Alan! BourbonBoy! I got a question.
 

Is colorism a thing for you?

I experience it, but in the opposite direction most times. In Mexico the lighter you are the more opportunities you have, despite the fact that we don't distinguish between shades. We're all proud mestizos but how convenient that the whiter ones are the businessmen and politicians.
In the United States most people don't think I'm Mexican unless they know my last name or until they hear me speak. Then they'll say something like "oh, you don't look Mexican at all!"
...thanks?

That last one pisses me off, but I'm lucky that that's about the extent of it. That said, El Paso is 80% hispanic, so let's see how different it becomes when I move to a northern city.

That's kind of one of the reasons I ask.

Like, black people in the U.S. experience it within their communities but I'm not sure it's the same for us as it is elsewhere. To name a few things, our media, education, entertainment, are dominated by white representation, and we have a lot of eurocentric attitudes and values that got picked up from slavery and even those are expressed differently across gender. Among women, there is a lot of animosity because of the influence on perceptions of beauty. The "good hair," the "good skin," ect. It's evident and tangible and it creates a lot of anxiety for the women with darker skin or more afro phenotype characteristics and identity problems among those black women with lighter skin.

I was wondering about how you see it as a male and between Mexico and the U.S. From my understanding, it's a big deal in a lot of places influenced by imperialism and I wanted to compare to places where communities that experience it are made up of the minority.

I don't mind, but I meant to specifically talk about colorism within communities of people of color. I think when white people get involved (in the situation) it's not really colorism anymore.

Then it comes back again to the fact that in Mexico the lighter you are the more opportunities you have.
Interestingly, I feel that in El Paso color matters less than in Juarez. But only because there's a proxy: how American you sound.

Are there steriotypes associated with skin tone in Juarez? You said that you didn't distinguish between shades in Mexico so I'm wondering where the representation of lighter skin tones comes from.

Like, as an example, in black communities, men look at men with lighter skin as less masculine or weak. Some places, it's like walking around with a target on your chest, sort of like a tourist to a con. On the same side, men with dark skin are assumed to be more violent or aggressive by men with lighter skin. There is a different prejudice for men with women, too. Again, they are attitudes that have been adopted.

Regarding your original question where I live Versus, the Texican community (the ones who can trace their roots to Texas when it was still a part of Mexico) tends to practice it without any knowledge of doing so. From my own experience, I can range from very pale olive toned to very tan and strangely enough, I tend to catch more crap in the summer from authority figures (doesn't matter from which ethnic group) when I'm at my darkest, yet when I'm pale, white people act less guarded when I pass them on the street.

I've observed the same behavior in my community, where women try to treat their hair (often disastrously bleached or straightened) and unconsciously attempt to make themselves appear paler. On the other hand the ones who have some white ancestry (occasional green or blue eyes, red or dark auburn hair) try hide it out of peer pressure. For the males, the darker the skin the more manly they're perceived.

colorism ! What a world

That's interesting... I'm white as can be - fair skin, lighter hair, blue eyes. But the moment people learn my last name, they go from seeing a white guy to seeing a Mexican. Granted, that's more predominant here in SoCal, but still, I find it interesting to note how something as simple as a name can color one's perceptions more than what their own eyes do.

Oh, hey. I totally forgot I was going to say something to you. :x Sorry for the wait.

White person with you = instant credibility. Just saying.

You mentioned peer pressure. What do you mean? Do people in your community fight about it too?

Growing up, yeah it was fought over. There were those who felt you should act as a Mexican acts, who was hard working, willingly serve in the military, be fluent in your "native language" (a term I still find laughable honestly) and have a large family as the Pope had decreed.

The opposite end of the spectrum were my grandparents, whose attitude was, "we're Americans and if you don't learn Spanish, fine but don't be upset when people talk about you in another language and you can't talk back to them." Hard work and military service were still highly valued, but now so was getting an education and "not just being a ditch digger or serving the wedo's from up North on vacation." In terms of family, a kid or two was now preferred compared to having up to six or seven of them.

My mom's parents were of the latter thinking after having six kids and my grandfather being in the military for nearly thirty years. While at first my grandfather wasn't happy with my mom marrying a white guy all it took was an afternoon drinking beer at the local bar and they were pretty close after that. Growing up, those who weren't my mom's immediate family never cared, were polite not to discuss things in Spanish around my sister and I (if they did speak any Spanish that is) and threw a going away party the weekend I left for Basic, with many of my parent's generation viewing it as a right of passage to be in the military.

Are you using color and culture to mean the same thing (which is cool, i get you if you are, but i wanna be sure) or am I missing what you're saying?

Yeah, where I live color pretty much equals culture.

I gotcha. "More Mexican" and "More American." Gimme a little and I'll give you a meaningful response. XD

To me the whole issue of race should be a moot point. We're all human beings no matter where our ancestors came from or with whom they fucked.