Casta

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For the village in Slovakia see Častá

Casta is a 17th century term used in Spanish America, and refers to the institutionalized system of racial and social stratification and segregation based on a person's heritage. The literal meaning of the word is "lineage", "breed" or "race", which also gave rise to the term "caste".

The main four levels were:

1. Peninsulares: People of Spanish or Portuguese descent born in Spain or Portugal (i.e. from the Iberian Peninsula which led to the name). They were considered so much higher than other castas that many women went back to Spain or Portugal to give birth. They held important jobs in the government, the army, and the Catholic Church, and usually did not live permanently in Latin America. This system was intended to perpetuate the ties of the governing elite to the Spanish and Portuguese crowns.
2. Criollos (loosely Creoles, but that term has many subtleties of meaning): People of European descent but born in Latin America. Many criollos owned mines, ranches, or haciendas and were very wealthy. They occasionally had government jobs, but they were not respected by the peninsulares. The 19th century independentists were mainly Criollos rejecting European supremacy.
3. Mestizos: This eventually in most places became the largest group over time. Mestizos were those having both Native American and European ancestry.
4. Mulatos (Mulattoes): People of mixed European and African descent. They were sometimes made into slaves.
5. "Blacks & Native Americans": People of African or Native American descent were one class below the mestizos & Mulattos. They were treated the worst and frequently made slaves.

Names were also given to mixtures of different castas. A series of pictures called pinturas de castas showed more than a hundred variations. Eventually the system became too complex, and only the main mixes were taken into account.

Other categories included:

Castizo, or person with one mestizo parent and one criollo parent. The children of a castizo and a criollo were classified as criollo.

Cholo, a person with one parent who was Indio (Native American) and the other Mestizo.

Zambo, a person who was mixed Native American and Black.

Each caste had its own set of privileges or restrictions, with the general descending order of precedence being: peninsulares, criollos, castizos, mestizos, cholos, mulatos, amerindians, zambos, and ultimately blacks.

In contrast with the "one drop rule", a white with less than one eighth of Amerindian ancestry was considered white. However, even people with one sixteenth Black ancestry was still either a torna atrás in New Spain or a requinterón in Peru.

While the system was set aside as the spanish colonies got their independence, it left profound scars in modern Latin American societies. In México up until the present day, Mexicans reject the idea of racism but are highly aware of the skin color, associating it with social status. As a result, most role models in TV and media are white.

[edit] Pintura de castas

"De español e india, produce mestizo" (Of a Spanish man and an Amerindian woman, a Mestizo is produced).

"De negro y española, sale mulato" (Of a Negro man and a Spanish woman, a Mulatto is obtained).

"De mestizo e india, sale coiote" (From Mestizo man and Amerindian woman, begotten a Coyote). Coyote is a Mexican synonym for Cholo.

"De negro e india, sale lobo" (Of a black and an Amerindian, produces a Lobo). Lobo is a Mexican synonym for "Zambo."

[edit] References