Colonial mentality
Encyclopedia
Colonial mentality is an area of study and a conceptual theory in Cultural anthropology
that refers to institutionalized or systemic
feelings of inferiority within some societies or people who have been subjected to colonialism
, relative to the values of the foreign powers which had previously subjugated them through colonization. The concept essentially refers to the acceptance, by the colonized, of the culture or doctrines of the colonizer as intrinsically more worthy or superior. The subject matter is quite controversial and debated.
or imperial
power is too strong to be effectively resisted, the colonised population often has no other immediate option than to accept the rule of the foreigners
as an inescapable reality of life. As time progresses, the colonised indigenous people-natives would perceive the differences between the foreigners and themselves, between the foreigners' ways and the native ways. This would then sometimes lead the natives to mimic the foreigners that are in power as they began to associate that power and success with the foreigners' ways. This eventually leads to the foreigners' ways being regarded as the better way and being held in a higher esteem than previous indigenous ways.
In much the same fashion, and with the same reasoning of better-ness, the colonised soon equates the foreigners' racial strain itself as being responsible for their superiority. The native soon strives to that strain to give their children a better standing in life than just their native genes.
's portrayals of India
n characters generally supported the colonialist view that the Indians and other colonized people were incapable of surviving without the help of Europe
ans, claiming that these portrayals are racist. Examples of this alleged racism are mentioning "lesser breeds without the Law" in "Recessional" and referring to colonised people in general as "half-devil and half-child" in the poem "The White Man's Burden
".
The term Macaulay's Children is used to refer to people born of Indian ancestry who adopt Western culture
as a lifestyle. The term is usually used in a derogatory fashion, and the connotation is one of disloyalty to one's country and one's heritage. It derives from Thomas Macaulay, the 19th century British historian and colonial administrator who regarded British culture as inherently superior to the Indian one
, and who was the prime mover in replacing Sanskrit
and Persian
with English
as the medium of instruction. This attitude is often referred to as Macaulayism
.
s and their cultures, suffered generations of set-back the settler societies quickly outnumbered the colonized. In these cases, including much of North America
, and Oceania
, decolonization
is now taking the form of indigenous decolonization
in bringing back traditional cultural knowledge in the new society.
is often cited as a prime example of colonial mentality. Numerous examples included the one drop rule and practice of the "Paper Bag Test", where African American
s were allowed or denied entry in Black-only social institutions (bars, night clubs, cinemas, sororities, fraternities, etc.) based on how light the skin tone was when compared to a brown paper bag. Those African Americans with skin tones the same or lighter than the paper bag were allowed entry. This practice of institutionalized colorism
, favoring degrees of "whiteness", was exemplified more so by "The Blue Vein Society".
The original "Blue Veins" were organized in New England
. Their primary objective was to establish and maintain "correct" social standards amongst a people whose social condition, by virtue of their white bloodlines, was almost unlimited.
An outsider suggested that one must show "Blue Veins" to be eligible for membership. This suggestion was readily adopted by those who were not of the favored few; and "The Blue Vein Society" has been known as such ever since.
" movement successfully counteract most of the colonial mentality among African Americans by promoting dark skin and African features as ideals of high fashion.
in Hispanic America
and the former Spanish East Indies
are the most commonly cited examples where the phenomenon of colonial mentality may be found. Spanish conquistador
s, the first European settlers in the New World
, divided the conquered lands among themselves and ruled as feudal lords, treating their Amerindian
subjects as something between serf
s and slave
s. Many Spaniards, however, objected to this encomienda
system, notably Bartolomé de Las Casas
, who insisted that the American indígenas (natives) were human beings with soul
s and right
s and were, in the words of Queen Isabella I, "to be treated with justice and fairness". Serfs stayed to work the land and imported Africa
n slaves were exported to the mines
, where large numbers of them died. Largely due to the efforts of Bartolomé de Las Casas, the New Laws
were adopted in 1542 to protect the Amerindians, but the abuses were not entirely or permanently abolished.
The Spaniards were committed to converting their Amerindian subjects to Roman Catholicism, and were quick to purge any native cultural practices that hindered this end. However, most initial attempts at this were only partially successful, as Amerindian groups simply blended Catholicism with their traditional beliefs. On the other hand, the Spaniards did not impose their language to the degree they did their religion, and the Roman Catholic Church
even evangelized in Quechua
, Nahuatl
, Guarani
, etc., contributing to the expansion of these Amerindian languages and equipping them with writing systems.
colonial mentality is most evident in the existence of favoritism for Filipino mestizos (primarily those of mixed native Filipino
and white ancestry, but also mixed indigenous Filipino and Chinese, and other ethnic groups) in the entertainment industry and mass media, in which they have received extensive exposure despite constituting a small population in the country.
The Cádiz Constitution of 1812
automatically gave Spanish citizenship
to all Filipinos regardless of race. The census of 1883 indicated that 95% of the population of the Philippines was Asians
(Austronesian Filipinos, indigenous Negrito Filipinos
, Japanese Filipinos, Chinese Filipinos, Indian Filipinos, Indonesian Filipinos, Arab Filipinos, etc.), Aztecan Filipinos and African
Filipinos (via the Manila Galleons between 1565 and 1815) while 4% comprised the Eurasians
. Only 1% of the population was Peninsular Spanish and Insular Spanish Filipinos.
Of the current demographics of the Philippines
, the combined number of all types of Caucasian
mestizos or Eurasians is 3.6% of the entire Filipino population, in a recent genetic study by Stanford University
. Of that 3.6%, half are of Spanish ancestral bloodline.
s of the pre-Hispanic Philippines
. The desire for white skin is definitely not a result of colonial mentality during the Spanish rule. Besides, the Philippines was a colony of the Majapahit Empire (1293–1527) based in Indonesia
prior to Spanish colonization (1565-1898) and the American Empire was the last empire to colonize the Philippines (1898–1946) and it continues to serve as a neocolony
of the United States
despite its independence in 1946.
One of the more adverse physical consequences in the idealization and acceptance of the racial concepts of colonial mentality can be seen in the high rate of consumer demand for skin bleaching products used by some indigenous women, also with a smaller percentage of indigenous men and brown-skinned mestizas and mestizos, in the Philippines. Skin-whitening creams have for a long time been popular and widely used in much of the Philippines for the lightening of the skin tones in order to achieve the so-called "Mestizo look". The products are believed to be used primarily by women who have succumbed to the Filipino ideal and colonial doctrine of the idealization of mestizo beauty to the greatest extreme. The consumers of these products, whether conscious or subconsciously, are following the dangerous edict on beauty by continuing to use those products despite the extremely hazardous side effects to their health, including a high risk of various cancers due to many of its active ingredients, including mercury
, and most important cancer, skin cancer, because of the lack of melanin that is the natural skin protection from the ultraviolet rays. These products have been banned in the USA due to the skin cancer risk and widely opposed by the public for triggering racial controversies, but their sale and demand in the Philippines and in some other tropical countries continues to be widespread. Another thought to achieve the so-called "Mestizo look", some indigenous Filipino men and women of all classes dye their hair auburn (reddish-brown), golden brown
, or blond
, and/or changing their noses
to aquiline, and/or enlarging their eye shapes
.
This racial ancestral forgery is characterized by the habit of some modern-day indigenous Filipino families of no European ancestry, and claiming mestizo ancestry. It is often accompanied by handed-down oral accounts of a presumed Spanish great-great-grandfather and grandmother with no evidence of Spanish blood in their genes, other than a Spanish surname. Most mestizo Filipinos have Spanish-names and surnames inherited from their Spanish ancestors, whereas most indigenous Filipinos with Spanish names and surnames acquired them as a result of the Catálogo Alfabético de Apellidos
["Alphabetic Catalogue of Surnames"] decreed to be imposed on the entire indigenous Filipino population by the Spanish royal courts in order to facilitate record-keeping and tax collecting. Take note that a number of mestizo Filipinos with Spanish birth surnames have no Spanish blood, by having other white ancestors, including those of American blood
through intermarriage with indigenous Filipino ancestors with Spanish surnames.
. The demographic reality of Latin America is that around 36% is white
and over 50% of its population is of part-white mixed race, either Mestizo
(mixed white and Native American/Amerindian
) or Mulatto
(mixed White and black
) or triracial (of mixed white, black and Native American). The percentages vary widely by country. Argentina
, Uruguay
, Puerto Rico
, and Costa Rica
have large White
majorities, and Cuba
and Chile
are majority-White per some sources. Brazil has a white plurality. Many other countries in the region have large white minorities, and a few have small white minorities. Amerindians, Asians, blacks, and Zambo
s (mixed Black and Amerindian) make up the remaining 14% of Latin America's population. In the Latin American context, the "Ideal of Beauty" is not to be of mixed European and other ancestry, as most Latin Americans already are of that ancestry, but rather to be purely of European ancestry. The same ideal is prevalent among Hispanic and Latino Americans
, Latin American Australian
s, Latin American Canadians, and Latin American Britons
.
The Latin American entertainment industry is saturated with white actors, with some mestizos, few mulattos, and almost no blacks or Amerindians. Many white actors have Nordic features: pale-skinned, blond
and blue-eyed. An occasional actor of Asian ancestry can be seen as well. The same situation happens in U.S. Hispanic entertainment industry.
This European idealisation of beauty has also led to a condition of racial forgery among many Latin Americans. However, in contrast to the Filipino experience where the majority is composed of unmixed native Filipinos of whom some attempt to claim mixed European blood, in Latin America the norm is for some within the mix-blooded majority to concentrate on attempting to diminish, hide or deny any non-European admixture. These people will then often claim to be pure Spanish or other European ancestry in their attempts to conform to the idealized pedigree dictated by their Spanish-Latin American socio-racial hierarchy. To achieve the "pure European look", many mixed-race people in the middle and upper classes use skin whitening products and dye their hair blond, golden brown, auburn (reddish-brown), or red. Some members of the non-mixed races and non-white race engaged is similar practices, dyeing their hair, use skin whitening products, and/or enlarging their eye shapes
and/or changing their noses
to aquiline, in the case of Native Americans, black Africans, and Asians to claim pure white race or partial-white mixed race.
Racial forgery in Latin America is often accompanied by handed-down but unproven oral accounts of a presumed Spanish great-great-grandparent and a Spanish surname. Most mixed-white race and white people in Latin America have Spanish surnames inherited from Spanish ancestors, while most other Latin Americans who have Spanish names and surnames acquired them through Christianization and Hispanicization of the indigenous and African slave populations by the Spanish friars, especially in order to ease record-keeping and tax collection, in the case of the Native Americans and Afro-Latin Americans. Racial forgery in Latin America was inherited from Spaniards, who some of themselves have non-European (more specifically native African) blood they deny. The preference for fair skin in Latin America is seen as more attractive and more related to higher social status.
A common joke in the United States, among both Hispanics and non-Hispanics alike, is the presence of more blond
e and blue-eyed presenters and actors on US-based Spanish language television networks such as Telemundo
and Univision
than on the English-language networks such as NBC
, CBS
, ABC
, or Fox
; but many Americans are critical of having predominance of blond and blue-eyed presenters and actors on US-based Spanish language television networks. These issues are also addressed in White Hispanic and Latino Americans
and Race in the United States
.
; the lighter you are, the more beautiful you are considered." She also says that it is common that women in the upper classes dye their hair blond, and may use skin-lightening products, like in some tropical countries. In some countries the implications of this hierarchy go so far as to affect one's social class and job opportunities.
Iman Al-Jazairi says "Looking at Arabic poetry
and novels, it is interesting to see that pre-Islam
ic poetry up until western colonization at the eighteenth century, women were always described as having long, wavy, black hair, brown skin, black eyes with the white of the eyes very white. The body proportions were also bigger. During the later part of the nineteenth century and until very recently, light skinned, blond women have usurped the beauty standard in modern Arabic literature.
and subsequent domination by English Canada
is important in a segment of Québécois
intellectual
thought, notably within the Quebec nationalist
and independence movements
. These thinkers portray the relationship of Canada and Quebec as a dominant-dominated relationship and often consider the Quiet Revolution
an event of decolonization
. Those who are in favour of independence hold that Quebec sovereignty
is another necessary decolonizing step. The colonial mentality concept has also been used to criticize the relationship some Québécois have with France
, as Quebec was a colony of France in the era of New France
.
Cultural anthropology
Cultural anthropology is a branch of anthropology focused on the study of cultural variation among humans, collecting data about the impact of global economic and political processes on local cultural realities. Anthropologists use a variety of methods, including participant observation,...
that refers to institutionalized or systemic
Systemic
Systemic refers to something that is spread throughout, system-wide, affecting a group or system such as a body, economy, market or society as a whole. Systemic may also refer to:-In medicine:...
feelings of inferiority within some societies or people who have been subjected to colonialism
Colonialism
Colonialism is the establishment, maintenance, acquisition and expansion of colonies in one territory by people from another territory. It is a process whereby the metropole claims sovereignty over the colony and the social structure, government, and economics of the colony are changed by...
, relative to the values of the foreign powers which had previously subjugated them through colonization. The concept essentially refers to the acceptance, by the colonized, of the culture or doctrines of the colonizer as intrinsically more worthy or superior. The subject matter is quite controversial and debated.
Origins
Throughout human history, nations and peoples have continuously colonised and been colonised. It is said that when a foreign colonialColonialism
Colonialism is the establishment, maintenance, acquisition and expansion of colonies in one territory by people from another territory. It is a process whereby the metropole claims sovereignty over the colony and the social structure, government, and economics of the colony are changed by...
or imperial
Imperialism
Imperialism, as defined by Dictionary of Human Geography, is "the creation and/or maintenance of an unequal economic, cultural, and territorial relationships, usually between states and often in the form of an empire, based on domination and subordination." The imperialism of the last 500 years,...
power is too strong to be effectively resisted, the colonised population often has no other immediate option than to accept the rule of the foreigners
Alien (law)
In law, an alien is a person in a country who is not a citizen of that country.-Categorization:Types of "alien" persons are:*An alien who is legally permitted to remain in a country which is foreign to him or her. On specified terms, this kind of alien may be called a legal alien of that country...
as an inescapable reality of life. As time progresses, the colonised indigenous people-natives would perceive the differences between the foreigners and themselves, between the foreigners' ways and the native ways. This would then sometimes lead the natives to mimic the foreigners that are in power as they began to associate that power and success with the foreigners' ways. This eventually leads to the foreigners' ways being regarded as the better way and being held in a higher esteem than previous indigenous ways.
In much the same fashion, and with the same reasoning of better-ness, the colonised soon equates the foreigners' racial strain itself as being responsible for their superiority. The native soon strives to that strain to give their children a better standing in life than just their native genes.
The Indian Subcontinent
Some critics claim that Rudyard KiplingRudyard Kipling
Joseph Rudyard Kipling was an English poet, short-story writer, and novelist chiefly remembered for his celebration of British imperialism, tales and poems of British soldiers in India, and his tales for children. Kipling received the 1907 Nobel Prize for Literature...
's portrayals of India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n characters generally supported the colonialist view that the Indians and other colonized people were incapable of surviving without the help of Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
ans, claiming that these portrayals are racist. Examples of this alleged racism are mentioning "lesser breeds without the Law" in "Recessional" and referring to colonised people in general as "half-devil and half-child" in the poem "The White Man's Burden
The White Man's Burden
"The White Man's Burden" is a poem by the English poet Rudyard Kipling. It was originally published in the popular magazine McClure's in 1899, with the subtitle The United States and the Philippine Islands...
".
The term Macaulay's Children is used to refer to people born of Indian ancestry who adopt Western culture
Western culture
Western culture, sometimes equated with Western civilization or European civilization, refers to cultures of European origin and is used very broadly to refer to a heritage of social norms, ethical values, traditional customs, religious beliefs, political systems, and specific artifacts and...
as a lifestyle. The term is usually used in a derogatory fashion, and the connotation is one of disloyalty to one's country and one's heritage. It derives from Thomas Macaulay, the 19th century British historian and colonial administrator who regarded British culture as inherently superior to the Indian one
Culture of India
India's languages, religions, dance, music, architecture, food and customs differ from place to place within the country, but nevertheless possess a commonality....
, and who was the prime mover in replacing Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
and Persian
Persian language
Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...
with English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
as the medium of instruction. This attitude is often referred to as Macaulayism
Macaulayism
Macaulayism is the conscious policy of liquidating indigenous culture through the planned substitution of the alien culture of a colonizing power via the education system...
.
Canada
In areas where the indigenous nations were decimated by epidemicEpidemic
In epidemiology, an epidemic , occurs when new cases of a certain disease, in a given human population, and during a given period, substantially exceed what is expected based on recent experience...
s and their cultures, suffered generations of set-back the settler societies quickly outnumbered the colonized. In these cases, including much of North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
, and Oceania
Oceania
Oceania is a region centered on the islands of the tropical Pacific Ocean. Conceptions of what constitutes Oceania range from the coral atolls and volcanic islands of the South Pacific to the entire insular region between Asia and the Americas, including Australasia and the Malay Archipelago...
, decolonization
Decolonization
Decolonization refers to the undoing of colonialism, the unequal relation of polities whereby one people or nation establishes and maintains dependent Territory over another...
is now taking the form of indigenous decolonization
Indigenous decolonization
Indigenous Decolonization is a process that Indigenous people whose communities were grossly affected by colonial expansion, genocide and cultural assimilation may go through in understanding the history of their colonization and rediscovering their ancestral traditions and cultural values...
in bringing back traditional cultural knowledge in the new society.
United States; Black America
The race-conscious society of the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
is often cited as a prime example of colonial mentality. Numerous examples included the one drop rule and practice of the "Paper Bag Test", where African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
s were allowed or denied entry in Black-only social institutions (bars, night clubs, cinemas, sororities, fraternities, etc.) based on how light the skin tone was when compared to a brown paper bag. Those African Americans with skin tones the same or lighter than the paper bag were allowed entry. This practice of institutionalized colorism
Colorism
Colorism is prejudice or discrimination in which human beings are accorded differing social treatment based on skin color. The preference often gets translated into economic status because of opportunities for work. Colorism can be found across the world...
, favoring degrees of "whiteness", was exemplified more so by "The Blue Vein Society".
The "Blue Vein Society"
When U.S. slavery was at its zenith, a mulatto society known as "The Blue Vein Society" came into being.The original "Blue Veins" were organized in New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
. Their primary objective was to establish and maintain "correct" social standards amongst a people whose social condition, by virtue of their white bloodlines, was almost unlimited.
An outsider suggested that one must show "Blue Veins" to be eligible for membership. This suggestion was readily adopted by those who were not of the favored few; and "The Blue Vein Society" has been known as such ever since.
Black is Beautiful
In the late 20th century, the "Black is BeautifulBlack is beautiful
Black is beautiful is a cultural movement that began in the United States of America in the 1960s by African Americans. It later spread to much of the black world, most prominently in the writings of the Black Consciousness Movement of Steve Biko in South Africa...
" movement successfully counteract most of the colonial mentality among African Americans by promoting dark skin and African features as ideals of high fashion.
The Spanish Empire
The former subjects of the Spanish EmpireSpanish Empire
The Spanish Empire comprised territories and colonies administered directly by Spain in Europe, in America, Africa, Asia and Oceania. It originated during the Age of Exploration and was therefore one of the first global empires. At the time of Habsburgs, Spain reached the peak of its world power....
in Hispanic America
Hispanic America
Hispanic America or Spanish America is the region comprising the American countries inhabited by Spanish-speaking populations.These countries have significant commonalities with each other and with Spain, whose colonies they formerly were...
and the former Spanish East Indies
Spanish East Indies
Spanish East Indies was a term used to describe Spanish territories in Asia-Pacific which lasted for three centuries . With the seat of government in Manila, the territory encompassed the Philippine Islands, Guam and the Mariana Islands, the Caroline Islands, and for a period of time, parts of...
are the most commonly cited examples where the phenomenon of colonial mentality may be found. Spanish conquistador
Conquistador
Conquistadors were Spanish soldiers, explorers, and adventurers who brought much of the Americas under the control of Spain in the 15th to 16th centuries, following Europe's discovery of the New World by Christopher Columbus in 1492...
s, the first European settlers in the New World
New World
The New World is one of the names used for the Western Hemisphere, specifically America and sometimes Oceania . The term originated in the late 15th century, when America had been recently discovered by European explorers, expanding the geographical horizon of the people of the European middle...
, divided the conquered lands among themselves and ruled as feudal lords, treating their Amerindian
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
subjects as something between serf
SERF
A spin exchange relaxation-free magnetometer is a type of magnetometer developed at Princeton University in the early 2000s. SERF magnetometers measure magnetic fields by using lasers to detect the interaction between alkali metal atoms in a vapor and the magnetic field.The name for the technique...
s and slave
Slavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
s. Many Spaniards, however, objected to this encomienda
Encomienda
The encomienda was a system that was employed mainly by the Spanish crown during the colonization of the Americas to regulate Native American labor....
system, notably Bartolomé de Las Casas
Bartolomé de Las Casas
Bartolomé de las Casas O.P. was a 16th-century Spanish historian, social reformer and Dominican friar. He became the first resident Bishop of Chiapas, and the first officially appointed "Protector of the Indians"...
, who insisted that the American indígenas (natives) were human beings with soul
Soul
A soul in certain spiritual, philosophical, and psychological traditions is the incorporeal essence of a person or living thing or object. Many philosophical and spiritual systems teach that humans have souls, and others teach that all living things and even inanimate objects have souls. The...
s and right
Right
Rights are legal, social, or ethical principles of freedom or entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people, according to some legal system, social convention, or ethical theory...
s and were, in the words of Queen Isabella I, "to be treated with justice and fairness". Serfs stayed to work the land and imported Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
n slaves were exported to the mines
Mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...
, where large numbers of them died. Largely due to the efforts of Bartolomé de Las Casas, the New Laws
New Laws
The New Laws, in Spanish Leyes Nuevas, issued November 20, 1542 by King Charles V of Spain regarding the Spanish colonization of the Americas, are also known as the "New Laws of the Indies for the Good Treatment and Preservation of the Indians", and were created to prevent the exploitation of the...
were adopted in 1542 to protect the Amerindians, but the abuses were not entirely or permanently abolished.
The Spaniards were committed to converting their Amerindian subjects to Roman Catholicism, and were quick to purge any native cultural practices that hindered this end. However, most initial attempts at this were only partially successful, as Amerindian groups simply blended Catholicism with their traditional beliefs. On the other hand, the Spaniards did not impose their language to the degree they did their religion, and the Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
even evangelized in Quechua
Quechua languages
Quechua is a Native South American language family and dialect cluster spoken primarily in the Andes of South America, derived from an original common ancestor language, Proto-Quechua. It is the most widely spoken language family of the indigenous peoples of the Americas, with a total of probably...
, Nahuatl
Nahuatl
Nahuatl is thought to mean "a good, clear sound" This language name has several spellings, among them náhuatl , Naoatl, Nauatl, Nahuatl, Nawatl. In a back formation from the name of the language, the ethnic group of Nahuatl speakers are called Nahua...
, Guarani
Guaraní languages
The Guaraní languages are a group of half a dozen or so languages in the Tupí–Guaraní language family. The best known language in this family is Guaraní, the national language of Paraguay.The Guaraní languages are:...
, etc., contributing to the expansion of these Amerindian languages and equipping them with writing systems.
The Philippines
In the PhilippinesPhilippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
colonial mentality is most evident in the existence of favoritism for Filipino mestizos (primarily those of mixed native Filipino
Filipino people
The Filipino people or Filipinos are an Austronesian ethnic group native to the islands of the Philippines. There are about 92 million Filipinos in the Philippines, and about 11 million living outside the Philippines ....
and white ancestry, but also mixed indigenous Filipino and Chinese, and other ethnic groups) in the entertainment industry and mass media, in which they have received extensive exposure despite constituting a small population in the country.
The Cádiz Constitution of 1812
Spanish Constitution of 1812
The Spanish Constitution of 1812 was promulgated 19 March 1812 by the Cádiz Cortes, the national legislative assembly of Spain, while in refuge from the Peninsular War...
automatically gave Spanish citizenship
Spanish nationality law
Spanish nationality law refers to all the laws of Spain concerning nationality. The 11th article of the First Title of the Spanish Constitution refers to Spanish nationality and establishes that a separate law is to regulate how it is acquired and lost. This separate law is the Spanish Civil Code...
to all Filipinos regardless of race. The census of 1883 indicated that 95% of the population of the Philippines was Asians
Asian people
Asian people or Asiatic people is a term with multiple meanings that refers to people who descend from a portion of Asia's population.- Central Asia :...
(Austronesian Filipinos, indigenous Negrito Filipinos
Negrito
The Negrito are a class of several ethnic groups who inhabit isolated parts of Southeast Asia.Their current populations include 12 Andamanese peoples of the Andaman Islands, six Semang peoples of Malaysia, the Mani of Thailand, and the Aeta, Agta, Ati, and 30 other peoples of the Philippines....
, Japanese Filipinos, Chinese Filipinos, Indian Filipinos, Indonesian Filipinos, Arab Filipinos, etc.), Aztecan Filipinos and African
African people
African people refers to natives, inhabitants, or citizen of Africa and to people of African descent.-Etymology:Many etymological hypotheses that have been postulated for the ancient name "Africa":...
Filipinos (via the Manila Galleons between 1565 and 1815) while 4% comprised the Eurasians
Eurasian (mixed ancestry)
The word Eurasian refers to people of mixed Asian and European ancestry. It was originally coined in 19th-century British India to refer to Anglo-Indians of mixed British and Indian descent....
. Only 1% of the population was Peninsular Spanish and Insular Spanish Filipinos.
Of the current demographics of the Philippines
Demographics of the Philippines
Demographics of the Philippines are records of human population in the country, including its population density, ethnicity, education level, health, economic status, religious affiliations, and other aspects of the population. According to the 2007 Census, the population of the Philippines was...
, the combined number of all types of Caucasian
Caucasian race
The term Caucasian race has been used to denote the general physical type of some or all of the populations of Europe, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, Western Asia , Central Asia and South Asia...
mestizos or Eurasians is 3.6% of the entire Filipino population, in a recent genetic study by Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
. Of that 3.6%, half are of Spanish ancestral bloodline.
Physical consequences
Many Filipinos believe that the idealization of fair skin had its roots during the Spanish colonization. Actually, fairness of complexion was attested as a characteristic of the upper class women and appears as the standard of beauty among the Austronesian peopleAustronesian people
The Austronesian-speaking peoples are various populations in Oceania and Southeast Asia that speak languages of the Austronesian family. They include Taiwanese aborigines; the majority ethnic groups of East Timor, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei, Madagascar, Micronesia, and Polynesia,...
s of the pre-Hispanic Philippines
History of the Philippines
The history of the Philippines is believed to have begun with the arrival of the first humans via land bridges at least 30,000 years ago. The first recorded visit from the West is the arrival of Ferdinand Magellan, who sighted Samar on March 16, 1521 and landed on Homonhon Island southeast of Samar...
. The desire for white skin is definitely not a result of colonial mentality during the Spanish rule. Besides, the Philippines was a colony of the Majapahit Empire (1293–1527) based in Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
prior to Spanish colonization (1565-1898) and the American Empire was the last empire to colonize the Philippines (1898–1946) and it continues to serve as a neocolony
Neocolonialism
Neocolonialism is the practice of using capitalism, globalization, and cultural forces to control a country in lieu of direct military or political control...
of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
despite its independence in 1946.
One of the more adverse physical consequences in the idealization and acceptance of the racial concepts of colonial mentality can be seen in the high rate of consumer demand for skin bleaching products used by some indigenous women, also with a smaller percentage of indigenous men and brown-skinned mestizas and mestizos, in the Philippines. Skin-whitening creams have for a long time been popular and widely used in much of the Philippines for the lightening of the skin tones in order to achieve the so-called "Mestizo look". The products are believed to be used primarily by women who have succumbed to the Filipino ideal and colonial doctrine of the idealization of mestizo beauty to the greatest extreme. The consumers of these products, whether conscious or subconsciously, are following the dangerous edict on beauty by continuing to use those products despite the extremely hazardous side effects to their health, including a high risk of various cancers due to many of its active ingredients, including mercury
Mercury (element)
Mercury is a chemical element with the symbol Hg and atomic number 80. It is also known as quicksilver or hydrargyrum...
, and most important cancer, skin cancer, because of the lack of melanin that is the natural skin protection from the ultraviolet rays. These products have been banned in the USA due to the skin cancer risk and widely opposed by the public for triggering racial controversies, but their sale and demand in the Philippines and in some other tropical countries continues to be widespread. Another thought to achieve the so-called "Mestizo look", some indigenous Filipino men and women of all classes dye their hair auburn (reddish-brown), golden brown
Brown hair
Brown hair is the second most common human hair color.Brown hair varies from light brown to almost black hair. It is characterized by higher levels of the dark pigment eumelanin and lower levels of the pale pigment pheomelanin. Its strands are thicker than those of fair hair but not as much as...
, or blond
Blond
Blond or blonde or fair-hair is a hair color characterized by low levels of the dark pigment eumelanin. The resultant visible hue depends on various factors, but always has some sort of yellowish color...
, and/or changing their noses
Rhinoplasty
Rhinoplasty , also nose job, is a plastic surgery procedure for correcting and reconstructing the form, restoring the functions, and aesthetically enhancing the nose, by resolving nasal trauma , congenital defect, respiratory impediment, and a failed primary rhinoplasty...
to aquiline, and/or enlarging their eye shapes
Blepharoplasty
Blepharoplasty is surgical modification of the eyelid. Excess tissue such as skin and fat are removed or repositioned, and surrounding muscles and tendons may be reinforced. It can be both a functional and cosmetic surgery.-Indications:...
.
Pedigree and forgery
Colonial mentality is also at the root of a long established indigenous/European Filipino tradition of ancestral ethnicity forgery used in the attempt to conform to the idealized "mestizo pedigree" dictated by the former colonial rulers Spanish-Filipino socio-racial hierarchy.This racial ancestral forgery is characterized by the habit of some modern-day indigenous Filipino families of no European ancestry, and claiming mestizo ancestry. It is often accompanied by handed-down oral accounts of a presumed Spanish great-great-grandfather and grandmother with no evidence of Spanish blood in their genes, other than a Spanish surname. Most mestizo Filipinos have Spanish-names and surnames inherited from their Spanish ancestors, whereas most indigenous Filipinos with Spanish names and surnames acquired them as a result of the Catálogo Alfabético de Apellidos
Catálogo alfabético de apellidos
The Alphabetical Catalog of Surnames is a book of surnames published in the Philippines and other islands of Spanish East Indies in the mid-19th century...
["Alphabetic Catalogue of Surnames"] decreed to be imposed on the entire indigenous Filipino population by the Spanish royal courts in order to facilitate record-keeping and tax collecting. Take note that a number of mestizo Filipinos with Spanish birth surnames have no Spanish blood, by having other white ancestors, including those of American blood
White American
White Americans are people of the United States who are considered or consider themselves White. The United States Census Bureau defines White people as those "having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa...
through intermarriage with indigenous Filipino ancestors with Spanish surnames.
Latin America
Colonial mentality can also be seen in somewhat the same form across Latin AmericaLatin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
. The demographic reality of Latin America is that around 36% is white
White people
White people is a term which usually refers to human beings characterized, at least in part, by the light pigmentation of their skin...
and over 50% of its population is of part-white mixed race, either Mestizo
Mestizo
Mestizo is a term traditionally used in Latin America, Philippines and Spain for people of mixed European and Native American heritage or descent...
(mixed white and Native American/Amerindian
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
) or Mulatto
Mulatto
Mulatto denotes a person with one white parent and one black parent, or more broadly, a person of mixed black and white ancestry. Contemporary usage of the term varies greatly, and the broader sense of the term makes its application rather subjective, as not all people of mixed white and black...
(mixed White and black
Black people
The term black people is used in systems of racial classification for humans of a dark skinned phenotype, relative to other racial groups.Different societies apply different criteria regarding who is classified as "black", and often social variables such as class, socio-economic status also plays a...
) or triracial (of mixed white, black and Native American). The percentages vary widely by country. Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
, Uruguay
Uruguay
Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...
, Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
, and Costa Rica
Costa Rica
Costa Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....
have large White
White Latin American
White Latin Americans are the people of Latin America who are white in the racial classification systems used in individual Latin American countries. Persons who are classified as White in one Latin American country may be classified differently in another country...
majorities, and Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
and Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
are majority-White per some sources. Brazil has a white plurality. Many other countries in the region have large white minorities, and a few have small white minorities. Amerindians, Asians, blacks, and Zambo
Zambo
Zambo or Cafuzo are racial terms used in the Spanish and Portuguese Empires and occasionally today to identify individuals in the Americas who are of mixed African and Amerindian ancestry...
s (mixed Black and Amerindian) make up the remaining 14% of Latin America's population. In the Latin American context, the "Ideal of Beauty" is not to be of mixed European and other ancestry, as most Latin Americans already are of that ancestry, but rather to be purely of European ancestry. The same ideal is prevalent among Hispanic and Latino Americans
Hispanic and Latino Americans
Hispanic or Latino Americans are Americans with origins in the Hispanic countries of Latin America or in Spain, and in general all persons in the United States who self-identify as Hispanic or Latino.1990 Census of Population and Housing: A self-designated classification for people whose origins...
, Latin American Australian
Latin American Australian
Latin American Australian refers to Australian persons who were born in Latin America irrespective of their ancestral backgrounds, and their descendants...
s, Latin American Canadians, and Latin American Britons
Latin Americans in the United Kingdom
Latin American migration to the United Kingdom is a phenomenon dating back to the early 19th century. However, up until the 1970s, when political and civil unrest became rife in many Latin American countries, the United Kingdom's Latin American community wasn't particularly large...
.
The Latin American entertainment industry is saturated with white actors, with some mestizos, few mulattos, and almost no blacks or Amerindians. Many white actors have Nordic features: pale-skinned, blond
Blond
Blond or blonde or fair-hair is a hair color characterized by low levels of the dark pigment eumelanin. The resultant visible hue depends on various factors, but always has some sort of yellowish color...
and blue-eyed. An occasional actor of Asian ancestry can be seen as well. The same situation happens in U.S. Hispanic entertainment industry.
This European idealisation of beauty has also led to a condition of racial forgery among many Latin Americans. However, in contrast to the Filipino experience where the majority is composed of unmixed native Filipinos of whom some attempt to claim mixed European blood, in Latin America the norm is for some within the mix-blooded majority to concentrate on attempting to diminish, hide or deny any non-European admixture. These people will then often claim to be pure Spanish or other European ancestry in their attempts to conform to the idealized pedigree dictated by their Spanish-Latin American socio-racial hierarchy. To achieve the "pure European look", many mixed-race people in the middle and upper classes use skin whitening products and dye their hair blond, golden brown, auburn (reddish-brown), or red. Some members of the non-mixed races and non-white race engaged is similar practices, dyeing their hair, use skin whitening products, and/or enlarging their eye shapes
Blepharoplasty
Blepharoplasty is surgical modification of the eyelid. Excess tissue such as skin and fat are removed or repositioned, and surrounding muscles and tendons may be reinforced. It can be both a functional and cosmetic surgery.-Indications:...
and/or changing their noses
Rhinoplasty
Rhinoplasty , also nose job, is a plastic surgery procedure for correcting and reconstructing the form, restoring the functions, and aesthetically enhancing the nose, by resolving nasal trauma , congenital defect, respiratory impediment, and a failed primary rhinoplasty...
to aquiline, in the case of Native Americans, black Africans, and Asians to claim pure white race or partial-white mixed race.
Racial forgery in Latin America is often accompanied by handed-down but unproven oral accounts of a presumed Spanish great-great-grandparent and a Spanish surname. Most mixed-white race and white people in Latin America have Spanish surnames inherited from Spanish ancestors, while most other Latin Americans who have Spanish names and surnames acquired them through Christianization and Hispanicization of the indigenous and African slave populations by the Spanish friars, especially in order to ease record-keeping and tax collection, in the case of the Native Americans and Afro-Latin Americans. Racial forgery in Latin America was inherited from Spaniards, who some of themselves have non-European (more specifically native African) blood they deny. The preference for fair skin in Latin America is seen as more attractive and more related to higher social status.
A common joke in the United States, among both Hispanics and non-Hispanics alike, is the presence of more blond
Blond
Blond or blonde or fair-hair is a hair color characterized by low levels of the dark pigment eumelanin. The resultant visible hue depends on various factors, but always has some sort of yellowish color...
e and blue-eyed presenters and actors on US-based Spanish language television networks such as Telemundo
Telemundo
Telemundo is an American television network that broadcasts in Spanish. The network is the second-largest Spanish-language content producer in the world, and the second-largest Spanish-language network in the United States, behind Univision....
and Univision
Univision
Univision is a Spanish-language television network in the United States. It has the largest audience of Spanish language television viewers according to Nielsen ratings. Randy Falco, COO, has been in charge of the company since the departure of Univision Communications president and CEO Joe Uva...
than on the English-language networks such as NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
, CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
, ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
, or Fox
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
; but many Americans are critical of having predominance of blond and blue-eyed presenters and actors on US-based Spanish language television networks. These issues are also addressed in White Hispanic and Latino Americans
White Hispanic and Latino Americans
White Hispanic and Latino Americans are citizens and residents of the United States who are racially White and ethnically Hispanic or Latino.White American, itself an official U.S...
and Race in the United States
Race in the United States
The United States is a racially diverse country. Modern issues of "race", as well as its impact in the political and economic development of the nation, have been examined by numerous historians and researchers across a variety of academic disciplines....
.
The Arab world
Nada El-Yassir comments that "in certain areas in the Arab worldArab world
The Arab world refers to Arabic-speaking states, territories and populations in North Africa, Western Asia and elsewhere.The standard definition of the Arab world comprises the 22 states and territories of the Arab League stretching from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Arabian Sea in the...
; the lighter you are, the more beautiful you are considered." She also says that it is common that women in the upper classes dye their hair blond, and may use skin-lightening products, like in some tropical countries. In some countries the implications of this hierarchy go so far as to affect one's social class and job opportunities.
Iman Al-Jazairi says "Looking at Arabic poetry
Arabic poetry
Arabic poetry is the earliest form of Arabic literature. Present knowledge of poetry in Arabic dates from the 6th century, but oral poetry is believed to predate that. Arabic poetry is categorized into two main types, rhymed, or measured, and prose, with the former greatly preceding the latter...
and novels, it is interesting to see that pre-Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
ic poetry up until western colonization at the eighteenth century, women were always described as having long, wavy, black hair, brown skin, black eyes with the white of the eyes very white. The body proportions were also bigger. During the later part of the nineteenth century and until very recently, light skinned, blond women have usurped the beauty standard in modern Arabic literature.
Quebec
The idea that some Quebecers hold a colonial mentality, due to the conquest of Quebec by the BritishBattle of the Plains of Abraham
The Battle of the Plains of Abraham, also known as the Battle of Quebec, was a pivotal battle in the Seven Years' War...
and subsequent domination by English Canada
English Canada
English Canada is a term used to describe one of the following:# English-speaking Canadians, as opposed to French-speaking Canadians. It is employed when comparing English- and French-language literature, media, or art...
is important in a segment of Québécois
French-speaking Quebecer
French-speaking Quebecers are francophone residents of the Canadian province of Quebec....
intellectual
Intellectual
An intellectual is a person who uses intelligence and critical or analytical reasoning in either a professional or a personal capacity.- Terminology and endeavours :"Intellectual" can denote four types of persons:...
thought, notably within the Quebec nationalist
Quebec nationalism
Quebec nationalism is a nationalist movement in the Canadian province of Quebec .-1534–1774:Canada was first a french colony. Jacques Cartier claimed it for France in 1534, and permanent French settlement began in 1608. It was part of New France, which constituted all French colonies in North America...
and independence movements
Quebec sovereignty movement
The Quebec sovereignty movement refers to both the political movement and the ideology of values, concepts and ideas that promote the secession of the province of Quebec from the rest of Canada...
. These thinkers portray the relationship of Canada and Quebec as a dominant-dominated relationship and often consider the Quiet Revolution
Quiet Revolution
The Quiet Revolution was the 1960s period of intense change in Quebec, Canada, characterized by the rapid and effective secularization of society, the creation of a welfare state and a re-alignment of politics into federalist and separatist factions...
an event of decolonization
Decolonization
Decolonization refers to the undoing of colonialism, the unequal relation of polities whereby one people or nation establishes and maintains dependent Territory over another...
. Those who are in favour of independence hold that Quebec sovereignty
Sovereignty
Sovereignty is the quality of having supreme, independent authority over a geographic area, such as a territory. It can be found in a power to rule and make law that rests on a political fact for which no purely legal explanation can be provided...
is another necessary decolonizing step. The colonial mentality concept has also been used to criticize the relationship some Québécois have with France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, as Quebec was a colony of France in the era of New France
New France
New France was the area colonized by France in North America during a period beginning with the exploration of the Saint Lawrence River by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Spain and Great Britain in 1763...
.
See also
- ColonialismColonialismColonialism is the establishment, maintenance, acquisition and expansion of colonies in one territory by people from another territory. It is a process whereby the metropole claims sovereignty over the colony and the social structure, government, and economics of the colony are changed by...
- History of colonialismHistory of colonialismThe historical phenomenon of colonisation is one that stretches around the globe and across time, including such disparate peoples as the Hittites, the Incas and the British. European colonialism, or imperialism, began in the 15th century with the "Age of Discovery", led by Portuguese and Spanish...
- Category: History of colonialism
- History of colonialism
- AcculturationAcculturationAcculturation explains the process of cultural and psychological change that results following meeting between cultures. The effects of acculturation can be seen at multiple levels in both interacting cultures. At the group level, acculturation often results in changes to culture, customs, and...
- ColorismColorismColorism is prejudice or discrimination in which human beings are accorded differing social treatment based on skin color. The preference often gets translated into economic status because of opportunities for work. Colorism can be found across the world...
- CreolizationCreolizationCreolization is a concept that refers to the process in which new African American cultures emerge in the New World. As a result of colonization there was a mixture between people of indigenous, African, and European decent, which became to be understood as Creolization...
- Cultural assimilationCultural assimilationCultural assimilation is a socio-political response to demographic multi-ethnicity that supports or promotes the assimilation of ethnic minorities into the dominant culture. The term assimilation is often used with regard to immigrants and various ethnic groups who have settled in a new land. New...
- Cultural identityCultural identityCultural identity is the identity of a group or culture, or of an individual as far as one is influenced by one's belonging to a group or culture. Cultural identity is similar to and has overlaps with, but is not synonymous with, identity politics....
- Cultural AlienationCultural cringeCultural cringe, in cultural studies and social anthropology, is an internalized inferiority complex which causes people in a country to dismiss their own culture as inferior to the cultures of other countries...
- Cultural cringeCultural cringeCultural cringe, in cultural studies and social anthropology, is an internalized inferiority complex which causes people in a country to dismiss their own culture as inferior to the cultures of other countries...
- Cultural imperialismCultural imperialismCultural imperialism is the domination of one culture over another. Cultural imperialism can take the form of a general attitude or an active, formal and deliberate policy, including military action. Economic or technological factors may also play a role...
- EnculturationEnculturationEnculturation is the process by which a person learns the requirements of the culture by which he or she is surrounded, and acquires values and behaviours that are appropriate or necessary in that culture. As part of this process, the influences which limit, direct, or shape the individual include...
- Ethnocide
- GlobalizationGlobalizationGlobalization refers to the increasingly global relationships of culture, people and economic activity. Most often, it refers to economics: the global distribution of the production of goods and services, through reduction of barriers to international trade such as tariffs, export fees, and import...
- Hamitic theory
- HellenizationHellenizationHellenization is a term used to describe the spread of ancient Greek culture, and, to a lesser extent, language. It is mainly used to describe the spread of Hellenistic civilization during the Hellenistic period following the campaigns of Alexander the Great of Macedon...
- Intercultural competenceIntercultural competenceIntercultural competence is the ability of successful communication with people of other cultures.A person who is interculturally competent captures and understands, in interaction with people from foreign cultures, their specific concepts in perception, thinking, feeling and acting...
- Language shiftLanguage shiftLanguage shift, sometimes referred to as language transfer or language replacement or assimilation, is the progressive process whereby a speech community of a language shifts to speaking another language. The rate of assimilation is the percentage of individuals with a given mother tongue who speak...
- Macaulay's minutes
- Melting potMelting potThe melting pot is a metaphor for a heterogeneous society becoming more homogeneous, the different elements "melting together" into a harmonious whole with a common culture...
- Passing (racial identity)Passing (racial identity)Racial passing refers to a person classified as a member of one racial group attempting to be accepted as a member of a different racial group...
- Paper Bag PartyPaper Bag PartyPaper bag parties were 20th-century African-American social events at which only individuals with complexions at least as light as the color of a brown paper bag were admitted...
- Race
- RacialismRacialismRacialism is an emphasis on race or racial considerations. Currently, racialism entails a belief in the existence and significance of racial categories, but not necessarily that any absolute hierarchy between the races has been demonstrated by a rigorous and comprehensive scientific process...
- RacismRacismRacism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
- Romanization (cultural)Romanization (cultural)Romanization or latinization indicate different historical processes, such as acculturation, integration and assimilation of newly incorporated and peripheral populations by the Roman Republic and the later Roman Empire...
- Social interpretations of raceSocial interpretations of raceSocial interpretations of race regard the common categorizations of people into different races, often with biologist tagging of particular "racial" attributes beyond mere anatomy, as more socially and culturally determined than based upon biology...
- SyncretismSyncretismSyncretism is the combining of different beliefs, often while melding practices of various schools of thought. The term means "combining", but see below for the origin of the word...
- WesternizationWesternizationWesternization or Westernisation , also occidentalization or occidentalisation , is a process whereby societies come under or adopt Western culture in such matters as industry, technology, law, politics, economics, lifestyle, diet, language, alphabet,...