Latin America Social Caste Pyramid (LASCP)

On October 12, 1492, the Spaniards arrived in the Bahamas and the Spanish conquest of the Americas officially began, which lasted until August 13, 1898, three centuries later. With their colonies, the Spaniards developed new societies and governed through a stratification system often called the Latin America Social Caste Pyramid (LASCP). This system was not only racial discrimination, but it was also a true system of political and economic domination.

Social Caste Pyramid in latin america

1. Creole/ criollo (European + American): A Criollo is a person born in America of European (Spanish) and American parents. The Creoles are the ones who initiated the independence process in Latin America and are the ones who replaced the Spanish officials in the highest positions of the administration, the economy as well as the army.

   
   

2. Chollo (Creole + indigenous): A Chollo is a person of creole and indigenous parents. Chollos are found in the middle classes, business bourgeoisies and middle ranking officials of Latin American societies.

   
   

3. Mulatto/Mulato (Creole + African American): A mulatto is a person of Creole and African American parents. The word refers to the mule that results from the cross between the horse (the Creole) and the donkey (the African American). Mulattos are usually small merchants, soldiers, non-commissioned officers in the army or members of the clergy.

   
   

4. Indigenous: Indigenous people are laborers, agricultural workers, miners or domestic servants. Representing most of the population in Latin American countries, they also constitute the basis of the colonial economy.

   
   

5. Zambo (Indigenous + African American): The Zambo is a person of Indigenous and African American parents.

   
   

6. Afro-American: Afro-Americans are workers, miners, agricultural workers and slaves located at the lowest level of the colonial Latin American social scale.

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Spanish colonization left its mark on the functioning of modern Latin American society. The LASCP still has an impact at the legal, institutional, geographic and urban levels. For example, in the economic capital of Bolivia (La Paz), the Creole populations are found in the center of the city and in the rest of the city live the indigenous people and some Afro-Americans. This is what we call geographic discrimination.

This stratification system is a legacy of the Spanish colonization. Today, the term “mulato” is still commonly used in Latin America to designate people of mixed race. The term implies that the mixed-race person is not black enough to be considered black, but is also not white enough to be white, which can have repercussions on his or her life and his capacity to feel fully integrated into the society.

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