The Casta System

The racist U.S. government reinforced the powerlessness of slaves by denying their ties to both biological and nonbiological relatives and refusing to recognize civil unions of slaves as marriage. In colonial Peru, O’Toole points out that African slaves also received everyday abuse in the fields and masters’ residences yet socially impacted colonialism by joining the Catholic church, which counted them as Christians by canon law with Spanish subjects, therefore allowing them to marry each other and baptize their children. Moreover, racial mixture permeated casta boundaries in the northern port city of Trujillo, where the clerics of the indigenous parishes of Santa Ana and San Sebastian defended their right to marry indigenous people with mixed-race and black

Casta paintings were used to show different ranks in race and status. Most would think since the Creoles were high on the hierarchy there would be no purpose of creoles revolting. However problems ran deeper than hierarchical status, the Creoles did not have a voice that one would think they had. There are three main reasons as to why the Creoles led the for Latin American Independence is because they wanted control over politics, social status, and economics. Politically, Peninsulares monopolized all administrative positions since the Creoles were Americans by birth and Europeans by law which made their position complicated.

In _The White Scourge_, Neil Foley uses a wealth of archival materials and oral histories to illuminate the construction and reconstruction of whiteness and the connection of this whiteness to power. Focusing largely on cotton culture in central Texas, Foley 's book deconstructs whiteness through a new and detailed analysis of race, class, and gender. The most intriguing aspect of this book is its comparison of the impact of whiteness on various ethno-racial classes and how each struggled in relation to the other to develop a meaningful existence. _

Racial differentiation has been formed throughout history to create and reinforce structures of power. The British as well as the United States have implemented laws to stop others from reining on their hierarchy of power. In the late nineteenth century really hits on this idea, not only on immigration laws but also the impression of prostitution and Venereal Disease. According to the book, “Race Over Empire: Racism and U.S. Imperialism, 1865-1900,” by Eric T. Love, talks about how race has moved, shaped, and inspired the late-nineteenth-century U.S. Imperialism.

In Chapter 2, the author deals with early forms of categorization. During the years of Spanish and Portuguese colonial rule in Latin America, these two empires, believe that it is crucial to have ethno racial classification for each colony. The reason is because it helps these empires to exploit

In the midst of discrimination, trying to pass as white or appear more anglicized may be the difference between prosperity and hardship. Furthermore, it is sociologically proven that when one is part of an environment for long enough, one starts to bend to that environment, and this can be applied to Moraga’s family. There are other motivations to want to pass closer to the status quo, and while it may be a need for superiority in comparison to other people of color, it may also be an effort to hide one’s color completely. A little over halfway through “We’re All in the Same Boat” Moraga quotes: I carry a shell / a white and crisp voiced shell to hide my brown golden soft Spanish voiced inner self / to pass / to hide my puertoricanness” (88). Morales isn’t

By winning independence from Spain, many creoles thought that they could achieve power over Latin America. The Peninsulares who were all-Spanish were hated by the Creoles. The Peninsulares “monopolized all administrative positions(Doc B)”, making it impossible for the Creoles to rule the country that they were born in. The Creoles felt that they were the best fit for

In the struggle for Latin America Independence, the peninsulares who were born in Spain and had major power of Latin America. The Creoles who were born in Latin America, but with the ancestry of the Peninsulares, had lower power than the Peninsulares. Why did the Creoles, which were dense populated and most were officers at the time lead the revolution? The Creoles lead the revolution because the Creoles had a massive economic issue as well as a fight for political power against the Peninsulares and the issues of the social classes.

This created new social and class structures as “Spanishness” began to determine wealth and prosperity. Tejanos and Mestizos found themselves at the lower end of this class structure. The Tejanos would continue to struggle to survive as farmers and

It is common knowledge that the United States and Latin America can be compared to one another on many scales. Several Latin American countries are currently in an ongoing transition from authoritarian regimes to democracy. Although, the United States is seen as the idea democracy, in which others shall transition towards, it is healthy to apply strict scrutiny. It is also healthy to acknowledge that due to the transatlantic slave trade, many Latin American countries were built upon the same slavery tactics that the United States were. This caused displacement of dark skinned Africans throughout the region.

In Latin American Revolution before the revolution there were four main social classes; on the bottom there were the slaves and the Indians, then there were the Mulattoes (who were of African and Spanish descent) and the Mestizos (who were of Spanish and Native American descent), then the Creoles (who were of pure Spanish blood, but were born in America), and at the very top there were the Peninsulares (they were of pure Spanish descent and were born in Spain). The Creoles lead the fight against Spain because they wanted higher social status within their own lives, more political control over their own lives, and they were tired of Spain having total control over their economy. The Creoles weren 't allowed to do many things simply because they were born in America and not Spain, it didn’t matter that they were of pure European descent. Creoles were not allowed to hold political positions, only the Peninsulares were able to. For example, in 1807 only 12 of the 199 judgeships were held by Creoles, the rest were held by Peninsulares.

From initial contact in the 1500s to early 20th century, indigenous people stayed in the bottom sector of the racial hierarchy. The Spanish instituted indigenous peoples into the bottom of their racial hierarchy because they were seen as uncivilized due to their culture and skin tones. The more advanced racial hierarchy from the United States will have a lasting effect on Central America and the Caribbean. In some cases, enslaved Africans from the West Indies will be introduced as labor competition to the indigenous people, further advancing the racial hierarchy. New phenomenons to coloniality will only strengthen its hold on Central America and the Caribbean, continuing

The Spanish Marcus or the Indian Marcus?” Now there’s the whole saying where people argue, “Oh well, I don’t see color.” But the human race as a society, changes their opinion of a person once knowing their race or cultural history. This stereotypical point of view that we see people in bleeds into many parts of society including government, business and academics. How a person is brought up and how they are treated in

Lima, Peru is very diverse, but the description mostly focused on the whites, or Spaniards, and their nobility; consequently, the two authors keep bringing up how these people were decedents of Spain. The authors were born in Spain possibly contributing to them speaking so highly of the subject. They then write about how the kings of Spain applauded a family who had Incan lineage, possibly to keep a good relation with them because the Spanish did conquer the Incan Empire two hundred years prior. The excerpt forms a positive and superior view of Spanish decedents. In turn, that makes some of the people of Lima a superior race in the eyes of Spaniards attributing to the theory of a superior race and racism, a problem that still exists today (3).

Coloniality of power is a concept/phrase originally coined by Anibal Quijano. The concept itself refers to interconnecting the practices and legacies of European colonialism in social orders and forms of knowledge. More specifically, it describes the lasting legacy of colonialism within modern society in the form of social and racial discrimination that has been incorporated into today’s social orders. Furthermore, it identifies the racial, political and social hierarchies enforced by European colonialists in Latin America that gave value to certain people while marginalizing others. Quijano’s main argument is based around the notion that the colonial structure of power created a class system, where Spaniards and other light skinned ethnicities