Racism in Indigenous education for the Yoreme Mayo people in Sinaloa

Abstract

The Yoreme Mayo Indigenous people from Sinaloa, Mexico, have faced different forms of racism, and they keep fighting for their autonomy and acknowledgment at several levels: social, government, economic and educational. This micro-ethnographic study aims to explore these forms of racism, which can be seen in the educational system and exemplified by practices that occur in institutions such as the Autonomous Indigenous University of Mexico. As actors from within this institution, we have systematically observed and documented evidence on this. There are forms of racism related to (a) the historical process of the relationship of Indigenous people, (b) the territorial educational structure in Indigenous communities, (c) linguistic displacement, (d) the insistence of the non-Indigenous to remain in important positions, even in Indigenous institutions, (e) nationalism and intercultural racism that leave Indigenous issues in the background and (f) endo-racism, where some Indigenous individuals devalue their own culture from childhood.