Of 1910

The Mexican revolution of 1910 brought its people independence from Spanish rule. Mexico’s emancipation gave its policy makers and others in power the freedom to create a new nation-state that was based in whatever ideals they believed to be pertinent. To create a nation policy makers needed a narrative to bring its new citizens together and they ultimately settled on the union of Spanish conquistador, Hernan Cortes, and Indigneous translator, La Malinche. Using the national origin myth of Hernan Cortes and La Malinche, the Mexican identity naturally centered over the Mestizo ethnicity. In this essay I will discuss issues from the US-Mexico borderlands to highlight those excluded from the Mexican identity under the strict ideals laid out following

Mexican-American citizens and Chicanxs are heavily criticized for their American citizenship and ties. We can see this criticism in border communities like Tijuana and Ciudad Juarez. Mexicans are accused of “agrinfamiento (Euro-Americanization” for their activities with Americans and their economy (Martinez, pg. 3). Border Mexicans and Chicanxs are both looked down upon and excluded from the true Mexican identity because of their proximity and relationship with anglo-culture. While they are Mestizo, which is a part of their identity they can tie back to the national origin myth of Hernan Cortes and La Malinche, Chicanxs, because of their citizenship status, no longer share the need with Mexicans for a origin myth. The purpose of the origin myth was to unite the country under one common identity after the Mexican revolution of 1910, but because they do not live in Mexico it is moot. Again, because of their citizenship status as Americans, Chicanxs are not united with Mexicans under a common identity in the eyes of many Mexican people. They are seen as outsiders in a country that their ancestors came from in as little as one generation

However, as I have already discussed, an important factor in this is nationality and Chicanxs do not fit this criteria. Nevertheless, this does not mean that they are accepted within their own American nationality. The United States has its own national origin myth and like Mexico’s, its believers have strict standards. Before Texas was annexed by the United States it was a part of Mexico’s land in its northern border. Native Texans of Mexican descent, or Tejanos, fought and won in the Battle of the Alamo for their land. Most, if not all, Americans learn about the Battle of the Alamo as a tragic battle fought by brave Americans against enemy forces. It is a narrative that villanizes Tejanos and is used as a “symbol that legitimized the white imperialist takeover” (Anzaldua, pg. 6). American victory in Santa Ana forever solidified this and made the foreigners in their own land. It is a sentiment that has carried on through generations of Americans. Chicanxs are othered by their own country of nationality and it is justified with key events in the nation’s formation like the Battle of the Alamo. They play a key role in defining a nation’s citizen in order to create a national