race relations in the southeastern highlands of Mesoamerica

Abstract

A recent ethnographic truism concerning the southeastern highlands of Mesoamerica is that the distinction between Indian and Ladino is not “racial”, but rather is “cultural”, and therefore that Indians and Ladinos are most appropriately designated as “ethnic groups” and not “races”. This paper traces the history of the development of this truism but then argues that the dichotomy between racial and cultural criteria of group de‐ finition is unwarranted. Furthermore, there are some advantages to charac‐ terizing the Indians and Ladinos as “races,” that is, if “race” is defined in a sociologicalrather than a biologicalfashion. Specif ica11y, “race” wouId help clarify the actual sociological character of the Indian and Ladino groups, including their interrelations and the process of cultural change in the region. At present, these are obscured by the use of the term “ethnic group,” which has been associated with a minimization of the importance of descent in defining group membership, a reluctance to use the term “racism” to characterize group relations, and a tendency to identify modernization with Ladinoization.

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