Latinos and Race Midterm Exam Study Guide

Mestizaje

The mixing of 'races'. A racial ideology that privileges race mixing and serves as the central organizing framework for understanding race in Latin America.

Eugenics

A theory of 'racial improvement' and 'planned breeding' that gained popularity during the early 20th century, believing that human beings could be perfected through genetics and heredity.

1924 Immigration Act

An example of the impact of eugenics on policy, which barred entry for all immigrants from Asia and very few immigrants from anywhere outside of Western Europe.

Vasconcelos' thesis in 'La Raza Cósmica'

A challenge to the view of Mexico and Latin America as lesser than the U.S. due to its high racial diversity, arguing that European colonialism served as a bridge between the world's four 'races': 'the Black, the Indian, the Mongol, and the White'.

Roth's definition of race

Race is understood as a cognitive structure that divides people into hierarchically ordered categories based on certain physical or biological characteristics believed to be inherent.

Cognitive

Relating to the mental process involved in knowing, learning, and understanding things.

Racial schema

A set of categories and ways of thinking about race that reflects the nation's official classification system.

Racial Identity

A person's subjective self-identification, not limited to pre-set options, usually measured with an open-ended question.

Observed Race

Appearance-based observed race is based solely on how you look, while interaction-based observed race includes how you look plus other details revealed through interaction.

Racial essentialism

The belief that racial groups form discrete genetic categories and that individuals of the same racial category are biogenetically similar.

Reflected Race

An individual's belief of how others classify them, focusing on how someone's racial identity is shaped by the perceptions of others.

Phenotype

Aspects of your appearance that are socially understood as relevant to racial classification, including skin color, hair color and texture, nose shape, lip shape, and eye color.

Skin color

The primary aspect used to classify a person's race.

Self-reported skin color

Might be a better predictor of measures such as perceived discrimination than interviewer-reported skin color.

Voting patterns

Outcomes related to people's internal self-identification that can be studied through racial identity.

Residential decision-making

An outcome related to people's internal self-identification that can be studied through racial identity.

Attitudes

Outcomes related to people's internal self-identification that can be studied through racial identity.

Interaction-based observed race

Observed race that includes how you look plus other details revealed through interaction, such as your accent, name, and comments about background.

Appearance-based observed race

Observed race based solely on how you look.

What race do most people think you are?

A question that can measure reflected race.

Street race

Similar concept to reflected race, focusing on how others classify an individual.

Racial Ancestry

Important in the U.S. because ancestry was used to determine who counted as Black and Native American.

Phenotype

People rely on phenotype to classify a person racially, because they think it reveals an ancestral lineage.

Racial Mixing

This differs in Latin America, though, where features tend to be more individualized due to a longer history of racial mixing.

Assimilation

Helpful for studying assimilation and racial boundary crossing.

Family Ancestral Lineage

Complicated by lack of knowledge of family ancestral lineage.

Street Race

Street race = how other 'Americans' perceive your race at the level of the street.

Socially Assigned Race

Socially assigned race or ascribed race = how you believe others usually classify your race in the U.S.

Self-Perceived Race

Self-perceived race = how you usually self-classify your race on questionnaires.

Colonial Period in New Spain

She examines the colonial period in New Spain (present-day Mexico).

Proof of Spanish-ness

Statements that read your social (not physical) body through your personality, judgment, lineage, and circumstances.

Limpieza de Sangre

People would apply for certificates of 'limpieza de sangre' (cleanliness of blood) to be recorded as 'Spanish' in the colonies.

Nature of Race in New Spain

That 'race' was not only about physical traits, but about other metrics like spaces you frequented, clothing and jewelry, and manner of speaking.

Castas Paintings

Castas paintings were produced from 1720s-early 1800s.

Calidades

Classified people by 'calidades' and class.

Generaciones

One series from 1725 was formatted to show three distinct generaciones or lineages.

Context of Columbus' Journeys

In Spain at this time the Reconquista, and Spanish Inquisition had just passed after the Spanish defeated the Moors.

Unified Kingdom of Spain

The Unified Kingdom of Spain desired a new trade route to India to attain spices without having to go through the Ottoman Empire.

Motivation for Exploration

The Spanish were motivated to expand and explore so as to spread the Catholic faith as well as exploit the perceived plenty of natural resources in the new world.

Objectification of Indigenous Peoples

One example of this objectification was how objects of nature (trees, birds) were listed in the same sentence as Indians as if they were all equally the same.

Noble Savages and Dirty Dogs

Columbus framed natives as both 'noble savages' and 'dirty dogs' that could/should be enslaved.

Human Alterity

The concept that human differences are both revealed and rejected, as discussed by Todorov in the context of the discovery of America.

Columbus's View of Natives

Columbus viewed the Natives either as docile beings to be assimilated into Christianity or as savages to be punished and enslaved.

Assimilation

The process by which Columbus hoped to integrate indigenous people into Spanish culture, initially viewing them as potential members of a thriving society.

Enslavement

The justification Columbus and his men used to treat indigenous people as less than human, allowing for their enslavement.

Tension between Assimilation and Enslavement

Columbus viewed indigenous people either as identical, requiring conversion to Christianity, or as inferior, justifying their enslavement.

Real Cédula de Gracias

An 1815 decree that framed Puerto Rico as peaceful and docile while increasing the white population by offering 'graces' to European migrants.

Impact of Real Cédula de Gracias

The decree also led to an increase in the enslaved population, as newcomers brought enslaved individuals with them or purchased them.

Fungible Commodity

A term describing a product or commodity that is replaceable by another identical item; in this context, it refers to the interchangeable nature of Black bodies.

Dehumanization of the Enslaved

The lack of individuality granted to enslaved Black bodies, exemplified by the sale of a sugar plantation listing '22 blacks of all kinds.'

Emotions concerning Enslaved Violence

Colonial authorities expressed empathy for slaveowners while fearing the potential for violence from enslaved Black people.

Columbus's Changing Outlook

Columbus's initial hope for assimilation shifted to a more cynical view, seeing indigenous people primarily as slaves.

Spanish Monarchs' View

The Spanish monarchs viewed indigenous people not as equals but as 'vassals' to pay taxes to Spain.

Curiosity vs. Inferiority

The indigenous people were seen as different, generating curiosity, but this difference also led to their perception as inferior or savage.

Willingness to Adapt

The classification of indigenous people as identical or inferior depended on their willingness to adapt to Spanish practices.

Ambiguity in Discovery

The duality of revealing and rejecting human differences in the context of Columbus's journeys and the discovery of America.

Colonial Control of Blackness

The examination of early 19th-century emotions concerning Blackness and the social control of Black people in colonial Puerto Rico.

Fear of Runaway Slaves

Instructions given to slaveowners to remain armed and consider solutions to the problem of runaway slaves.

Emotional History

The exploration of the emotional landscape surrounding anti-Blackness in early 19th-century Puerto Rico.

Colonial Authorities' Empathy

The expression of empathy for slaveowners, highlighting their fears regarding the potential violence of enslaved Black people.

Cynical View of Natives

Columbus's evolving perspective, where he ultimately deemed indigenous people as only worth that of slaves.

Indigenous Americans' Identity

The lack of recognition for indigenous Americans as simply different, not identical or inferior, but as people with different faiths and practices.

Garrote vil

The death penalty method usually employed for punishment.

Black Code

Also known as the 'Code against the African Race' (1848), it mandated specific punishments for crimes committed by afro-descendants.

War Tribunal

The military court where any crime committed by an afro-descendant was to be tried.

Punishment for armed resistance

Slaves who took arms against white people would be shot to death, while free Black people would have an arm cut off or be shot to death, pending the gravity of the offense.

Punishment for insulting a white person

Slaves who insulted a white person would be sentenced to 5 years of prison time, while free individuals would be punished according to the gravity of the insult.

Slaveowner's rights

Slaveowners had the right to murder with impunity any slave in their possession who revolted against them.

Abolition of Slavery

The act of abolishing slavery in Puerto Rico in 1873, seen as a way of modernizing the territory.

Politics of gratitude

A strategy used to ensure that formerly enslaved Puerto Ricans appeared grateful and morally indebted to their liberators.

Paternal abolitionist freer

The role adopted by liberal reformists as intermediaries between the working class and colonial powers.

Liberal reformists

Individuals who pushed for Puerto Rico's autonomy from Spain while maintaining a racial and gendered hierarchy.

Working class and artisans

Mostly composed of the newly freed Black population and those of mixed African and Spanish ancestry.

Neoliberalism

A set of market-oriented reforms meant to correct or eliminate the 'flawed economic policies' of Import Substitution Industrialization (ISI) and state-driven economic development.

Neoliberal political approach

An approach favoring free-market capitalism, deregulation, and reduction in government spending.

Shift in economic focus

The turning away from large-scale agriculture toward free-trade-zone manufacturing, financial services, commerce, tourism, and environmental management.

Multiculturalism

The presence of, or support for the presence of, several distinct cultural or ethnic groups within a society.

Neoliberal Multiculturalism

A term emphasizing the integral relationship between cultural rights and neoliberal political economic reforms.

Awas Tingni Case

Landmark case of the Mayagna (indigenous) community of Awas Tingni against the Nicaraguan state.

Communal Lands

Rights to lands that are collectively owned by a community, as opposed to individual ownership.

American Convention on Human Rights

A regional human rights instrument that guarantees protection of property rights.

Culturally Sanctioned Occupation

Understanding property not as a legal title but as a form of occupation recognized by cultural norms.

Ancestrality

The reliance on historical and cultural ties to land as a basis for property rights.

James Anaya

Lead lawyer on behalf of the Awas Tingni community who emphasized the recognition of indigenous rights.

Neoliberal Development Institutions

Organizations that promote neoliberal policies which may impact the internal affairs of indigenous communities.

Black and Native Land Rights Struggles

Efforts by indigenous and black communities in Honduras and Nicaragua to secure land rights.

World Bank (WB)

An international financial institution that has committed to recognizing indigenous cultural, political, and economic rights.

Land Demarcation Projects

Initiatives funded by the World Bank to map out land claims of black and indigenous communities.

Multicultural Mandates

New policies that require states to recognize and accommodate the rights of diverse cultural groups.

Collective Land Rights

Rights that allow communities to claim ownership and management of land collectively.

Neoliberalism

An economic approach that promotes free-market capitalism and may influence land rights and community dynamics.

Maya Movement

A social movement advocating for the rights and recognition of Maya people in Guatemala.

Ladinos

Members of the dominant culture in Guatemala, typically of mixed European and indigenous ancestry.

Cultural Equality

The principle that all cultures should be recognized and valued equally.

Racial Hierarchy

A social structure that ranks different races in a hierarchy, often privileging one over others.

Multicultural Constitution

A constitutional framework that recognizes and grants rights to multiple cultural groups within a nation.

Autonomy and Land Rights

Legal recognition of self-governance and ownership of land for indigenous and black populations.

Radical Actors

Individuals or groups within a movement that advocate for extreme changes or actions.

Development with Identity

An approach to development that respects and incorporates the cultural identities of indigenous peoples.

Recognition vs. Compliance

The tension between gaining acknowledgment of rights and the potential requirement to conform to state demands.