Colorism and the Afro-Latinx Experience: A Review of the Literature

Using Bronfenbrenner’s Social Ecological Model, this systematic critical literature review investigated factors that contributed to the development of colorism, as well as the effects of colorism on Afro-Latinx persons, in Brazil, Mexico, and Puerto Rico, and the wider Latin American region. Agencies within the macrosystem and chronosystem were used to investigate factors involved in instituting colorism in Latin America. Constituents of the microsystem and mesosystem were used to research the effects of colorism on Afro-Latinx persons. The development of colorism ideologies and practices in Latin America was largely due to the endorsement of laws, cultural values, and cultural beliefs that arose from the perceptions and interactions between the region’s main ethnic groups and the biases that emerged from these interactions during key eras throughout their history. It was found that several studies documented the de facto impact of colorism on the family, school, community, and professional lives of Afro-Latinx persons.