In this work, Isreal G. Mallard explores the political activity of Afro-Latino populations in the United States. His inquiry is motivated by two questions: (1) What social/racial factors influence the electability of light-skin/dark-skin self-identified Afro-Latinos running for political office? (2) How do social/racial factors influence the pathway to political office for self-identified Afro-Latinos? Focusing his study on Washington, DC, Mallard uses a qualitative design to construct his argument. His data consist of interviews with thirteen self-identified Afro-Latino/a participants selected through a snowball sample covering the areas of ethnicity/identity, pigmentocracy, and political representation. He places these interviews in context with archival data from books, journals, magazines, newspapers, and online sources.
Mallard argues that nationality is more important than ethnicity and that light-skinned Afro-Latinos are more electable than those identified as dark skinned. His theoretical point of departure is “racial democracy theory,” a concept coined by Brazilian intellectual Gilberto Freyre in the...
University of California Press