El Tiempo Tranquilo en Zih

I don’t think having elected a “black man” president 190 years ago or an indigenous man president 160 years ago says much about Mexican society today. It would be much more relevant if Mexicans had elected a black president in this century or maybe in the last 50 years. If you google racism in Mexico there are numerous articles indicating that racism exists on a large
scale today in Mexico. The articles and studies show a clear correlation between skin color and the level of education, level of upward mobility, wealth and wages.

Article in Mexico Voices by Jorge Romero Vadillo. “Mexican Racism: Skin Color, Wealth and Power”

Extensive study by Raymundo m. Campos-Vasquez and Eduardo medina-Cortina

I appreciate your intentions, but I don’t need to google or read any studies about racism in Mexico. It is a non-issue in comparison to the States, the latter being where the problem is, not Mexico. I grew up in the racist South. I can spot racism without any erudite explanations. I have spent most of my life living abroad as a racial minority. Never have I been treated in the Caribbean or Mexico as poorly as is common for minorities in the USA. One of the things I do not miss the most about living in the States is being around racists, including the people who tolerate them.

I regret you fail to appreciate the significance of my opening references. I believe too many gringos have a difficult time wrapping their heads around the significance of those facts. Gringos in particular tend to measure Mexico using their own measuring stick, bringing their socio-cultural baggage into the conversation when the fact is Mexico’s history is 180º different. I urge you to read Sentimientos de la Nación, an incredibly humane and revealing document, though not without its archaic parts. The state of Guerrero itself is one where most residents along the coast and other regions share indigenous and African as well as Spanish blood. Even the history of Florida is an eye opener for most Statesiders unaware that it was under the Spaniards a haven for plantation runaways. Even old George Washington and Thomas Jefferson pled with the Spaniards to stop giving haven to the runaways. Eventually Florida was annexed after a war based on lies, an unfortunate yet stubbornly recurring theme in U.S. history.

We aren’t rioting in Mexico against institutionalized racism.