Mexico's Color Line and the Cultural Imperialism of Light-Skin Preference

Truthout’s Public Intellectual Page
By Robeeto Dr. Cintli Rodriguez

The color of the people of Mexico is one of the things that had a most profound effect on my psyche when I first visited the place of my birth in 1976 at the age of 22. The people came in all colors, though primarily different shades of red-brown, owing to the nation's Indigenous roots.

Having grown up in a white-dominant society, it was an affirmation of my own brown skin color, in sharp contrast with the artificial color of official Mexico. I was used to seeing government bureaucrats and those that graced the nation's television screens with light skin, bleached blond hair and artificial blue or green eyes.

The truth is, more than 40 years later, the nation's color line has seemingly not changed much at all. For the rest of the column, go to:  http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/44493-mexico-s-color-line-and-the-cultural-imperialism-of-light-skin-preference

This story on color and color consciousness is linked to the Smiling Brown Project. If you have a story on this topic, please send or contact me at: XColumn@gmail.com

* The original piece was a little longer and I will post a link to the longer article shortly.