Job Discussion Forums

[Phil_K]

[FreddyM]

Plain and simple summary of what tsalinger was saying....."white" people (especially foreginers) seem to either not perceive racism in Mexico or dismiss it as trivial quite simply because they don't experience it first-hand. Of course they don't experience much discrimination in a culture that is heavily malinchista (favoring the foreign) and biased towards preferring "whiteness" from the Spanish ancestry. Non-whites however know firsthand the heavy racism and discriminatory practices that occur on a daily basis and that DO have very real consequences in life chances and opportunities. Of course Mexico is a racist country (as are most countries in the world), the mestizo background of the population, including within families, complicates how this is exercised. Same as in Brazil. It's not the same as it happens in the United States, or any other country. But it's still racism nonetheless.

The fact that most people don't understand this is not...surprising. Unfortunately.

[Guy Courchesne]

[Guy Courchesne]

Total aside here and I don't mean to derail the topic in any way, but congratulations to my American friends. Today Mississippi became the last and 50th state to ratify the 13th amendment to the constitution which outlaws slavery as per the emancipation proclamation, some 150 years ago.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/mississippi-finally-ratifies-slavery-ban-article-1.1267133

[MotherF]

Guy,
I'm not quit sure what you are trying to say. But tsalinger was also less than clear in his posts--maybe the topic makes him emotional. And yes, I'm as white as they come--pure WASP as we say in the US. But I agree whole heatedly with Freddy's response to this.

[Isla Guapa]

I'm a rather pale American woman. In some ways I don't really like, my skin color gives me advantages, especially when dating Mexican men, many of whom seem to prefer "white women". On the other hand, being Jewish has sometimes brought me face to face with prejudice in the form of anti-Semitism, both in the States and in Mexico.

Regarding racism among Mexicans, I'll never forget a chat I had with a nice older Mexican woman some years ago, while we were traveling on a third-class bus to Texcoco, where I lived in the late 1970s. Of course, she asked me where I was from. Then she told me a niece of hers had married an American man. She didn't understand why a tall white handsome American had married her niece, since she was so "fea" (her exact word). I said something about how I was sure her niece was not really "ugly". She responded that she was "morena", so how could her husband find her attractive. To me this true anecdote says a lot about the nature of Mexican racism, even within families. How sad . . .

[Guy Courchesne]

[raulyn]

I wish this post was available earlier. I work for one of schools mentioned above. The staff and admin are very nice. I love my bosses, but the students are the worst I have ever taught. I have heard stories of students bragging about teachers they have had fired and I replaced a teacher that was unduly fired because some students lied about her. These ill-mannered, over-privileged children rule the roost and they know it. There is no real punishment for them. I won't say which school it is, because I still work there. Yet, I will say it is a private school for a very specific community.

[AbeCross]

For teachers in the southern part of the country, add this cowboy school to the list.