Hispanic Heritage Month gives us in the United States the opportunity to reflect not only on the triumphs of the Latino community today but all their effort, all their struggle, to get to this moment.

The journey has not been easy or the same for all Latinos, especially those of indigenous and African descent. One of the reasons is discrimination on the basis of skin color or colorism. Colorism was part of the caste system created by the Spanish colonizers of Latin America to establish a hierarchical structure. But how does colorism affect Latinos today?

Here we share an interview with Dr. Prisca Gayles, assistant professor of sociology at the University of Nevada, Reno who explains the genesis of this racial classification system that still impacts the relationships among Latinos themselves, and also, that between Hispanics and other communities in the United States.