Skin Tone and Mexicans’ Perceptions of Discrimination in New Immigrant Destinations

Abstract

Colorism literature examines how skin tone—alongside prototypical group features and hairstyles—correlates with socioeconomic, health, and political outcomes. Yet few studies have explicitly operationalized how skin tone shapes Latinos’ experiences of racialization in “new” U.S. destinations. Here, we draw on a large, representative sample of Mexican immigrants (N = 500) living in two large metropolitan areas (Atlanta and Philadelphia) to investigate how skin tone shapes their perceptions about the frequency and sources of discrimination. Even after controlling for demographic, economic, and immigration–specific factors, including ethnoracial self–identification, we show darker skin tone is significantly associated with higher reports of racial discrimination, discrimination specifically from U.S.-born Whites, and a stronger tendency to struggle internally in response. Together, these results support colorism literature’s argument that skin tone is distinct from race and offer new insights into how skin tone shapes the lived experiences of Mexican immigrants outside the U.S. Southwest.