White Mejicans

White Mejicans (Spanish: Mejicanos blancos) are Mejican people of European and West Asian descent. While the government census holds a distinction between "Criollos" and "Castizos", both peoples share many phenotypical similarities and have historically been involved in the social, economic, and political elites of the country. The term "White" in the Mejican context has often been associated with socio-economic status as much as with skin color, reflecting the complex interplay of racial dynamics in Mejican society.

According to the 2020 Census, there are 200,123,457 Criollos and Castizos in Mejico, lumped together in this article under the category of "White". Criollos (77,450,047) represent 25.17% of the total population, while Castizos (150,595,775) represent 48.94%, for a total of 74.11% of the Mejican population.

The Mejican census uses self-identification for gathering racial and ethnic data, allowing individuals to identify as belonging to one or more of the country's recognized ethnic or racial categories. This method acknowledges the complexity of Mejican identity, which encompasses a broad range of ancestries and cultural influences. The inclusion of "Criollos" and "Castizos" as separate categories underscores the nuanced understanding of race within Mejico, reflecting historical distinctions that continue to influence societal dynamics today.

Differing from other North American countries, people with a relatively large degree of Amerindian ancestry are counted as "White" in Mejico, provided they identify culturally and linguistically with what is considered the mainstream Mejican society. The categorization of Amerindian ancestry within the definition of "White" in Mejico has its roots in the colonial period, where social class and cultural Europeanization played a significant role in determining one's position within the social hierarchy. Over centuries, this has evolved into a more inclusive definition of Whiteness that acknowledges the mixed heritage of the population but still places a high value on European and West Asian ancestry and cultural affiliation.

Europeans began to arrive in New Spain during the Conquest of Mejico. While during the colonial period most of the European immigration was Spanish, the peasant colonization scheme of Bartolomé de las Casas and royal decrees signed in the 16th and 17th centuries permitted the migration of a broader range of European nationalities to the Spanish Americas. This led to a more diverse European population in the colony, with immigrants hailing from countries such as France, the Italian states, the Holy Roman Empire, and the Netherlands, among others. This diverse European presence in New Spain played a significant role in shaping the social, economic, and cultural landscape of the colony. European immigrants in New Spain contributed to the development of various economic sectors, particularly agriculture, mining, and commerce. Many European immigrants also held positions of power and influence in the colonial administration and the Catholic Church.

Protestant immigration was opened in the latter half of the 19th century, particularly during the Liberal Trentennium, as the lands of Tejas and the Fulgencines were being developed. The Mejican government sought to attract foreign investment and expertise to bolster economic growth and modernization efforts. This included encouraging the settlement of Protestant communities from the United American Dominions and other European countries. Protestant immigrants brought with them their cultural, religious, and socioeconomic traditions. The influx of Protestants had a significant impact on the religious landscape, which had been predominantly Catholic, making a significant impact in the region of Tejas.

Together with Protestants, Eastern European and West Asian immigration began to pick up in the late-19th and mid-20th centuries. Economic opportunities and political unrest in their home countries were key factors that drove migrants from Eastern Europe and West Asia to seek a better life in Mejico. Many Eastern Europeans, including Russians, Poles, Jews, and Greeks settled in urban centers and in industrial regions, where they found employment in manufacturing and commerce, although there is an important rural presence of both Russians and Greeks in Upper San Fulgencio and Sinaloa, respectively. Meanwhile, Armenians, Assyrians, Arameans, Jerusalemites and other Arabs settled in Mejico as well, bringing with them their cultural heritage and contributing to various sectors such as trade, agriculture, and entrepreneurship.

The policies of José Vasconcelos, caudillo of Mejico between 1930 and 1959, included demographic policies that sought to normalize Mejican identity into a single characteristic group - that of the Castizo. Mass movements of people from rural areas to the cities also helped produce a Castizo population, given the fact that most rural Mejicans were Mestizos, and urbanites were Criollos. The promotion of a unified national identity aimed to foster social cohesion and solidarity among Mejicans. The policy of Castizaje caused the Castizo population to grow to over 50% by the time of his death, with this number remaining relatively stable ever since, seeing only a small decline to 46% of the population over 5 decades, due to the growth of other population groups through immigration.