Describe the social construction of Mexican population along the color gradient and its impact on society

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

A color gradient is the placement of people on a continuum from light to dark skin color rather than in distinct racial groupings by skin color. This is an example of the social construction of race, in which social class is linked to the social reality (or at least the appearance) of racial purity. An interesting result of the color gradient and a mestizo class is the belief that racism cannot exist in a racially mixed society, which is not true.

At the top of this gradient or hierarchy are the criollos, the 10 percent of the population who are typically White, well-educated members of the business and intellectual elites with familial roots in Spain. In the middle is the large impoverished mestizo majority, most of whom have brown skin and a mixed racial lineage as a result of intermarriage. At the bottom of the color gradient are the destitute Mexican Indians and a small number of Blacks, some of them the descendants of 200,000 African slaves brought to Mexico. The relatively small Black Mexican community received national attention in 2005 and 2006 following a series of racist events that received media attention. Ironically, although this color gradient is an important part of day-to-day life—enough so that some Mexicans use hair dyes, skin lighteners, and blue or green contact lenses to appear more European—nearly all Mexicans are considered part Mexican Indian because of centuries of intermarriage.