Mestizo self-identity is used to deny the possibility of racism

Evidence

Most Venezuelans would claim to be mestizo, not in the technical sense of being the product of European and indigenous family mixtures but more broadly and informally of being (racially) all mixed up. As largely a mixed population, the claim continues, there really is no – the implication is that there could not possibly be, or be a place for – racism, for that would be to self-denigrate. — David Theo Goldberg, The Threat of Race, 1172

Categorization

• XREF: Ties to the myth of racial democracy and mestizaje ideology in Latin American scholarship.