Monday, October 15, 2007

Discrimination in Mexico

Whether differences in the living conditions of various groups of people reflect their attributes or prejudice against them is an abiding topic of discussion. This discussion has been less frequent in Mexico than in either the United States or Brazil. Although skin color is not a unique determinant of voting patterns, it often influences daily behavior and political orientation.

The purpose of this article to is present some indicators of the differences in living conditions among white, light brown, dark brown and indigenous people in Mexico in 2006. The data come from three surveys of the same respondents of how voters intended to vote, carried out by the newspaper Reforma[i]. The respondents’ reported characteristics are almost identical in the surveys; I therefore use data from the first survey in this article.

The first survey was carried out from October 8 to October 16, 2005, when 458 white (güero/piel Blanca), 1164 light brown (Moreno claro), and 765 dark brown (Moreno oscuro) Mexicans provided information about their skin color, education and the socioeconomic status of their dwelling. Smaller categories of skin color (negro, chino, etc.) are not included in this analysis. The living conditions of white, light brown and dark brown Mexicans (Socioeconomic Status, SES) are evaluated both for their housing and for their neighborhood.


The data is interesting. A fascinating profile of a different country's biases within its society.

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