“Clearly, racism pervaded American popular thought and freighted almost every word and action. However, individuals made their own judgments about the meaning of race. The naked opportunism of the 1846-1848 war, the class conflict that the army brought with it to Mexico, and face-to-face experience with the Mexican people would bring about changed racial thinking: some individuals and groups became more exploitative than ever, but others rejected the cant of racial destiny.”
-Paul Foos, 2002
