White Man vs. Native, Pt. 2

In the original post ("White Man vs. Native, Pt. 1"), I omitted one legacy of conquest, colonialism, and white settlement. In  many, perhaps most, places these have left a lasting legacy of racism, discrimination, and oppression.

In Australia, the aboriginal peoples are considered "black" and have faced discrimination much as have blacks in America.

In New Zealand, the native people (the Maori) were driven off their land, forbidden to speak their language, etc., with the effect of virtually destroying their culture. Sadly this is a very common pattern.

In Guatemala the indigenous Maya Indians have been disproportionately killed during civil war, even to the point of genocide.

In Peru and/or Equador the Indians have been held to the bottom of the social scale and have even been virtually enslaved. In the 16th century, King Phillip II of Spain ordered that the American natives not be enslaved, but that order was widely ignored, and that has left a legacy that has not been wiped out in 450 years.

In Mexico, where a majority of the population are mestizo—having mixed Indian and European blood—it's been the people of lighter complexion—that is, having pure or more pure European blood—who have been higher on the economic and social scale. I asked a professor who had lived in Mexico if there was racism or discrimination based on skin color in Mexico and he said "not since the Revolution [in 1920]," but I am very doubtful that it ended suddenly or finally as he claims. I think indigenous people in Mexico ("indios") are still very low on the social scale.

Updated June 21, 2013.


Copyright (c) 2013 by Richard Stein