Traditional research has confronted only Mexican
and United States interpretations of Mexican-American
culture. Now we must also examine the culture as we
Mexican Americans have experienced it, passing from
a sovereign people to compatriots with newly arriving
settlers to, finally, a conquered people—a charter
minority on our own land.
When the Spanish first came to Mexico, they inter-
married with and absorbed the culture of the indigenous
Indians. This policy of colonization through acculturation
was continued when Mexico acquired Texas in the early
1800's and brought the indigenous Indians into Mexican
life and government. In the 1820's, United States citizens
migrated to Texas, attracted by land suitable for cotton.
As their numbers became more substantial, their policy of
acquiring land by subduing native populations began to
dominate. The two ideologies clashed repeatedly,
culminating in a military conflict that led to victory for
the United States. Thus, suddenly deprived of our parent
culture, we had to evolve uniquely Mexican-American
modes of thought and action in order to survive.