The Legal Construction of Racial Discrimination in Mexico: Celebrating 200 Years of Independence?

Abstract

In this note, I examine the legal construction of racial discrimination in Mexico, the approaches to legal theory which help us understand it, and the role of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. Until the end of the 20th century, the situation in Mexico was characterized by a denial or a trivialization of racial discrimination in legal institutions and society. In recent years, the Mexican government has taken actions to deconstruct the principles upon which racial discrimination was legally based. The case of Mexico directly assists in understanding post colonial racial discrimination in Latin America.