The division of people into different races is often seen as something based on biology. However, there is no genetic evidence that people can be clearly divided into racial groups. Race is a social construct created by humans and therefore changeable. In Peru, as in many other countries, it is used to create social hierarchy. However, the definitions of race in Peru have undergone a long evolution and have changed often over the years. Despite this, the hierarchy itself (and the racism that results from it) has remained much the same.
Racial Evolution in Peru
- Varieties: Evolution in Peru
- Race by Geography (1910 – 1930)
- Culture as a basis for race (1930 – 1960)
- Race as class (1960 – 1980/present)
- Race as an indicator of socioeconomic status
- The four colors
- White
- Black
- Yellow
- Buyer
Varieties: Evolution in Peru
Race is a complex social construct. In many cases it is used to maintain and legitimize certain hierarchies. This is evident in the belief within many societies in certain racial stereotypes, for example the belief that lighter-skinned people are more prosperous. In Peru, this stereotype has even become part of racial terminology. A person’s status within society is therefore partly determined by which racial group he or she belongs to.
In general, race is defined by a person’s skin color. Ethnicity is determined by things such as geography, origin and cultural background. In Peru, race is not only determined by skin color, characteristics of ethnicity are also included. In addition, socio-economic concepts such as class and wealth are also crucial parameters in the construction of race in Peru.
Looking at the history of Peru, three paradigms can be identified within the racial debate. The first paradigm (1910 – 1930) used geography as the basis for race. The second paradigm (1930 – 1960) defined race by culture. The third paradigm (1960 – 1980/present) applied a Marxist class model to divide the Peruvian population into races. Today, race in Peru appears to be a hybrid between these different theories.
Race by Geography (1910 – 1930)
This is probably the most over-simplified definition of race in Peru. The basis on which people are classified within this paradigm is determined by geography. Peru was divided into two parts here: the coast and the mountains. People from the coast were seen as white and called criollos while people from the mountains had the ,title, serranos and were seen as Indians. This geography-based paradigm also had a biological component, or at least the belief in a biological component (since humans are not biologically divisible into races): the criollo was seen as biologically superior to the serrano .
The term criollo may be confusing to some readers. In Spanish, it refers to the Latin American-born descendants of Spanish colonists. It is also similar to the word ,creole,, which in Suriname refers to Africans and black people of color born in that country. While in the French colonies in the Caribbean it is a name for the French colonists. In Peru, the term criollo is used exclusively to describe something or someone from the coastal area. Geography and ethnicity are inextricably linked.
Culture as a basis for race (1930 – 1960)
Beginning in the 1930s, there was a sea change in the way race was viewed in Peru. Race based on geography gave way to the idea that race equals culture. The biological component was removed by defining race as culture. However, this did not remove existing divisions and tensions: the serrano was still seen as inferior to the criollo . Or to be more precise, the serrano was seen as belonging to an inferior culture.
This belief in European cultural superiority was very much in keeping with the anthropological spirit of the times. These were the years of the so-called ,evolutionist, paradigm. What is central to this paradigm is ethnocentrism: the belief in the superiority of one’s own culture, which in the racial debate in Peru has been dominated by those of European descent living on the coast. Within the evolutionary paradigm, a unilinear scheme is used to determine how advanced cultures are. It is assumed that all cultures undergo the same evolutionary phases, in the same order. This makes it possible to define cultures as superior or inferior. This belief in inevitable progress means that every culture would eventually evolve into something superior to its current form.
Race as class (1960 – 1980/present)
The third paradigm within the Peruvian racial debate began in the 1960s. This was the time when the army seized power in the South American country. The military regimes brought radical changes to Peruvian society. For example, they were much closer to the Soviet Union instead of the usual United States. This Soviet influence was also reflected in the way the regimes viewed race. The definition of race in Peru was placed in a Marxist model of class struggle. Terms such as ,proletariat, were used to replace racial designations such as
serranos , cholos , or mestizos (more on these last two terms later in this article). T he reason why the Peruvian military regimes, especially the regime of Juan Velasco (1968 – 1975) did this was because they wanted to destroy the concept of ,Indian,. This does not mean that those in power wanted to exterminate the indigenous population of Peru, but that they wanted to get rid of the social barriers that stood in the way of a society based on class. Although this paradigm officially ceased to exist when democracy was restored in Peru (in 1980), the connection between race and class persisted. During the civil war (1980 – 2000) between the Peruvian state and left-wing rebel groups such as the Shining Path and the MRTA, the indigenous population was seen as the ,revolutionary class,.
Race as an indicator of socioeconomic status
There has always been a link between socio-economic status and the concept of race. When the Belgians in Central Africa declared the Hutus and Tutsis to be races, they did this on the basis of the socio-economic position of the local population. In many countries there is a certain racial stereotype: whites are rich and the native population is poor.
Looking at socio-economic in Peru, there are four criteria to define it: education, shelter, employment and socio-economic status. The latter seems like a repetition, or even a stylistic error, but that is not the case. The reason why socio-economic status is a criterion for socio-economic status in Peru is because poverty is a very political issue. When it comes to poverty figures, there is often inflation or deflation, it depends entirely on what political interests there are at that time. As a result, the official ones are often not reliable.
Education is seen as the determining factor when it comes to someone’s socio-economic position. Education determines what kind of work someone will have, which in turn influences what kind of housing that person will have. The status of subsequent generations is also determined by education. The education that parents have had has a major influence on the education of their children.
Education also plays a major role in the Peruvian racial debate. You could even say that education allows people to change their race. This is sometimes called , silent racism ,; the legitimate exclusion based on intelligence and education. The debate between a definition of race based on external characteristics and an explanation based on ,inner qualities, resulted in a redefinition of the concept. The appearance (also called phenotype) of the serrano was ,neutralized, if it was an intellectual. What is implied by this is that because of his ,inner qualities, he is no longer a serrano , but a ,(…) white,.
So it may seem that race is no longer an assigned position, but an acquired status. Racial definitions are not automatic, but are determined by choices, actions, successes and talents. However, this does not apply at all in everyday life. In the case of strangers, race will be determined entirely by physical characteristics and assigned characteristics rather than the acquired position.
The four colors
People have come up with all kinds of terms to divide each other into racial groups. Some sound very scientific, others are little more than slang or even swear words. Peru is no exception in this regard. Over the years, a whole terminology has emerged to divide the population.
In the West we generally use the American five color palette when it comes to race. These colors are yellow (Asian), white (European), red (Native American), black (African) and brown (Latin American). The Peruvian palette is slightly different and consists of four colors:
- White – European
- Black – African
- Yellow – Asian
- Copper – Native American
White
People with a lighter skin color are often seen as rich or Western. In itself this is not very strange since the higher layers of Peruvian society mainly consist of people of European descent. Whites are usually called , pitucos ,. Pituco is also a word used to describe someone who is wealthy, but it can also mean ,poor, (as in snobbish).
Another word used to refer to white people is , gringo ,. In the Netherlands we mainly know it as a swear word for Americans, but in Peru it is generally used to describe anyone who looks Western. In many Latin American countries the word criollo is used to refer to white people. In Peru this is somewhat different because of the geographical concept of race that has remained stuck in the racial debate. Criollo in Peru means that something or someone comes from the coast, and is therefore not automatically white.
Black
Probably the smallest racial group in Peru are those of African descent. The Africans were originally brought to the New World as slaves by European colonists. Most of them also live on the coast, mainly in the Chincha region south of the capital Lima. Afro-Peruvians are generally described using words based on skin color: , negros ,, , morenos , or morochos ,. Unlike Dutch, these words do not have the automatic racist connotation that the Dutch versions (such as , negro, or ,black,).
Yellow
The abolition of slavery in Peru in 1854 meant that elites were forced to take their workers elsewhere. Like other South American countries (Brazil, for example, has the highest concentration of Japanese after Japan), Peru looked to Asia for this new workforce. A migration flow from China to Peru started in the 19th century and the Chinese became the dominant labor force in Peru.
In general, in Latin America, the word , chino , (Chinese) is used to describe someone from Asia. It doesn’t matter whether the person comes from China, Japan, Korea or any other Asian country. The best-known example of this is probably former President Alberto Fujimori, a descendant of Japanese migrants, who was known as , el chino ,.
In addition to being a racial term, , chino , is also often used as a nickname for someone who has an Asian appearance in any way.
Buyer
Before there were Europeans, Africans and Asians in Peru, several other peoples lived, of which the Incas were the best known. Although these peoples no longer officially exist, today a large part of the Peruvian population is still of indigenous descent. People of indigenous descent are generally referred to as , indios ,, , indigenos ,, , serranos ,, or , cholos ,. , Indio , is a pretty obvious term, as it means ,Indian,. The term , indigeno , can be literally translated as ,indigenous,. , Serrano , has been explained before, a serrano is something or someone from the mountains. When geography formed the basis of the racial debate, the Andes Mountains were seen as the area where the indigenous population came from.
“ Cholo ” is a more complex concept to explain. This is because the word can have different meanings. Some see the cholo as an ,urban Indian, while others define it as an ,indigenous intellectual,. Other meanings of cholo are serrano (which here means ,one who comes from the mountains,) or mestizo . A mestizo is usually seen as someone of mixed blood, i.e. someone who has both indigenous and European parents. Sometimes , cholo , is a variation on mestizo , as in someone where one parent is a mestizo and the other is indigenous.
In everyday language really there is , cholo , a racist term used to describe someone who is or looks indigenous. In slang, , cholo , is used similarly to the English word , nigger/nigga , in the United States. Both words are racist terms to describe certain population groups. But both words are not always used this way. They are often also used as a somewhat crude way of addressing each other, comparable to the use of the English word , dude ,.