Who Looks White Now? Reassessing Latine Whitening Amid Diversifying Regional Origins

• In Event: Latina/o Sociology Section Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Roundtable 6: Race, Ethnoracial Formation, and Boundary Making

Abstract

Latinos have historically occupied an ambiguous position in the U.S. racial hierarchy, generating sustained debate over whether and which of them may become incorporated into U.S. whiteness. Prior scholarship has examined Latino whitening through assimilation indicators, self-identified race, and, to a more limited extent, external racial ascription. However, far less is known about how appearance-based racialization varies across Latino subgroups, particularly amid the growing diversification of Latino regional origins. Because racial boundaries are enacted through everyday, appearance-based assessments that shape social treatment and experiences in public and interpersonal settings, understanding variation in perceived race remains an important empirical task.

Using data from the 2020 Collaborative Multi-Racial Post-Election Survey (CMPS; N = 3,944), this study examines whether region of origin or ancestry is associated with the likelihood of being perceived as non-Hispanic white based on appearance, a concept referred to in the literature as “street race.” Binary logistic regression models assess differences across four origin groups (Mexican, Central American, South American, and Caribbean) while controlling for absolute and relative skin tone, nativity, age, gender, educational attainment, and household income.

Results show that South American origin or ancestry is associated with higher odds of reporting a white street race. This association persists and increases in magnitude after accounting for phenotypic and socioeconomic characteristics. Average marginal effects show that South Americans are more likely than all other origin groups to report being perceived as white across the skin tone spectrum, although differences diminish at darker skin tones. No other origin group shows a robust association with white street race once controls are included.

These findings suggest that the recent diversification in Latino regional origins has implications for appearance-based racialization in the United States. While only a minority of Latinos report being perceived as white, perceived whiteness is unevenly distributed across origin groups. By centering external racial ascription rather than self-identification, this study highlights the importance of attending to internal heterogeneity among Latinos when assessing racial boundary making and incorporation processes, while cautioning against assumptions of uniform whitening trajectories.

Author

• Luisa R. Bridi Dacroce, The University of Texas at Austin