In interactions between human societies we can find a certain cyclical pattern, marked by relationships of competition, conflict, accommodation and assimilation. This pattern can be seen when observing the political and social context of North America over the last four centuries. In addition to the interaction between the Spanish and native peoples, where this process was reproduced, it also becomes applicable to the relationship between Mexico and the United States, between Hispanic-speaking peoples and Anglo-Saxon peoples. After the conflict and accommodation, we now see the mutual assimilation between the Anglo-Saxon culture, on the part of the Mexicans, and also the Mexican culture on the part of the population mostly originating from the British Isles and northern Europe. In this aspect, the news that Modelo Especial beer surpassed thetraditional American brand Bud Light in sales between the months of May and June of this year draws attention.

A bit of history

At the end of the first half of the 19th century, between 1846 and 1848, the occurrence of the Mexican-American War resulted in Mexico losing around 50% of its area, while the United States, in turn, increased its territory by 25%. The period leading up to the conflict is marked by the American doctrine of “Manifest Destiny” — based on the belief that the North American people should expand their territory throughout America, motivated by divine will — at the same time as Mexico, in 1821, gained its independence in territories previously belonging to the Viceroyalty of New Spain.

During the period of consolidation of its territory, the Mexican government, aiming to encourage the occupation of the Texas region, signed an agreement that allowed the colonization of these lands by North American citizens. This agreement, however, did not prove to be lasting: contrary to the imposed rules, the Americans began to organize for the independence of the piece of land that divided the two countries, a conflict that was resolved in 1836 with the defeat of Mexico in the Texas Revolution. In 1845, with Manifest Destiny well publicized, James K. Polk (former president of the USA) wanted to expand the territory even further, interested in the Mexican state of California. In response, the following year, a “defensive war” was declared against the United States. In 1847, the advance of the Americans led to the conquest of Mexico City, which was the trigger for the surrender of the Latin American country.

Signing the Guadalupe Hidalgo Treaty on May 30, 1848, the territory of Texas, New Mexico, Nevada, California and Utah, as well as parts of Colorado and Wyoming, were ceded and sold. However, the country, through the “Gadsden Purchase” carried out in 1853, took possession of Arizona and New Mexico for 10 million dollars. Due to this annexation, it is worth mentioning that several cities in the United States also have names of Mexican origin, such as Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego and Las Vegas, which contributed to ensuring that the Hispanic heritage did not disappear at all. We also cannot forget the permanence of the Mexican population in these locations, despite great repression and extermination policies.

The assimilation process

It is important to analyze, from the perspective of social studies, the way in which interactions between people occurred and how the consequences were presented in the sense of domination and resistance of the dominated. In an article by Robert E. and ParkErnest W. Burgess published in 2014, the scholars explained that, in an interaction between people, there are phases of: competition, conflict, accommodation and assimilation. Competition, being the only one of these forms of relationship without the occurrence of social contact, is the fundamental and universal experience of living between two or more groups, in which there is a dispute for finite resources. Through social contact, which constitutes the three other groups, conflict, accommodation and assimilation begin, in which sympathies, prejudices, personal and moral relationships are developed that make competition difficult. The latter — assimilation — tends to create an impersonal social order, in which each individual, being free, pursues his own benefit and uses all other individuals as means to that end, inevitably contributing to the common well-being through exchange of services and thus providing full integration. During the accommodation process, however, individuals and groups make internal changes to social situations created by competition and conflict, and accommodation is therefore a response to them. When these changes are categorical and accepted, conflict disappears and tensions are resolved.

Having exposed the idea behind the concepts, it is then possible to make a correlation between the theory and the facts presented at the beginning of this analysis. When a people is conquered, submission and defeat change social relations in such a way that the new established order becomes based on habits and customs. As a result, this type of accommodation, composed of pain and struggles, becomes an inheritance for subsequent generations as a natural and inevitable part of the social order. Accommodation is a kind of mutation, as occurs, for example, with religious conversion. On the opposite side, assimilation represents a deeper and more gradual transformation of the personality, influenced by concrete and intimate social contacts; it is the result of changes in the organization and content of the personality. The North American ambition for territorial expansion to the West implied the relationship of competition between the United States and Mexico for regions originally belonging to the second, which thus reflected the period called “competition”, through the armed struggle fought in 1846, the clear imbalance of power led to the American victory. Much more than domination of lands, however, the act indicated the subordination of the occupants of those lands to a culture that was not shared among them, much less desired. Mexican communities faced social and political pressures to adopt mainstream American culture, which included adopting a new language, new clothing, new rituals and customs, new religions and beliefs, and new political, economic, and educational systems, making them outlawed or marginalized everything that emerged from the culture of a people who once owned themselves.

Along with the inevitable image structuring of the Mexican people as a fragile, suffering and subordinate people, all these structural changes applied to these populations represented interactions of the accommodation and assimilation type. As a result, the Latin people had to adapt and, better said, transform — and everything that transforms, transfigures, and ceases to be what it once was. The American generations of Mexican descent, as a result of this process, contribute to the realization of an identity that follows, along with immigrant grandparents, descendant customs, while at the same time acclaiming, like a good person born in American territory, the “4th of July”.

In recent years, the difficulty of fitting in and understanding oneself as part of something bigger due to the significant differences that exist between Mexicans, Americans without Latin roots and multiracial individuals has become a topic of great attention and discussion among young people, successors of more than one racial, cultural and ethnic identification (NBC News). As an example, on the social question and answer site “Quora”, Magdalena brought to the public, to the informal community, a common feeling among many of those who wander between identity labels trying to feed the natural human need to find themselves: “My mother is Scottish/English and my father is Mexican. I don't speak much Spanish, but it looks like I should, so people try to speak it to me and I just have to apologize. I'm constantly asked, pointedly by white people, “what are you?”, almost like they're suspicious of me until they can categorize me. Some mixed people talk about feeling bipolar, swinging from one ethnic experience to another. I never felt that. I don't experience the world as a white woman—I grew up as one of three brown kids in my grade and when I'm the only brown person in a meeting and we're talking about people of color, everyone turns to me and expects me to speak on behalf of All Mexicans. From a young age, my peers identified me as different from them and didn't hesitate to convey that to me. I don't experience the world as a Mexican woman—I don't have any accent, I was mostly raised by my white mother and white stepfather so most of my family traditions are mainstream American culture. I never experienced the most damaging kinds of discrimination that many Mexican women experience. I always felt like a fraud, laying claim to a history and heritage not truly mine, no matter how I identified myself. I've come to the conclusion that my experience is not as Mexican or white. My experience is as me. And that's universal.” (Quora).

However, despite the importance that this theme carries in terms of the meaning that moves an individual, the fact that part of a generation is seeking its place in the world independently does not cause any concern regarding the weakening of the Latin essence in the long term. In fact, the results of the 2020 Census in the United States reveal that the population of Hispanic origin has already been responsible for half of demographic growth in the last ten years, reaching almost 20% of the total population (Census.gov). In other words, the largest country in North America is, today, largely made up of people of Latin origin, and its development in the territory has increasingly indicated the relevance of this population to the economy, culture and politics of the United States. Many of these advances are reported by the Center for American Progress: “Latinos in the United States are reaching new heights in educational attainment, making significant economic gains, and dramatically changing the political landscape. [...] More than 11 million Latinos voted in 2012, and 40 million are expected to be eligible to vote by 2030. As Latinos assume greater political power within the United States, the U.S. relationship with the rest of the Americas will become an increasingly important issue in U.S. domestic politics. Likewise, the expanding role of Hispanic-owned businesses and Latino consumers in the world’s largest economy will create enormous opportunities to foster deeper economic integration between the United States and Mexico.” (Center for American Progress (CAP)).

The unlikely victory of the Mexican beer brand

Between the months of May and June of this year, a movement in the North American beverage market ended up breaking with a trend that had been perpetuated for two decades: the beer brand Bud Light – leader of the American market since 2001, when it displaced the iconic Budweiser – gave way to the Mexican Modelo Especial. The drop observed in the American giant's sales was a consequence of the negative reaction of its conservative consumers to the carrying out of a marketing campaign, at the beginning of April, with the transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney, in celebration of the “365 Days Of Girlhood” – a painting in which the TikTok star shared, daily, over the course of a year, the ups and downs of her gender transition. It is important to highlight, however, that the rise of Mexican beer was not at all unusual, once that since 2015, the giants of Constellation Brands had already observed how Modelo, previously popular among Latinos in California, gradually became the preferred beer among frequenters of the trendy East Village, in New York.

Currently, Mexico presents itself as the largest exporter of drinks in the world, with tequila as its flagship product. The fact that the country has a free trade agreement with the United States and already has a large population of Mexican origin in its northern neighbor, means that Mexican products have an additional advantage. The United States is the largest consumer of Mexican products, whether automobiles, electronics, tequila or Modelo Especial. At the same time that we are seeing the “Americanization” of Mexico, we are increasingly seeing the “Mexicanization” of the United States in recent decades.

As mentioned, the success of the Mexican beer brand, despite being very significant, is not an exception within the North American territory. One of the most concrete examples of the incorporation of Latin culture into habits in the United States is the culinary custom known as “Taco Tuesday”, in which, in many cities across the country, Mexican dishes are eaten, such as tacos, tortillas or guacamole, on Tuesdays. Due to the fame of the date, many restaurants run promotions to continue this tradition and attract more customers. According to CNN, this movement began with a regional company called “Taco John's” in 1980, when the owner of one of the franchise's restaurants sold two tacos for US$99 cents on the lowest profit day of the week. The promotion was so successful that he shared it with other franchisees and the chain registered the phrase “Taco Tuesday” in 1989, making the habit one of the most famous and important for the spread of Latin culture in the largest country in North America.

In addition to the food and beverage market, the world of audiovisual production has also been successful in the United States and around the world by portraying – from animation studios of great magnitude, such as Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios – details of rich cultures of Latin America. The most prominent examples are Coco (2017) and Encanto (2021). In the first one, the plot addresses the young protagonist's desire to be a musician in opposition to his family's prohibition due to the way in which the musical trajectory of one of the family members negatively impacted the past and present of his parents, grandparents, uncles and cousins. Miguel's journey in search of his dream is richly reflected in Mexican characteristics and traditions, with a strong approach to ancestry, when Miguel, during the celebration of the Day of the Dead, ends up crossing the boundary between the world of the living and the World of the Dead. The film “Encanto”, which truly enchanted the whole world, portrays the story of a family that lives in a magical house hidden among the mountains of Colombia, in a place called Encanto. It is important to highlight that the producers decided to keep the name and some dialogues in Spanish, in order to give due significance to its origin. In the film, several traditions with Latin roots are portrayed, such as the presence of a matriarch in the family — reminiscent of Sunday lunches and commemorative dates at grandparents' homes.

The presence of Latin characters and actors, as well as aspects that make up their culture, in American productions can be seen from two perspectives divided by a fine line: representation and cultural appropriation (for better understanding, the term “cultural appropriation” is used to indicate the use of some cultural practice of a marginalized group, by a hegemonic group or individual; this practice generates benefits for the dominant group, but not for the subordinate group, in addition to being able to caricaturize a certain custom and reinforce some archetype). In August of this year, the world watched the Hollywood premiere of “Blue Beetle” – a film that tells the narrative written by the North American publisher DC Comics, one of the largest producers of superhero comics in history. A surprising fact that would certainly not be repeated 20 years ago was the casting of Bruna Marquezine, the first Brazilian, after Alice Braga and Morena Baccarin, to star in a blockbuster film of this magnitude.

Events like this, in addition to the aforementioned animated film productions, indicate that the assimilation of the importance of representation has accompanied the growth of the presence of Latinos in the United States. In other words, for a country with a growing Latin presence to reflect this diversity in the products that make up its culture is crucial.

Some arguments, although fragile and with little concrete exemplification, call into question an important factor: that, often, many elements and goods of Latin origin do not receive due appreciation and are marginalized, until they receive the spotlight only when passing through the streets. hands of dominant countries, being considered exotic and/or sophisticated. (Understand more about the functioning of archetypes in relations between the United States and Latin America through an analysis already written by the Latino Observatory clicking here.

Knowing the historical, colonizing and imperialist basis of several of the actions that shaped relations between the so-called “First World” countries as opposed to underdeveloped and developing ones, the links of domination are clear, even if in ways that are not always so explicit. However, today it is possible to see the construction of Latino diversity and representation in the United States in a, fortunately, substantial way by the Latinos themselves as a result of the attempt to keep their roots alive in a place that was once their territory of origin.