Graduation Date
Fall 2020
Document Type
Thesis
Program
Master of Arts degree with a major in Social Science, Environment and Community
Committee Chair Name
Cutcha Risling Baldy
Committee Chair Affiliation
HSU Faculty or Staff
Second Committee Member Name
Janelle Adsit
Second Committee Member Affiliation
HSU Faculty or Staff
Third Committee Member Name
Nicholas Perdue
Third Committee Member Affiliation
HSU Faculty or Staff
Subject Categories
Environment and Community
Abstract
The dehumanization of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) during the colonial period has led to an internalization of colonial beliefs about ourselves informed and reinforced by settler-colonial, nation-states that continue to occupy our lands. This thesis explores how the construction of the Mexican[1] identity of mestizaje is based on the logic of racial hierarchy embedded within the colonial construct of the state and this has led to an internalized colonial mentality and inferiority complex among Mexicans. These internalized racial hierarchies have become a part of Mexican society and culture which becomes apparent in the way that we as a community, both in Mexico and abroad, continue to devalue our worth as BIPOC people and contribute to the erasure of our people. Exploring the various forms of identities which have been impacted by colonial ideology allows for a reflexive process in helping us as oppressed people undo the internalized mentality forced onto us. I use a re-examination of historical narratives concerning the genesis of mestizaje and trace it through its continued progression in our present-day communities using auto-ethnography. The ability to tell our own stories and exploration of our roles within settler-colonial nation-states becomes pertinent in sparking conversations that acknowledge and transcend the colonial narratives and views about ourselves.
[1] I have chosen to not capitalize the names of settler-colonial nation-states throughout this thesis. I do as a form of resistance of the illegal occupation of Indigenous lands.
Citation Style
MLA
Recommended Citation
Tenorio, Vanessa, "Shifting the colonial narrative: re-examining and reclaiming internalized identities within Mestizaje" (2020). Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects. 443.
https://digitalcommons.humboldt.edu/etd/443