Family formation in the pigmentocracy : the guarding of whiteness and the "transgression" of interracial relationships in Latin America and the Caribbean

I. IntroductionLatin America and the Caribbean (LAC) is one of the most ethno-racially and culturally diverse regions of the world given its history of pre-colonial indigenous groups, European colonization, the transatlantic African slave trade, and immigrant communities that arrived in the past two centuries.However, the ethno-racial composition in this region can vary greatly from country to country.This can be seen when comparing Haiti's 95% black population with Argentina's 97% white and mixed European population.Other countries such as Guyana and Suriname have a vastly diverse population of Hindustani or East Indian, Maroon, Creole, and Javanese (The World Factbook).Among all this diversity, two important points of convergence for most of this region is its history of extreme violence towards African and indigenous peoples, and its ideologies of racial mixedness which obscure the existing race and color inequalities.This goes against the myths of racial harmony that are sa id to homogenize the reg ion's ethno -racia l identity.I n rea lity, racia l discrimination in LAC has been reconstructed into a particular social hierarchy based on skin color also known as pigmentocracy.This concept was conceived in 1944 by Chilean anthropologist Alejandro Lipschutz "to refer to inequalities or hierarchies based on both ethnoracial categories, such as indigenous and black, and a skin color continuum" (Telles and PERLA 2014).It was further explored and developed by sociologist Edward Telles and the Project on Ethnicity and Race in Latin America also known as PERLA.Their work identified skin color as a major indicator of social inequalities in most of LAC as Family Formation in the Pigmentocracy: The Guarding of Whiteness and the "Transgression" of Interracial Relationships in Latin America and the Caribbean Midori KOMATSU HIDAKA