How common are ideas of “mejorar la raza”?

r/

Is there an equivalent in Brazil? “Melhorar a raça”?

Comments

  1. Crane_1989 Avatar

    Yes, Brazil leaned heavily into Eugenics after our abolition of slavery. It was official state policy to accept immigrants from European nations in an effort to “bleach” the country.

  2. Dragonstone-Citizen Avatar

    Until a couple of years ago I had only heard of it as a joke. Lately, I’ve heard it numerous times coming from a specific group of immigrants (I won’t name them bc it’s not my intention to generalize, but I think most of my fellow Chileans will know which group I’m referring to)

  3. daisy-duke- Avatar

    Its past logic was pretty bad.

    However, since we know now that it doesn’t work like that, (ie. breeding out X or Y ethnicity).

    Thus

    gif

  4. Healthy-Career7226 Avatar

    Theres a reason LATAM is home to Mulattos, Mestizos, and Zambos. It was/still is common till this day

  5. thegabster2000 Avatar

    Yes, it’s pretty common.

  6. Phynx_- Avatar

    The first time I heard of it was on the internet, I thought it was a joke.

  7. Commercial-Earth-547 Avatar

    It’s ingrained in Mexican culture

  8. Tasty_County_8889 Avatar

    Pessoas que pensam assim não deveria ter filhos.

  9. talking_electron Avatar

    I’ve never heard about it outside of this subreddit, someone mentioned the european immigration stuff already and that’s it, people thought the country couldn’t work with miscigenation.

    But let’s say my grandmother (who’s black) is happy all her grandchildren are fair skinned.

  10. Fun_Assignment_5637 Avatar

    you can call Brazil racist but USA is way more racist. In Brazil it is normal to see mulatos and other mixed race people. Most people have black genes in them, while here in the USA being a mixed race couple will raise eyebrows and is mostly unseen.

  11. lojaslave Avatar

    As jokes by old people? Not that common but they exist I suppose.

    As an actual idea people believe in? Not common where I am, I guess it could be common elsewhere but I don’t know.

  12. nolabison26 Avatar

    Very common throughout Latin America. Many if not most Latin Americans aspire to whiteness and when they come to the United States they get a rude awakening as they learn that there is a hierarchy of whiteness here.

    It’s really sad and based off of white supremacy.

  13. GordoMenduco Avatar

    Never heard it except for jokes in the internet

  14. MoldovanKatyushaZ Avatar

    Common. The most shameful part of the Latino culture

  15. clase-azul Avatar

    This saying came from the Dominican Republic from a president called Trujillo I recall seeing a documentary about this

  16. sum_r4nd0m_gurl Avatar

    very common. so many latin americans even on here like to overexagerrate how “white” their country is or brag about how “white”/minimally indigenous their country is as if its a good thing that their natives got genocided

  17. cupideluxe Avatar

    It’s common, looks pathetic and desperate, but it’s also sad bc it’s a result of years of white supremacy socialization

  18. Spiritual-Low-1072 Avatar

    It’s like a joke until you fall in love.

  19. AmorinIsAmor Avatar

    Here in México is a very common phrase.

    Personal anécdote, my wife’s family love to mention how my wife helped “mejorar la raza” by marrying me cause me and our son have white skin.

  20. Lazzen Avatar

    Its not an ideology but rather a mindset that pops up in stupid conversation. Its like men who say “you gotta get one with big tits” or people saying african americans into X are “acting white”

  21. CervusElpahus Avatar

    Not really a thing here

  22. AugustusSweatshirt Avatar

    Yeah I’ve heard it. My girlfriend is African-American, and my uncle joked about why I didn’t want to mejorar la raza. He expected me to marry a white girl and have white kids etc.

    It was a shock to them that I would bring home someone darker lol

  23. SlightlyOutOfFocus Avatar

    I’ve only seen that on the internet

  24. Snoo_57113 Avatar

    This is truly the first time i ever heard about this in my entire life.

  25. Pure_adrenaline98 Avatar

    Ahhh, the gringos commenting on this post look like cockroaches.

  26. Atuk-77 Avatar

    Last century was very racist against dark skinned people, the biggest issue was systematic racism that would limit opportunities so been born with light skin was already an advantage. Not any more as the rich no longer discriminate they hate everyone the same but traditions specially the bad one are hard to eliminate.

  27. GamerBoixX Avatar

    I’ve never heard someone say it unironically here, although I understand that some generations ago it was sadly a more common belief, I’m mostly white and from a high income background so that may play a part in why I’ve never heard it here tho, something I’ll say is, I’ve known of many cases of friend’s families having issues with them dating people of much darker skin, never going so far as fighting, stopping it or doing something about it tho, same thing happened with people of much lower income backgrounds and with foreigners, these things usually come from very old people tho, I doubt most young people care about that

  28. danthefam Avatar

    It’s mostly a meme, such as when a cousin or relative marries a Gringo or European. Whiteness is seen as more attractive but it’s not like people with color go to drastic lengths to marry a white person. The typical relation is a couple of similar color and background.

  29. PlatonicMushroom Avatar

    I feel like every time I come to this subreddit I point my finger at boomers. Today its no exception: I would say up to 20 years ago I would hear boomers use that expression. 10 years ago still saying “bonita la guagua, es blanquita” was something boomers would say to compliment the baby to their parents or grandparents.

    I think another white supremacist flex is to have been blond as a kid. Even ashy blond. It always makes me cringe when parents claim so proudly their offspring was blond as a kid or had blue eyes as a baby.

    It’s creepy and sad.

  30. metroxed Avatar

    Very common, even if not stated directly.

    It ranges from parents not wanting their children to date/marry people of a perceived lower status (classism plays a role too ) to people online showcasing their European partners as trophies, this is particularly common in TikTok and among women.

  31. xkanyefanx Avatar

    No one’s told me this but I hear it’s common in Mexican communities with darker skin.

  32. Flat-Helicopter-3431 Avatar

    I would never have heard of that term if it weren’t for the internet. No one really says that here.

  33. fahirsch Avatar

    In Argentina we had originally “Día de la Hispanidad”. Then it was changed to “Día de la Raza”. It was changed 15 years ago to “Día del Respeto a la Diversidad Cultural”

  34. No_Quality_8620 Avatar

    It’s so common in Brazil. We just don’t use this expression, but the ideia is there all the time. Although my family is white (but with brown eyes and black hair), the happiness of my grandmother is that I married a blond with blue eyes woman. Her dream is to have this kind of grandchildren, and she says this every week.

  35. PraetorGold Avatar

    Depends on the country. I have never heard of it from Mexicans, Colombians or Puerto Ricans. But then, I know few people from those countries where this would be a goal.