Colonial heritage in multi-ethnic societies: undercover racism in twenty-first-century Peru

Abstract

Since the beginning of the 16^th century, Peruvian society has undergone an intense ethnic and cultural mixing. This process has involved fusion and diversity, whereby it has revealed a variety of antagonisms and conflict, especially found between the regions of the Coast – particularly, Lima – and the Andean Mountains. The importance of Lima as a political and economic center during the Colony, favored the people of the Coast over Andean people – predominantly indigenous. This disparity persisted after Independence, given that, in the absence of Spaniards, Creoles had become the ruling class. Since the beginning of the 20^th century, however, Andean people have found in migration towards urban and Coastal areas an opportunity to improve their living conditions. Yet, even if Andean migrants and their descendants continue to grow in power and status, they are still subject to racial discrimination. Together with Peruvians of other origins who have similarly accumulated disadvantages throughout history, such as afro-Peruvians, they are perceived and stigmatized as part of an unofficial category of non-whites. Though in a complex and undercover manner, Peruvian society has given this grouping poor valuation. On the contrary, white Peruvians have been highly valuated. Drawing upon social scientific research on racism since the late 1980s, the present paper aims at explaining why and how people of more predominant European features are rather idealized whereas the ones with less European features are rather denigrated, and how racism works covertly within the daily social relations among Peruvians today.