Stern and the Black Legend

Stern's relationship to the Black Legend is that he supports it in this section of the book.  We spend about half of this section learning about the mita and all the cruel, backbreaking labor that goes along with it.  This is one example of a passage about mitayos working in the mercury mines of Huancavelica: 

"In Huancavelica, poor ventilation, mercury vapor, and mercury-rich dust conspired to make poisoning a terrifying reality.  Many miners who contracted the mercury sickness did not die quickly, but suffered long, debilitating illnesses.  The malady ulcerated the respiratory tract, infected blood and bones with mercury, induced bouts of trembling, fever, and paralysis, and slowly led some victims to a merciful death.  Those who survived or held off death for a year or two lived on in their home communities, disabled in varying degrees, visible reminders of the horrors of mitayo labor in Huancavelica." (85)

And that does not even sum up what Stern believes the Spanish did to these people.  He talks about how these laborers often ended up in debt because of low wages and how they had to be separated from their families for months at a time which affected family farming units.  I would say that all of this definitely supports the Black Legend.