The Colonization of Mexico

Differences among people, whether physical or cultural, exist as part of human experience. The recognition of differences may be intensified as contacts between different groups grow. Some of the differences may be absorbed into the innate fabric of a society. Socially constructed meanings are often added to perceived or actual differences whereby these differences become signifiers for people's worth in a society. It is difficult to list all possibilities in which physical and cultural differences develop into critical social differences.-Heewon Chang

In many cases some groups gain privileges over others on the basis of their racial or ethnic differences, perceived or actual. The construction of hierarchy or significance regarding ethnic or racial differences may take place for several reasons, but a primary motive is often economic, social, or political power. Competition for possessions or the drive for greater privilege often underlies the social construction of racial or ethnic hierarchies. These hierarchical classifications are then utilized to institute, expand, or maintain dominance or supremacy of a group over others. The readings of Bonfil Batalla ultimately explain how groups gain that power and under what circumstances. It also shows the reader exactly how the "chain of command" effects an entire population while fallowing the colonizers and their unyielding attempts to change the native's ways of thinking by demonizing all the things that they had previously believed in. And it explains how eventually, after being intensely scrutinized by Spaniards, many of the colonized began to embrace their new ways/ teachings and leave there own values behind which opened a doorway for Spain to completely take over.