Racism

Prior to the U.S.-Mexican War many Americans, ranging from the least-educated to the most highly-educated (like U.S. government officials), openly expressed racist sentiments about Mexicans. The Mexican population was seen as sneaky, lazy, prone to criminal activity, religiously fanatical and made up of people with a racially mixed background. U.S. journalists described Mexicans as “barbaric.” While the Mexicans did not like Americans or trust them, this never took the form of racial hatred or arrogance like it did for the Americans.