What is a Mestizo ?
- Filed under: Johnny Mestizo Identity, Filipino & Philippines
- Date: Nov 24,2007
Mestizo is synonymous with mixed race.
However, I like to take it from the Filipino context. For that let’s have a look at history…
Back in March 1521 a Purtugese explorer Ferdinand Magellan under and crew were the first Europeans to arrive to the Philippines archipelago. This led to the Philippines becoming a Spanish colony on the 27th April 1565. Magellan completed the most difficult part of his voyage then he was killed in a campaign against a native king at Mactan Island in the Philippines in 1521. The Filo’s stopped him good!
BOOM! The original Filipino Mestizo was born, a person part Spanish and Filipino.
During the colonial period of the Philippines, the term “Mestizo” originally referred only to those of mixed Filipino and Spanish or Mexican ancestry. However, the term soon became generic and synonymous for “mixed race”. Wiki Source
The old school Mestizo is often is referred to a person of mixed Spanish blood and that of which ever country they were trying to colonise in the 1500’s.
A recent genetic study by Stanford University indicates that at least 3.6% of the Filo population have some European ancestry from either Spanish or United States colonization.
Nowadays modern day Filipino mestizos include Filipinos of Spanish or Mexican origin, American or British mestizos, as well as Chinese mestizos, Japanese mestizos and others. And of course we can’t forget about the ultimate Filipino Australian!!! 
Johnny Mestizo
Related Articles:
Filipino mestizos: A quick thought, why you’re a Filipino mestizo and don’t even realize it
Mestizo studies and by Absolute Astronomy
