Racist and xenophobic discourses in north-western Chihuahua. Colonization, agrarian land redistribution, and settler–ejido relations (1884–1930)

Abstract

This article examines the presence of racist and xenophobic discourses in north-western Chihuahua between 1884–1940, focusing on colonization, agrarian land redistribution, and relations between settlers and ejidatarios. It argues that, although the Mexican state reconfigured property regimes after 1910 through Article 27 of the Constitution and the Agrarian Law of 6 January 1915, discriminatory practices did not vanish. Instead, they were reshaped and continued to link racial hierarchies to disputes over territory, water, and access to resources. The analysis examines key elements of nineteenth-century colonization processes and postrevolutionary agrarian legislation, as well as case files from the Archivo Histórico y Biblioteca Central del Agua and the Archivo Histórico del Estado de Chihuahua, alongside regional newspapers consulted via the Hemeroteca Nacional Digital de México. The findings show that the stigmatization of certain groups operated as a legitimizing instrument to defend colonizing privileges and to delimit agrarian rights, thereby naturalizing inequalities in local life. The article concludes that this continuity was not a residual cultural phenomenon but an active component of the agrarian structure and of everyday negotiation among actors, shaping social and political integration in the region.