Structural violence and identities at risk: Maya and Teenek migrants facing racism

Abstract

Abstract In this article, I analyze how structural violence, expressed in racism, affects the identity of Indigenous people and their decision to migrate. I compare the processes in Mexico of the Teenek from northern Veracruz whom migrated to southern Tamaulipas, and the Maya from Yucatán whom migrated to the Riviera Maya in Quintana Roo. This is a qualitative investigation that has conducted observations, interviews, and documentary analysis. My main contribution is the comparison of two migratory processes within a country and their relationship to identity in Indigenous communities. I conclude that Indigenous people construct and transform their identity amidst historical oppressions and the possibilities they forge for themselves in the social contexts they encounter in the different places to which they migrate. These processes occur within a context of structural violence that is increasingly oppressive for Indig enous peoples.