The justification behind Mexican and Native American oppression was “the notion of manifest destiny [which] implied the domination of civilization over nature, of Christianity over paganism, [and] of progress over backwardness” (Racial Fault Lines, 33). These beliefs were deeply rooted in the “traditional Protestant value system” (Racial Fault Lines, 53) and the belief that any person with a dark complexion was considered an inferior human being. Therefore, because Native Americans and Mexicans are born with a darker shade in skin tone, they were met with hostility. However, the ways in which Mexicans and Native Americans were valued were very different