Who is black, white, or mixed race? How skin color, status, and nation shape racial classification in Latin America |
American Journal of Sociology
Volume 120, Number 3 (November 2014)
pages 864-907
DOI: 10.1086/679252
Edward Telles, Distinguished Professor of Sociology
University of California, Irvine
Tianna Paschel, Associate Professor of Sociology and African American Studies
University of California, Berkeley
Comparative research on racial classification has often turned to Latin America, where race is thought to be particularly fluid. Using nationally representative data from the 2010 and 2012 America’s Barometer survey, the authors examine patterns of self-identification in four countries. National differences in the relation between skin color, socioeconomic status, and race were found. Skin color predicts race closely in Panama but loosely in the Dominican Republic. Moreover, despite the dominant belief that money whitens, the authors discover that status polarizes (Brazil), mestizoizes (Colombia), darkens (Dominican Republic), or has no effect (Panama). The results show that race is both physical and cultural, with country variations in racial schema that reflect specific historical and political trajectories.
Read or purchase the article here.
Tags: American Journal of Sociology, AmericasBarometer, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Edward Telles, Panama, Tianna Paschel