ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the origins of a national narrative primarily based on the figure of the mestizo. The idea of a nation born of the biological and cultural mixing of indigenous and Spanish communities gave meaning to, and guided, political and social reactions to the presence and activities of foreigners. Racial factors strongly influenced this response; foreigners were placed on a scale of desirability depending on their national and ethnic origins. Furthermore, the 1910 Revolution introduced policies that addressed the social demands of rural and urban workers, and limited the entry of foreign immigrants. Scholars in the fields of anthropology and demographic issues who produced studies that laid the foundations for these policies worked as officials in successive post-revolutionary governments. The chapter also looks at the background and manifestations of racism and xenophobia in a nation that paradoxically embraced mestizaje as a remedy for racial discrimination and exclusion.
