The custom of casta paintings from eighteenth century Mexico shows the extend to which society was officially stratified by race. From these series, we can see that race in colonial Mexico was a defining characteristic of people’s lives. At first glance, it seems obvious that race directly leads to social class. However, the sixteen different castes only existed because these groups mixed frequently. The inherent contradiction of these paintings is that they try to concretely define and sort race, which is a fluid concept. Not only does the actual race of a family change over generations, but the idea of race is also subject to change over time.

What I found especially interesting, though, is the expectations that seem to come with each particular casta. These expectations came in many forms, such as the dress of the family, to their surrounding environment, to their demeanor. In many of the paintings, even the lowest classes seem to be forming happy families, having accepted their place within the structure of the empire. These paintings were intended to show the contemporary makeup of the population of Mexico, but they actually only depict a vision of the country. Specifically, a vision of the ruling class during this particular time period.

Based on the casta paintings, this system of racial organization seems so well organized, but there are of course exceptions. This made me think of La Malinche, an indigenous woman who interpreted for Cortes during the imposition of Spanish colonialism in Mexico. She was referred to as Doña Marina by the Spaniards, a title of respect ordinarily given to important Spanish women. I wonder where people like her would fit in to this system? A native woman, but one who spoke Castilian, was a practicing catholic, took on a Spanish name, and gave a significant service to the Spanish crown. Perhaps because she acted so much like a Spanish woman, she was exempted from her Indian status. Throughout the three centuries of uneven colonial rule, there must have been countless individuals who seemed to break the system.

What I took from this is the idea that racial divisions of society were very real and had far-reaching effects of the layout of Latin American society. However, this seems to be a tremendously simplistic view, because it ignores how people were able to work within those confines. Ultimately, the casta paintings served to promote a view of order within Spanish America, whether or not this corresponded with reality.