Mestizo II

I had my DNA tested approximately two years ago. The results came back showing what I expected to see. I'm Mestizo. That means I'm a mix of Spanish and Native American.

About a week ago I received an email from Ancestry.com saying that they found new discoveries for me. I clicked on the link and discovered that they had a short, brief, and MISLEADING historical account of Mestizos. According to Ancestry.com, the casta system in colonial Mexico consisted of four castas (castes), these castas, or social-economic classes were 1) Penisnsulares, 2) Creollos, 3) Mestizos, and 4) Indians.

Ancestry.com blatantly and incorrectly says that Indians were at the bottom of the casta system in colonial Mexico. Who do they think they are dealing with? They obviously do not know that I already did my own research into the casta system in colonial Mexico and I already discovered that Peninsulares, Creollos, and Mestizos held the three top tiers of the social-economic structure. Indians were NOT at the bottom of the casta system, it was blacks who were at the bottom of the casta system. The casta system was established as follows:
1. Peninsulares
2. Criollos
3. Mestizos
4. Mulatos
5. Indians
And below the Indians was a myriad of other castas, all the way down to the pure black, or African, who was at the very bottom.

The casta system was set up in a way that placed the individual with the most Spanish blood at the top. This is the reason why Mulatos (Spanish & Black) were fourth and the Indians were fifth in the system. A Mulato was half Spanish whereas an Indian had no Spanish. However, even an Indian was higher in the system than someone who was mixed with Black ( except for the Mulato who was half Spanish).

See my post "Mestizo," posted September 7, 2018.

Ancestry.com goes on to say that Mestizos and Indians were basically peones on the Spanish owned haciendas but failed to mention that Mestizos and Indians could not be enslaved under Spanish law. The Blacks and pure Africans on the other hand could, and often times were, enslaved.

Ancestry.com gets an "F" for their half-ass version of the casta system in colonial Mexico.