LATINOS, AFRO LATINOS AND THE (LATIN) AMERICAN COLOR LINE

Edward Telles, Princeton University

Eastern Sociological SocietyFebruary 28, 2015

DUBOIS (1903) COLOR LINE

[famously]“The problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color-line”

[followed by:] “- the relation of the darker to the lighter races of men in Asia and Africa, in America and the islands of the sea”

Note “color” (continuous) and “the races” (categorical)

Note: global scope

NUMBER OF AFRICANS ENSLAVED AND DISEMBARKED, 1514-1866 BY REGION

Brazil 4,864,000British Caribbean 2,318,000Spanish Americas 1,293,000French Caribbean 1,120,000Dutch America 445,000Mainland North America (U.S.)389,000Other 274,000

TOTAL 9,405,000

Source: Eltis, Slave Voyages Database 2014

DATA

From 2010 National Random Surveys by PERLA

Ten Countries (80% of Latin America)

Two Stages :

1. PERLA Surveys of Brazil, Colombia,

Mexico and Peru in 2. PERLA Ethnicity Module

in 2010 America’s Barometer in

Brazil, Bolivia, Dominican Republic,

Guatemala, Ecuador

Approximately 1000-2500 cases for each

country

1. In interest of unifying nations and distinguishing

themselves from “racist countries,” nation-building elites

made mestizaje central to national identity

2. Mestizo (mixed race person) became prototypical national

3. Indigeneity and especially Blackness Cleansed or Denied

4. Mestizaje and lack of race-based laws used to deny

racism

5. No legal racial segregation or exclusion (except in

Caribbean and Panama) after Abolition

6. Racial Classification: customary and appearance-based

(Not legal- or descent-based like the U.S.)

7. All of Above Lead to Racial Fluidity

BACKGROUND: RACE MIXTURE (MESTIZAJE) IN LATIN AMERICA

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

How Useful Is Self-Identification in Ethnoracial Categories, the Standard Way of Collecting Race/Ethnicity Date, for Predicting Inequality?

What if Use Actual Skin Color, which reflects perspective by others and fine grain distinctions?

How is Ethnoracial Categorization Endogenous, Particular with Respect to Status?

MULTIPLE MEASURES/SYSTEMS OF RACE: CATEGORIES AND COLOR

1. Self-Identification by Ethnoracial Categories

2. Interviewer-Rated Skin Color

SKIN COLOR

Captures Latin American Conceptions of Race

that are

Appearance-Based and Continuous

Rarely Named or Recognized

Captures Fine Grain Distinctions, across and

within Census Ethnoracial Categories like

Mestizo

Measured by Interviewer Using a Color Palette

at Beginning of

Survey

COLOR PALETTE

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 110

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

Bolivia

Indigenous Non-Indigenous

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Brazil

White IndigenousPardo Preto

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Dominican Republic

White IndioMulatto Black

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1105

10152025303540

Colombia

Indigenous Afro None

Ethnic identity and skin color, (1=Lightest, 11=Darkest)

Ethnic identity and skin color, (1=Lightest, 11=Darkest)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1105

1015202530354045

Ecuador

White MestizoIndigenous Afro

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Guatemala

Indigenous Non-Indigenous

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1105

1015202530354045

Mexico

Indigenous Non-Indigenous

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Peru

White MestizoIndigenous Black/Mulatto

YEARS OF SCHOOLING AND ETHNORACIAL IDENTIFICATION

Bolivia Guatemala Mexico Colombia4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12Non-Indig

Non-indig

Non-indig

Non-Indig, non-Afro

Indig

Indig

Indig

Indig Afro

Non-indigenous Indigenous Afro

YEARS OF SCHOOLING AND ETHNORACIAL IDENTIFICATION

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

WhitePardo

Preto

White

Indio

Mulato

Negro

WhiteMestizo

Indig

Afro

White

Mestizo

Indig

Afro

Brazil DR Ecuador Peru

YEARS OF SCHOOLING AND SKIN COLOR

Bolivia

Brazil

Colom

bia

DR

Ecua

dor

Guate

mal

a

Mex

icoPe

ru4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

Light Medium Dark

HOW IS WHITE, BLACK AND MIXED RACE IDENTIFICATION RELATED TO SKIN COLOR?

HOW IS RACIAL SELF-ID RELATED TO STATUS?

CONCLUSIONS

Skin Color Findings Reveal a Consistent Racial Hierarchy in

Quite Distinct Countries

Ethnoracial Identification Findings Less Robust and often not

in Expected Direction

Indigenous People Disadvantaged

Perhaps Color, which is based on outward appearance and

continuous distinctions,

better captures black disadvantage and white advantage

because it better

reflects racial discrimination, which is based on treatment

(by others)

No Evidence of a Color Line

Little Evidence of Money Whitening; More on Money Darkening

Effects of Status Respond to Particular Incentives and Interests

National Dynamics (State Policies, National Narratives and Black

Movements) Shape the Effects of Status on Racial Classification

SOURCES

Telles, Edward and Tianna Paschel. 2014. ”Who is Black, White or Mixed Race? How Skin Color, Status and Nation Shape Racial Classification in Latin America” American Journal of Sociology. 120(3) November

Telles, Edward, René Flores and Fernando Urrea Giraldo. In Press, “Pigmentocracies: Skin Color, Census Ethnoracial Categories and Educational Inequality in Eight Latin American Countries” Research in Social Stratification and Mobility

2014

http://perla.princeton.edu/

THANK YOU