Researcher ORCID Identifier
https://orcid.org/0009-0009-1028-9112
Graduation Year
2025
Date of Submission
12-2024
Document Type
Open Access Senior Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
Philosophy
Reader 1
Briana Toole
Terms of Use & License Information
Rights Information
@2025 Michelle Garcia
Abstract
Different from the United States, racial-mixing was permissible in Latin America throughout its history. Furthermore, race-mixing has been cemented into the national identities of LatAm states through Mestizaje, thus painting these states as racial democracies. This thesis examines the construction and maintenance of Mestizaje as a myth and sign for racial democracies as well as the racial disconnect created within those in “Mestizo” nations. This thesis contributes to existing literature by utilizing Mexico and Brazil due to their different socio-historical contexts. They will serve as case studies to evaluate the mechanisms that allow this myth to persevere. First, I will explain a brief history of Mestizaje in each of these countries beginning with the Spanish and ending with Mestizaje as a tool for nation building. Next, utilizing analytical philosophy, I will explain how Mestizaje operates as a myth and its function. I will argue that the myth of Mestizaje provides avenues for the denial of responsibility when racist acts occur. I argue that Mestizaje legitimizes the inclusion of White latinos and exclusion of Indigenous, Black, and darker skinned Latinos as natural and coincidental. In fact, I argue that the myth of Mestizaje harms individuals within nations that adhere to this myth by creating hermeneutical injustice–depriving the individuals of the framework and concepts to describe their marginalization. The upholding of Mestizaje is dangerous and incredibly harmful as it obscures the white supremacy integrated within LatAm countries; thus, preventing vulnerable communities within these states from receiving the rights and resources they require.
Recommended Citation
Garcia, Michelle, "We Are All Mestiz(ç)os: An Exploration and Deconstruction of The Myth of Mestizaje/Mestiçagem in Mexico and Brazil" (2025). CMC Senior Theses. 3837.
https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses/3837
