This image from 1824, and it shows a gate on a canal at Chalco, Mexico. This picture shows me the diversity of content. The dress, culture, and architecture of this picture have symbolic meanings. It represents distinct characteristics, ethnicity, and identities that make a group different from another in this image. While the image looks unremarkable, it also sheds light on stereotypes, biases, and truest history.
In the central part, we can see some of the characters’ faces and expressions. It seems to be a deliberately sought out Angle to show the faces of these people. We see many people sitting in a small boat at the front, but behind them are fewer people of different colors. From the clothing and dress, we can see that these people have different identities. Someone is playing the piano; someone is standing very deliberately. You can see it in the background architecture; it looks very European. Whether it is the dress or the architecture, I will think of these people as representing the old aristocracy.
Even the image is from 1824, After Santa Anna and Guadalupe Victoria deposed Iturbide and set up a republic. Slavery still exists. In the articles we read before. but why does this image make these aristocrats so contrived and annoying? In the past, people seize the land to become the local aristocracy, turning the indigenous people into their own tenants. Then, they let them change their name to Christ, make them their own slaves, and then carry out the slave trade. The bad side is also apparent, hindering local culture development, the emergence of national conflicts, and shows the competition for interests. It also leads to social instability.In the articles, Angela Batallas tries to carry out the slave revolution through litigation; they argued that “one could not free the colony without freeing all the people.” At the time, more people thought it was just something that was common during the revolution, but I think it was the beginning of the end of slavery.
Finally, from the ethical perspective of modern society, colonies are the oblation of local culture and resources. At this point, the colonies were the product of the historical trend, the advanced civilization’s tool, the government of advanced civilization. Some countries are still under the influence of colonial culture.