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moonraven · Joined: 24 Mar 2004 Posts: 3094

Mexico is a country of "mestizos"--in the majority. Folks with notably African heritage are most common, as was mentioned in this thread, in the states of Veracruz and Guererro. Anyplace that refines sugarcane in the past had a number of slaves from Africa. Here in Morelos, for example, which is a major sugar producer, during the 19th century in the small villages folks were identified as "mulatos" or "negros" if they had African heritage. The treatment one receives has a lot to do with the geographic/social specifics of where you are, as well as how you treat the folks around you. I have been living off and on for more than 10 years in a small village where the majority is indigenous. No other "gringo" has ever lived there. I have always been treated warmly. It's my home.

As for discrimination against African Americans, it's more likely to happen on the part of folks who have spent some time in the US as illegal workers, as many of them feel that African Americans receive better treatment in the US than Mexican people.

Ben Round de Bloc · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Posts: 1946

schely10 · Joined: 05 Apr 2004 Posts: 38 Location: Guadalajara, Mx

Ben,

Thanks for that link! The info was very interesting! One of the areas that I was thinking of exploring was Veracruz!

M@tt · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Posts: 473 Location: here and there

maybe part of the problem is the term black. when i hear/say black, i guess i'm refering to people of african descent, like in the US. there are some really dark mexicans in veracruz who may or may not be of african descent but they don't have the typical features of most blacks in the US. one guy i know is nicknamed "el negro" but he looks very malaysian. in fact i'm sitting here with a friend from veracruz and he says there are very very few black people in the state, mostly in a coastal town called alvaro. a few of my students have also mentioned that to me before.

i was kind of disappointed by all this. i expected more variety, especially more lebanese and caribbean people, but they are not evident.

i never would have counted people that way until i got here and realized what it's like to be in a very small minority. sadly, the effect is generally the opposite of what most black people experience in different coutnries...

the bottom line: come to mexico! you won't have any serious problems. as melee said, just lots of stupid questions which you can take as an educational challenge or simply ignore. (i even get questions about black people sometimes, mostly misconceptions that i have to disagree with)

good luck, hope you make it here.

C76 · Posted: Thu Apr 22, 2004 5:20 pm Post subject:

I know I'm generalizing. But as a black woman who has taught Latinos and has Latino friends...

IMO, Latin Americans aren't likely to be as bigoted as people from other parts of the world.

This opinion is also based on PMs I've gotten, and certain threads on this board. I can think of at least one country where I don't want to teach...Just because of the things I've heard. Confused

@ schely10, I'm glad you started this thread. I think it's important for people to know about the "cultural climate" of places they visit.