Race

Latin America

Race is a highly variable construct in Latin America, where racial ideas typically refer to “blacks” (Africans brought to the region as slaves and their descendants), “whites” (European colonists who conquered and settled the region and their descendants), and “Indians” (the indigenous population that inhabited the region before European conquest). A key feature of race in Latin America is the idea of mestizaje or mestiƈagem (“mixture” in Spanish and Portuguese, respectively), which refers to the biological and cultural blending that has taken place among these three populations. ... (90 of 16,589 words)