Racism in Mexico
This is an accepted version of this page Racism in Mexico (Spanish: Racismo en México) refers to the social phenomenon in which behaviors of discrimination, prejudice, and any form of antagonism are directed against people in that country due to their race, ethnicity, skin color, language, or physical complexion.
[3] In general today, people who are black and indigenous make up nearly all of the peasantry and working classes, while lighter-skinned Mexicans – many being criollo, directly of Spanish descent – are in the ruling elite.
There are a number of historic and recent examples that include legally barring certain nationalities and ethnicities entry into the country, insensitive treatment and stereotyping of other races, and the notorious 1903 Torreón massacre of a Chinese community.
[6] According to Federico Navarrete, doctor in Mesoamerican Studies from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), the indigenous people were the great population base of America and therefore they were the base of the economic system, the white Spaniards occupied the privileged positions of the political and economic structure, while the Indians had to work and pay tributes and taxes to the crown, and at the lowest level were the blacks, who only lived to work as slaves.
For Navarrete, the use of all these distinctions actually had more to do with practical purposes and social standing, more than with the modern conception of racism (which only emerged in the early nineteenth century) so the terms 'caste' should not be confused with 'race'.
[10] The social consequence that had the most impact on racism during that time was perhaps the Caste War, in which the Mayan indigenous people rebelled against the white and mestizo population of Yucatán.
There was also the exile of the Yaquis Indians from their native Sonora, in the northwest of the country, to the state of Yucatán, in the Mexican southeast, which caused the Battle of Mazocoba.
After the Independence of Mexico in 1821, and after the proclamation of the Constitution of 1824, "indigenous peoples lost their special colonial status, and accompanying protections, as wards of the government.
[13] In the words of the researcher Alexandra Haas, "in Mexico, unlike what happens in other countries such as the United States, racism affects a population majority instead of a privileged minority.
According to the results of the first Intergenerational Social Mobility Module, the lighter the skin color, the more opportunities there are to get better paying jobs and managerial positions.
The national discrimination survey conducted by INEGI in 2017 shows that 3 out of 10 respondents believe that the country's indigenous population is poor due to their culture.
With which it can be concluded that in Mexico ethnic origin functions as a social and economic determinant, despite the fact that there is no longer an institution that regulates it.
They are commonly depicted as poor, or backwards, or 'lower' than the rest of the population due to their skin tone, physical features, ways of dressing, language, and their traditions and customs.
[27] 24% of the indigenous population affirms that they have been excluded in social activities; forms of exclusion range from insults and looks of contempt, to threats and shoves.
[36] There is a 2009 book on the topic titled The War Against the Japanese in Mexico (La guerra contra los japoneses en México) by Galindo Sergio Hernández.
In Southern Mexican towns near Belize, where the Afro-Mexican population is larger, there is a general negative attitude towards people of African descent.
[39] Beginning in the late 1800s and continuing into the first decades of the 20th century – before and after the 1910 Revolution – xenophobic resentment towards immigrants manifested itself in different ways in official legislation.
[8] Measures to preserve the ethnic composition of Mexico aimed to curtail an influx of migrants of the "fundamentally different" Western and Chinese peoples.
However, this generated a wave of xenophobic comments, especially through social networks, by Mexicans who disagreed with the empathatic measures that had been taken, arguing things such as "I am not racist but ... first you have to help ours", "there is no work for everyone", "they are not going to cross, they are going to stay and they are only going to bring more violence", and more.
[42] The most extreme xenophobic expressions were made by the Movimiento Nacionalista Mexicano (Mexican Nationalist Movement), a group that linked immigrants with criminals from the Mara Salvatrucha.
[46] There are a number of cases of the "rejection" of white foreigners, yet it is downplayed because they are seen as symbolic representatives of countries Mexico has a colonial or military history with.
