Racism is a clear focus of concern in the United States, but skin tone often has less scrutiny. Research from Tufts University suggests it should have equal standing after finding that Mexican immigrants with darker skin tones experienced greater racial discrimination than Mexican immigrants with lighter skin tones.
“Skin tone is uniquely related to how Mexican immigrants are understanding their interactions with and treatment by US-born whites, even after controlling for a range of other demographic and immigration-specific factors,” the researchers explain.
Unlike racism, which is based on ethnic or racial category, colorism refers to discrimination or prejudice based on skin tone. This means that even within the same ethnic or racial group, individuals with darker skin tones may experience more frequent mistreatment.
Unfair treatment
The research involved surveying 500 immigrants from Mexico living in metropolitan areas of Atlanta and Philadelphia. The participants were asked to rate their own skin tone on a scale of 1 to 7, where 1 represents “very light,” 7 represents “very dark,” and 4 represents “medium.”
The survey then asked participants to report on any discrimination they had experienced since moving to the city, including the frequency, location, and who the discrimination came from. They were also asked to describe how they typically respond to poor treatment, which could include defending themselves, reporting the treatment, or ignoring the discrimination.
The study found that darker-skinned Mexican immigrants were more likely to experience discrimination from US-born whites in comparison to lighter-skinned respondents. Additionally, the research showed that skin tone was a stronger predictor of discrimination than the participant’s self-described ethnic or racial identity. This result was consistent in both metro areas, even though participants in Atlanta reported higher levels of discrimination.
Participants with darker skin tones were also more likely to report that they internally struggled with discrimination but did not outwardly speak about it.
Health concerns
This response to colorism might raise health concerns, which warrants further study. One possible explanation for these findings is that the categorization of Latinos as a racial group in new immigrant destinations, particularly in the southern region of the United States where Atlanta is located, has become more prevalent in the past two decades.
This means that Mexican immigrants’ position within local racial hierarchies has become more defined by their race, which may have an impact on how they perceive their interactions with US-born individuals. This is a shift from what scholars have typically observed before the year 2000.
“The big implication of this is that social scientists should pay more attention to skin tone variation within our studies of race-based discrimination,” the authors conclude.
