Mestizo
| Mestizo link | |
|---|---|
| Originally Latin Americans of combined Spanish and Indigenous peoples descent; nowadays more of a cultural term. |
Mestizo is a term traditionally used in Spain, Spanish America and the Philippines that originally referred to a person of combined Spanish and Indigenous peoples of the Americas descent, regardless of where the person was born. The term was used as an ethnic/racial category in the casta system that was in use during the Spanish Empire's control of its American and Asian colonies.[1]
Nowadays though, particularly in Spanish America, mestizo has become more of a cultural term, with culturally mainstream Latin Americans regarded or termed as mestizos regardless of their actual ancestry and with the term Indian being reserved exclusively for people who have maintained a separate indigenous ethnic identity, language, tribal affiliation, etc. Consequently, today, the vast majority of Spanish-speaking Latin Americans are regarded as mestizos.[2]
References
Wikipedia is not affiliated with Wikispooks. Original page source here