An historical overview traces the Black Legend about persons of Spanish descent and seeks to demonstrate the influence of the Black Legend on Anglo attitudes towards Mexican Americans. The beginnings of the Black Legend are found in the sixteenth century when European countries in conflict with Spain used Spanish actions during the Sack of Rome, the Inquisition, the Revolt of the Netherlands, and the colonization of the New World to portray Spaniards as cruel, violent, greedy, religiously impure, and culturally and racially inferior. These characteristics were attributed to Mexican Americans by Anglo Americans throughout the 19th and 20th centuries and contributed to the delay of statehood for southwestern states, the Zoot Suit Riots, and discrimination and deportations during and after World War II. The overview presents one contemporary occurrence of the Black Legend in mass media and suggests that the prejudices and distortions characterizing Hispanics today come from cultural, religious, and imperialistic rivalry between Anglo or Nordic peoples and Spanish or Mexican American peoples. (LFL)