Dismantling White Privilege: The Mexican-American War

From 1846 through 1848, the United States continued their westward imperialist expansion towards Mexico. The president during this time period, James K. Polk believe in Manifest Destiny, or the belief that his Christian God had ordained the right of the United States to move west, ‘civilize’ the indigenous populations and ultimately wage war on indigenous populations so that the white Europeans could take their land.

The fighting began at the Rio Grande river and once the war was over, Mexico lost close to one-third of their land today that is comprised of Nevada, California, Arizona, New Mexico and Utah.

The white Europeans had already stolen the Louisiana Purchase and had greatly expanded west through the acquisition, but their greed for more land had not been quenched. Because Polk believed in Manifest Destiny and that the United States’ borders should exist from ‘sea to shining sea’, so he initially offered to buy the land but was rejected.

His white entitlement was so great, that he refused to accept the denial of purchase and waged war on the indigenous populations occupying his desired territories. Mexico attacked first, war was declared, and after two years of fighting, Mexico and the United States signed the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo in which the Texas territory was annexed and Mexico agreed to sell the remaining territories for 15 million as well as pay for damages.

Conquering territories is a major tenant applied under imperialistic governments. The entitled belief that one nation should be able to conquer another country and the peoples that reside within that country fuels the actions required to overthrow an already occupied country. What is more, this is just the physical aspect of conquering and it must be noted that there is a mental aspect of conquering as well. Manifest Destiny promoted the white entitled belief that the Protestant Christian ethics would run the country better than the Mexican Catholic and Native American populations that already occupied the land. It was not enough that the white Europeans had taken indigenous lands by force; but now they had to take indigenous culture, identity and heritage as well.

Fast forward close to two hundred years. The year is 2016 and Donald J. Trump has officially been elected the Republican candidate for the presidential election. Trump has been quoted as referring to Mexicans as ‘rapists and drug dealer’ as well as suggesting that the Mexican immigrants that are crossing the boarder are not Mexico’s ‘best’. Donald Trump is the epitome of white entitlement present today in this country that fuels false racist ideals in this country and the fact that he is one step closer to running this country as president cannot and should not be ignored. Trump has gone so far as to advocate for the creation of a physical wall closing off the Mexican and North American border so that immigrants could no longer cross over.

Aside from the appalling, false and racist remarks that Trump routinely makes against Mexican immigrants, the fact that Mexican immigrants are being denied entry into land that was once theirs by the descendants of the white imperialist Europeans who killed their ancestors and stole their land is once again a gross example of white supremacy. W

hen speaking, Trump promotes the irrational white fear that wrongfully portrays Mexican immigrants as drug dealers, rapists, job stealers and murderers bent on taking from innocent white lives.

The fact that Trump is the Republican candidate proves that there is a percentage of the general population that a). believes in and b). supports his beliefs because he consistently received the most votes during his primary campaign despite his obvious racism. Trump is succeeding in perpetuating negative associations between Mexican immigrants and how white North Americans see them which is resulting in increasing the fears of white Americans who are justifying their ignorant and racist beliefs.

Furthermore, the Statue of Liberty, a monument that has symbolized the entryway to the United States for decades, has a marker that states: ‘Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!’ The United States was ‘founded’ by ‘refugees’ fleeing a tyrannical government who championed freedom and equality for every man. This ‘great’ nation was ‘founded’ by immigrants seeking a new and better life.

The ‘American Dream’, the notion that one can create a better life for oneself, is a mentality that is promoted and treasured by many in this country because this ‘dream’ is what the country was ‘founded’ upon. This ‘dream’ however, was clearly meant only for the white European immigrants seeing as there is much disdain for both Mexican immigrants as well as for Syrian refugees that are fleeing their country that has been torn apart by civil war that are currently attempting to create better lives for themselves. The fact that this country is not welcoming to immigrants of color prove that the ideals of freedom and equality only apply to white people.

History cannot and should not be ignored especially when history is rife with racism, imperialism, genocide and ultimately hypocrisy repeatedly perpetuated by the white European population and their descendants. The history that is studied and taught in this country is the history of the white man which ignores the history of the many different indigenous peoples that already occupied this land as well as contorts the events and how they happened so as to promote the image of the white man. The blatant manipulation of these historical events is just another example of white entitlement that believes it can rewrite a biased and one-sided history.

In order for systems of racism to be dismantled, Donald Trump and his supporters must be called out at every chance.

This election is not an election based on different believes regarding government control and the economy-rather this election is an election of basic human rights. Yes there are many issues that citizens of this country can vote upon; but when it comes to issues of basic human rights, meaning the right to exist freely without harm or judgment in this country, these freedoms have not and are not being extended equally to all because they are literally being voted upon, which in turn means that they are not guaranteed for all.

When a presidential hopeful can repeatedly voice heinously racist beliefs and continue to receive support from his party, basic human rights are under attack in this country. Donald Trump has been and continues to run upon a platform of white fear and he is speaking to a section of the United States population that has not had an open voice in government for decades. Donald Trump has given voice and representation to the racist population of this country that does not believe in equality for all.

Though the Mexican-American War was fought close to two hundred years ago, the psychological effects of that war can still be felt today.

I am not of Mexican descent and will not attempt to speak for the population but I personally am very afraid for where this country currently stands. Racism is running for president in this country plain and simple. I do not support racism nor do I support racist individuals.

Even though I have only been alive for seven presidential elections, I have witnessed the de-evolution from debating topics and policies to now debating people. No longer are candidates debating the policy of immigration and how it should be handled; instead, white politicians that continue to control this country are debating the moral character of certain populations of people based on hateful biases alone.

Politicians of this country, descendants of immigrants who stole the land from indigenous people, are now focusing their platforms upon restricting basic human rights of peoples rather than upholding the tenants of equality and freedom that this nation was ‘founded’ upon.

There is a saying that if one does not know history, well then one is doomed to repeat it. White supremacist history has been repeating itself since the ‘creation’ of this country and that is because white people are not aware of their white supremacy. White people believe that racism is an ism of the past that was resolved with the abolition of slavery. In order for racist systems to be fully dismantled in this country, white people need to begin evaluating their history and the history that they teach through a white supremacist lens. White people need to understand that racism is alive and well today because white people have failed to dismantle these systems of oppression.