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What Mexico does that seems odd to some expats?


AlanMexicali

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Some places in Mexico have a more balanced skin color, many do not. Mexico state has more darker skinned "indigenous blood" people than some places, but there are others. Many from up north may not even notice skin color differences that many here do, to many there dark skin is dark skin.

There are basically 3 groups. White (many light brown people consider themselves white, in the us they would be called brown), mestizo (mixture of white and indigenous) and indigenous. The more mestizo blood the more looked down on. Mexicolindo commented on the peocupacion with handsome politicians and their movie star wifes in another thread. Light skinned is considered handsome, light brown also consider themselves white here.

I am lighter skinned than the wife and kids. The wife and daughter very dark. The son darker than me, probably typical mestizo. He came home from school not long ago talking about darker skinned kids and was acutally upset when I told him he is not white, none of us are. Wh straightened him out, especially the wife and daughter who have experienced more problems. He's in the 3rd grade and really a good boy, just repeating things from school. We have ALWAYS taught him dsifferently, just have to watch when they pick it up elsewhere.

Side note, he goes to the same school enrique pena nieto did.

Racism does exist in the US but it is vastly overblown. By far most are kind and helpful. Far more discrimination on skin color here. It also exists in the heavily immigrant areas there, amongst ourselves. I have been to a number of countries in the service, believe me there is racism everywhere to some extent.

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Some places in Mexico have a more balanced skin color, many do not. Mexico state has more darker skinned "indigenous blood" people than some places, but there are others. Many from up north may not even notice skin color differences that many here do, to many there dark skin is dark skin.

There are basically 3 groups. White (many light brown people consider themselves white, in the us they would be called brown), mestizo (mixture of white and indigenous) and indigenous. The more mestizo blood the more looked down on. Mexicolindo commented on the peocupacion with handsome politicians and their movie star wifes in another thread. Light skinned is considered handsome, light brown also consider themselves white here.

I am lighter skinned than the wife and kids. The wife and daughter very dark. The son darker than me, probably typical mestizo. He came home from school not long ago talking about darker skinned kids and was acutally upset when I told him he is not white, none of us are. Wh straightened him out, especially the wife and daughter who have experienced more problems. He's in the 3rd grade and really a good boy, just repeating things from school. We have ALWAYS taught him dsifferently, just have to watch when they pick it up elsewhere.

Side note, he goes to the same school enrique pena nieto did.

Racism does exist in the US but it is vastly overblown. By far most are kind and helpful. Far more discrimination on skin color here. It also exists in the heavily immigrant areas there, amongst ourselves. I have been to a number of countries in the service, believe me there is racism everywhere to some extent.

I have had more time to digest these types of things in San Diego, Mexicali/TJ and have seen that in these groups of Mexican friends, mostly the ones born in the border cities, so far, are the ones mentioning the differences in tones of the skin as even a subject to discuss and yes in the end I feel the white skinned and moreno claros do have a feeling of being more handsome, in general. In San Luis Potosi, [the city] being a much higher indigenous and mixed groups in all places and jobs, the subject seems to be mute, so far. I have blue eyes and not even anyone casually except a couple of close friends and family of my wife have mentioned how nice they are. In San Diego, Mexicali/TJ they comment on this much more and use the word güero often to describe me, my nickname in Mexicali. The border cities of Mexico near Calif. do have a higher moreno claro and white percentage, and Chinese and Chinese Mexican mix as well, Many hundreds of Chinese stayed after helping to build the All American Canal at the turn of the last century in Mexicali. [great and many Chinese restaurants there]

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I lived in san diego many years, went to us s chool there.

Trust me, it exists in many places here in mexico. Granted, some more than others, but you may may not see it anyway (being from up north). I say that as foreigners are out of the loop most of the time (whether they like to think so or not). One off the wall xample. The small stores in this pueblo get robbed regularly, getting even more in broad daylight. They never make the papers, you have to find out word of mouth. If there were foreigners living here I have no doubt they would never know it is happening.

But, the skin color bias is really obvious in mexico state as there are so many with high indigenous blood. If you expect the police to even bother helping you, if you need it, best to send the lightest skinned person. I'm not kidding. They will think that person is possibly a person of means and "deserves" it. The same in government offices, etc.

Around here just abourt anyone with lighter skin is called guero. A baby is born and if light skinned (especially light eyes) it's "Que guero y bonita/bonito". If dark skinned it's "que prieto".

Even in high immigrant areas in the us, where most come from pueblos all over mexico, it's like that.

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I agree 100% with Toltepecano. It is really sad that mexicans are very racists between ourselves, And is much more notorius on the central estates.

Curiusly the example that he gave happend to me! My oldest sun is light skin, and, as a baby when I took him out anywhere the "best" compliment people on the street, the park etc. told me was: look at the guero, how sweet! And I got like, OK, one of two: or my sun is so ugly that there is not much to say, or people is really racist here (and yes, this was at lakeside).

Or an other example: Once Ximena Navarrete was selected Miss Universe, I heard the comment: wow, she´s the one? she´s pretty "prieta"... Plop!

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I usually try to comment that beauty has nothing to do with skin color, at the least it may make them think. I really have never gotten this line of thought, the sad part is the lighter skinned will get the better opportunities.

I think the best we can do ML is teach our children (and their friends when they are together) that skin color is nothing and hopefully it will spread.

People such as yourself give me hope ML.

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Thanks for posting it ML and it's very sad. Most, if not all, of those from up north are so busy trying to convince themselves of how racist those countries are that they have no clue how this culture is. In reality most of those migrating north, for example where we lived around the food processing areas in nw arkansas, are those experiencing the racism here. In realith it's nothing compared to here.

It needs to be discussed and done away with. We have a great country and people, we do not need this.

Oh, remember when nobody here wanted the dark skinned barbies? It's really sad.

Many of the brown skinned children in the video (and all over) would consider themselves white. They need to be taught to know skin color is not important, it's the only way to change future generations.

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  • 2 weeks later...

It would be interesting to discover what was the color of the adult asking the questions. If the children identified her as white, would their answers have differed if she were black? Perhaps they could not see her? And I am not saying racism does not exist, but the video only tells us that this is an incomplete social experiment. It could well be an example of how children like to give 'right' (i.e. pleasing) answers to adults.

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