In Mexico, the term () is an identity of those of mixed European (mainly Spanish) and Amerindian (mainly Mesoamerican) ancestry. Some consider that it can be defined by criteria ranging from ideological and cultural to self-identification, genetic ancestry, or physical appearance. According to these criteria, estimates of the number of mestizos in Mexico vary from about 40% of the population to over 90% (including people of indigenous descent who do not recognize themselves as part of an Indigenous culture, and White Mexicans) who do not belong to the country's culturally Indigenous minorities. A survey carried out by Latinobarometro in 2018 found that around 58% of Mexicans self-identify as mestizos when asked about their race; a survey by Cohesión Social found that over 70% of Mexicans identified as mixed-race. Some genetic studies have claimed that mestizos make up over 93% of Mexico's present-day population, but this is disputed, with many Mexicans, including those of mixed ancestry, identifying more with static racial labels such as "white" or "Indigenous" rather than mestizo, and a large number simply identifying as "Mexican", rejecting racialized labels.en el censo de 1930 el gobierno mexicano dejó de clasificar a la población del país en tres categorías raciales, blanco, mestizo e indígena, y adoptó una nueva clasificación étnica que distinguía a los hablantes de lenguas indígenas del resto de la población, es decir de los hablantes de español. "El impacto del mestizaje en México", "Investigación y Ciencia", Spain, October 2013. Retrieved on 01 June 2017. SPSS output: ,
The meaning of the word mestizo has changed with time; it was originally used in the colonial era to refer to individuals who had one Spanish and one Amerindian parent. Although the caste system and racial classification were officially abandoned when Mexico became independent, the label mestizo was still used in academic circles to refer to people of mixed race. A mestizo ideology was created (exemplified by the José Vasconcelos essay La raza cósmica) holding that mestizos were the result of racial mixing, and all Mexico had to become mestizo so the country could achieve prosperity. After the Mexican Revolution, the government adopted and promoted the mestizo ideology to create a unified Mexican identity with no racial distinctions. By 1930, racial identities other than "Indigenous" disappeared from the Mexican census. All Mexicans who did not speak Indigenous languages (including European Mexicans) were now considered mestizo, transforming a racial identity into a national one.
People of different phenotypes make up Mexico's mestizo population, with many being of predominantly European or predominantly Indigenous ancestry. Since the term has a number of socio-cultural, economic, racial and genetic meanings, estimates of the Mexican mestizo population vary widely. The Encyclopædia Britannica estimate that around two-thirds of the Mexican population is mestizo. As Mexico's national identity, all Mexicans who are not Indigenous and participate in the nation's culture may be considered mestizo (culturally Mexican) regardless of racial background. The word had disappeared from the popular Mexican vocabulary long ago, since it had a pejorative connotation. Some modern academics have challenged the mestizo concept on the grounds that census data indicates that marriages between people of different races were rare; they argue that the ideology has incentivized racism rather than ending it, denying Mexico's distinct ethnic groups and cultures.
History
It is not known when the term mestizo and the caste system were introduced to Mexico, but the earliest surviving records categorizing people by "qualities" (as castes were known in early colonial Mexico) are late-18th-century church birth and marriage records. An extensive caste system assigned a name to each possible racial combination; unlike later definitions of mestizo, in these records the term referred only to people with half-Spanish and half-Indigenous ancestry. The system is present in New Spain's first national census (in 1793), in which castizo, pardo, mulatto and zambo are also collectively listed as "castes". The caste system and racial censuses were legally abandoned after independence, and academics who reviewed and republished the census figures referred to the castes simply as mestizos.
A number of historians have questioned the existence of a caste system, considering it a fabrication by historians which began during the 1940s. Pilar Gonzalbo, in her study "The Trap of the Caste", discards the idea of a caste-based society in New Spain understood as a "social organization based on race and supported by coercive power".
Later scholarship questions the existence of a caste system and reviews the use of terms in colonial sources. In a 2018 academic paper Laura Giraudo wrote "In the twentieth century, the prestige of authors such as Angel Rosenblat and Gonzalo Aguirre Beltrán, who unreservedly admitted the concept of society of caste, has determined the perpetuation of a myth of social stratification based on race".
The new definition of mestizo was used in the 1921 census (the second nationwide census which included a comprehensive racial classification). The census was conducted after the Mexican Revolution, when the government was rebuilding the country and hoped to give all Mexicans a unified national identity. This identity was the mestizo ideology formulated by the academics and politicians José Vasconcelos and Manuel Gamio, which asserted that Mexican mestizos resulted from mixing all the races; with the best qualities of each race, Mexico would achieve prosperity when the country's entire population became mestizo. By the 1930 census the racial classifications of "White" and "Mestizo" had disappeared, and all Mexicans who did not speak an Indigenous language were implicitly considered mestizo. The government also implemented cultural policies designed to "help" Indigenous peoples achieve the same level of progress as mestizo society, eventually assimilating them into mainstream Mexican culture to solve the "Indian problem" by transforming Indigenous communities into mestizo ones.
Although the concept of mestizo has been generally praised in Mexican intellectual circles, it has been criticized in the 21st century; according to detractors, it delegitimizes the importance of race in Mexico by saying that "(racism) [does] not exist here (in Mexico), as everybody is Mestizo." A study concluded that Mexico introducing racial classification and accepting itself as a multicultural, rather than a monolithic mestizo, country would benefit Mexican society as a whole. Other critics say that the ideology could not homogenize Mexico's races because it sought to "whiten" Indigenous peoples rather than "Indianize" whites, and incidentally erased minority ethnic groups (such as Afro-Mexicans) from history.
Outside Mexico, the word mestizo is still used to refer to people with mixed Indigenous and European ancestry, distinct from present-day Mexican usage, where a person of Indigenous genetic heritage would be considered mestizo by rejecting his Indigenous culture or not speaking an Indigenous language, and a person with little or no Indigenous genetic heritage is considered Indigenous if speaking an Indigenous language or identifying with an Indigenous cultural heritage. In some regions, such as the Yucatán Peninsula, mestizo refers to Maya-speaking populations in traditional communities for historical reasons. In Chiapas, Ladino is used instead of mestizo.
The word mestizo is not widely used in contemporary Mexican society; its use is limited to social and cultural studies when referring to the non-Indigenous Mexican population. It has a pejorative connotation; most Mexicans who would be defined as mestizos in sociological literature would probably self-identify as Mexicans, complicating their quantification via self-identification. This contrasts with ethno-racial terms such as "Indian", "White" and "Black", still common in everyday Mexican social interactions.
Genetic studies
Population genetics
Mexicans who are genetically mestizo are primarily of European and Native American ancestry.
At the end of the colonial period, about 10 percent of the population (Euromestizos and Indomestizos were estimated at 1,000,000 and 600,000, respectively).
The mestizo ideology, which has blurred racial lines at the institutional level, has significantly influenced Mexican genetic studies. Since the criteria used in studies to determine if a Mexican is mestizo or Indigenous are often cultural traits (such as language spoken) instead of racial self-identification or a phenotype-based selection, studies of populations considered Indigenous because of the language spoken (like the Nahuas from Veracruz) indicate a higher degree of European genetic admixture than populations considered mestizo in other studies. Populations considered mestizo are also genetically closer to continental European peoples (like those in Durango) or European Americans (like those in Jalisco).
Autosomal studies
The genetic ancestry of Mestizo Mexicans varies by methodology and study. Typically, older studies have pointed towards a heavier European admixture while more recent ones commonly show a dominant Native American component. Admixture also varies by region, wealth, and sample size. Findings from these studies show Native American admixture being more dominant in the Central and Southern regions of Mexico whereas European admixture is greater in the Northern and Western regions of Mexico. Some Mestizos may identify as "White," which generally indicates that European ancestry is the dominant element in their genetic makeup. This identity often reflects a heritage where European characteristics are the most visible or prominent in their appearance. However, this typically does not mean they are purely European in ancestry and likely have significant native contribution. Genetic research on the Mexican population is abundant, and has yielded a variety of results. Genetic studies in the same location vary. In Monterrey, Nuevo León, studies indicate an average European ancestry ranging from 38 to 78 percent; in Mexico City, European admixture ranges from 21 to 70 percent. Reasons for the variation may include the socioeconomic background of the analyzed samples and the criteria for recruiting volunteers. Some studies only analyze Mexicans who self-identify as mestizo, and others classify the entire Mexican population as mestizo. Other studies may do both, such as the 2009 genetic study published by the Instituto Nacional de Medicina Genómica (INMEGEN) which reported that 93 percent of the Mexican population is mestizo; the remainder were Amerindian. However, the INMEGEN study only recruited people who self-identified as mestizo. Some studies avoid racial classification, including anyone who self-identifies as Mexican. This may suggest that studies that use a more inclusive classification have higher European ancestry, but at the moment it is undetermined.
Regardless of criteria, the autosomal DNA studies agree that there is significant genetic variation depending on the region analyzed. Southern Mexico has the most prevalent Amerindian ancestry and small (but higher than average) African genetic contributions; Central Mexico (where most of the population lives) leans towards the Native American component. European admixture gradually increases in the West and especially the North. In cities on the Mexico–United States border, studies suggest a significant resurgence of Amerindian and African admixture.