Differences in Perceived Discrimination Among Latinos: National-Origin vs. Skin Tone

• In Event: 4412 - Section on Latino/a Sociology Refereed Roundtable Session
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 04. Latina/o/xs, Racism, and Colorism

Abstract

Prior to the 1960s, people of Latin American-origin were classified by the U.S. government as white. However, in an effort to gain political representation, activists began demanding that Latinos be counted separately from the non-Latino white population. The Census ultimately acquiesced with the creation of the Hispanic panethnic category. Scholars have argued, however, panethnicity masks cleavages among subgroups of people, making it difficult to capture intra-category differences, which may bear weight on respective positionality in the ethnoracial hierarchy. Using data from the Immigration and Intergenerational Mobility in Metropolitan Los Angeles Study (IIMMLA), this research asks, along what dimensions do perceptions of discrimination among Latino panethnics differ. Both perceptions of discrimination from any source and perceptions of within-group discrimination are considered. The findings suggest that while national-origin does not appear to affect either measure of perceived discrimination among the children and grandchildren of Latino immigrants, skin tone appears to have a pronounced and surprising effect. While darker-skinned panethnics perceived higher levels of discrimination from any source, lighter-skinned Latinos perceived higher levels of within-group discrimination.

Author

• Sara Ivethe Villalta, University of California-Irvine