Brown-Gomez 1

Tatiana Brown-Gomez

Cooper

AP English - 5

11 May 2018

New Mexico Reflection

Offering beautiful landscapes New Mexico had many connections to the rest of America

with its forms stereotypes and undermindment of sexes, races or even cultures. Throughout

history it has been a struggle for females and minority races to prove themselves to the world.

Specifically in New Mexico there was obvious lingering racism in Santa Fe there was even a

monument in the middle of the town square calling Native Americans savages. However, that

was scratched out and instead it said resilient. It has always been a back and forth when it comes

to cultural appropriation it takes away one’s voice and freedom. By undermining cultures, races,

or/and sexes create stereotypes and cultural appropriation by taking away what makes different

people them it takes away their human rights.

Eugenics was a study of improving the general population by increasing necessary traits,

by doing so it not only undermined and discriminated towards minority races but women as well.

During this period economic booms were occuring due to the mass production of railroads, but

poverty also increased leaving people hopeless. Eugenics was the science to help find these

reasons why poverty occurs. What was shocking was when the study pointed to race and gender

having to do with poverty. Multiple tests were taken to see the differences between races and

gender, such as measuring height and weight to the use of IQ tests. As expected white males

were placed at the top as the end result out of all these tests. It was another way to show cultural

superiority over every race while even white women placed second in these tests. Everyone else
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was clearly blamed for poverty or creating it. Native Americans specifically were not even

considered for these tests because they were less significant in many senses.

Even in New Mexico it was clear that Native Americans had to struggle with constant

hardships, as we saw a monument in the center of the Santa Fe plaza. On it said "To the heroes

who have fallen in the various battles with Savage Indians in the territory of New Mexico.".

What to note in this the part where it calls Native Americans “Savage Indians” this furthers the

stereotype of Native Americans as less than human to the superiority of Spaniards or Caucasians.

In previous centuries many have taken advantage of Native Americans by forcing them through

labor and taking their culture away (cultural appropriation). Even by Columbus first arriving in

America thinking that Natives were theses strange creatures immediately began the cultural

appropriation process, as it just continued to increase and increase after. Using harsh language as

“naked people” was a way to put Natives in a lower standard than the rest of the Spanish

conquistadores.

Realizing a different perspective on an undermindment was Sojourner Truth's “Ain’t I a

Woman?”, where she talks about a African American woman’s perspective through slavery.

Truth discusses of women were trying to earn their rights while African American women were

still being put down and being treated as inhuman as possible. They had to take punishments

worse than African American males in Trouth’s persepective by not only being beat or whipped

but also having to raise children through the hell of slavery. White Americans underminded

African American women in the sense that they were seen and treated as property and as a way

to breed. By doing so it rips away any culture Afrcian Americans could have learned from their

African roots, instead they had to create their own culture throughout history only to have it

judged. Leading to multiple cases of cultural appropration throught America’s history.

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Through all these experiences it is clear to see that the world is still highly flawed,

however, it is improving at a slow pace to win this ongoing race.

Works Cited

Momaday, N. Scott. "The Becoming of the Native Man in America Before Columbus".

1492. Accessed 9 January 2018.

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Physical and Intellectual Measurement/Poverty and Degeneracy.

http://www.eugenicsarchive.org. Accessed 3 May 2018.

Truth, Sojourner. “Ain’t I a Woman?” Fordham University.

https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/mod/sojtruth-woman.asp. May 29, 1851