casta system
Birth-determined social stratification
The casta system was a colonial Spanish framework for classifying people by racial mixture in Latin America.
It ranked individuals based on their proportions of Spanish, Indigenous, and African ancestry—mestizo, mulatto, zambo, and dozens of other categories—determining social status, legal rights, and occupational opportunities.
Casta paintings depicted the hierarchy in family groupings.
The system formalized racial stratification until independence movements abolished it in the nineteenth century.
- hierarchyRanked authority structure
- untouchableExempt from criticism or harm
- DalitOppressed caste group member
- purityUncontaminated quality
- blood purityUnmixed ancestral heritage
born into · limpieza de sangre · pollution · colonial · colonial rule · New World · mestizo · mulatto · criollo · mixed race · blood · lineage · color line · stratification · rigid · hereditary · endogamy · discrimination
- Mestizo Culturemixed race, race mixing, indigenous roots, ancestry, cultural pride
- genealogyfamily trees, family history, descendants, ancestors, ancestry tracing
- Afro-LatinosAfro-Brazilian, Afro-Colombians, Afro-Cubans, Afro-Peruvian, Afro-Brazilians
- colonial slaverychattel slavery, African slaves, slave markets, slave codes, slave ships
- Spanish Lawroyal decrees, royal edicts, Cortes, criminal codes, penal codes
casta systemmeritocracy
Advancement through demonstrated ability
egalitarianism · classless society · merit-based system · social democracy · open society
casta systemmeritocracy
Advancement through demonstrated ability
social mobility · classlessness · classless society · upward mobility · open society
casta systemegalitarianism
Philosophy of universal equality
human equality · equal rights · civil rights · universal suffrage · anti-discrimination
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