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Colorism in Latin America is an issue that plagues the community, particularly in Mexico. The cultural and economic contributions of Afro-Mexicans are under-appreciated because of the discrimination based on skin tone. Colorism, or skin color stratification, is a process that privileges light-skinned people of color over dark in areas such as income, education, housing, and the marriage market. 

Between 1576 and 1650, 200,00 to 250,000 Africans were brought as slaves to Mexico. The Africans slaves mixed with the native population and created a racial mix. After Mexico’s independence, there was procreation between the indigenous people and the Spanish. The procreation between the Africans and Mexicans is far less recognized than the ethnic makeup resulting from the procreation between the Spanish and Mexican.

Statistics

Mexico’s national statistics institute, Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía (INEGI), carried out the Encuesta Intercensal 2015 survey and found that there are approximately 1.38 million Afro-descendants, who represent 1.2 percent of the population. The survey determined that number by asking subjects if they identified as “black,” which the survey said meant “Afro-Mexicans” or “Afro-descendants.” The concept of “black” was included because it is the term that the population uses most to describe themselves, said director of conceptual design Roberto Jesús Ruiz Ramírez, during a video interview from INEGI headquarters in the state of Aguascalientes. Many respondents were not aware of how to identify an Afro-descendant. Some people thought the survey was referring to another country.

In the United States, according to the 2010 census, Black Hispanics account for 2.5 percent of the 54 million hispanics in the United States. Scholars and political organizations have complained saying those numbers are inaccurate and signed petitions for a new racial category of Afro-Latinos.

Colorism in Mexico Today

Afro-Mexicans are still unrecognized in Mexico. They face daily racism and are treated as outcasts from society. According to an article on the seattleglobalist.com by senior reporter Maya Sanchez et al., In Cuernavaca, Mexico, people of black African descent make up a significant minority in group in Mexico, yet some Mexicans report that their society does not acknowledge this fact. 81-year-old  Luz Maria Martinez, who lives in Cuernavaca, is a specialist in African Languages and culture and works to promote the recognition of Afro-descendants in Mexico. She points out that nobody wants to claim the relationship between their black descendants. She remembers that as a 9-year-old, there were people in her family who were dark skinned and did not identify as descendants of Africans.

Dark skin Mexicans still remain at the bottom of the social ladder. CNN states “on television, in politics and in academia, you see light-skinned people. On construction sites, in police forces and in restaurant kitchens, you're more likely to find those who are dark-skinned. In the priciest neighborhoods, the homeowners have light skin, and the housekeepers are dark. Everyone knows this, and yet no one talks about it, at least not in elite circles.”

In the study Racial Identitiy and Racial Treatment of Mexican Americans, researchers Vilma Ortiz and Edward Telles explores how racial barriers play a role in the lives of Mexican Americans by looking at how social interactions, education, racial characteristics, etc. relate to social outcomes. They found that darker Mexican Americans report more experiences of discrimination, darker men report a lot more discrimination than lighter men and than women overall. The study also found that more educated Mexicans reported more discrimination and stereotyping than the less educated Mexicans due to their greater contact with Whites.

Colorism in Telenova Castings

True Mexican images are not portrayed in novelas, as lighter skinned Mexicans with light skin, light eyes and light hair are used misleadingly to portray the general typical population of Mexicans. Dark skin Hispanics are under represented, and when portrayed, they are typically casted in roles that diminish their value.

Controversies

Venezuelan talk show host Rodner Figueroa was fired from Univision for publicly stating that Michelle Obama "looks like a character from the movie "Planet of The Apes."