Latin American Racism in LA
Racism is not just a problem across groups. It exists within groups as well. Even within minority groups.
Public outrage over Nury Martinez, a Latina L.A. City Councilmember’s, comments about her colleagues’ black son and insensitive remarks about Latino immigrants from Oaxaca, Mexico surfaced long-simmering racial hierarchies within the diverse communities that comprise Latinos in America. Some of these are learned views as Latinos socialize to US race relations. Some spill over from Latin America, where colorism and specifically anti-blackness, plus denigration of indigenous groups has independent force.
Los Angeles is home to the largest Mexican population in the United States, and about half the city’s population is Hispanic. It is also home to the largest Oaxacan community in the country, numbering about 200,000. According to a report in the NY Times, LA is also home to rising migration from indigenous communities in Guatemala and Honduras, many of them driven from coffee farms in part by the effects of climate change.
For broader perspective on the complex intra-racial dynamics in Mexico and Latin America, see LAPORA and Christina A. Sue’s Land of the Cosmic Race. For an argument that Latino racial attitudes reflect anti-blackness within the US, see Efren Perez et al study summarized in the Washington Post.
MHC