File this one under the category of “the sky is blue.” A new survey from Mexico confirms that white privilege is alive and well in the country. According to HuffPost Mexico, the survey on social mobility by the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (Inegi) states the perception of what so many have known for years: that social mobility in Mexico is all based on the color of your skin, leading to better education levels, better employment and more wealth.
This “pigmentocracy” thrives.
Inegi reported that of the people it surveyed, those who self-identified as darker-skinned have lower education levels when compared to those who self-identified as being light-skinned. This is a key point because lower education levels lead to the perception that people cannot advance socially in Mexican society. And that also applies to the types of jobs people get.
Here is what Inegi released earlier in June. The sections on skin color appear at the beginning and near the end:
But this is not new. For example, the following study from two years ago also dug deep into this issue:
