In the late sixteenth century, investigations of ancestry classified Black Africans (negros and mulatos) as “stains.” Any individual with an indigenous background would be considered as Mestizos. The idea that any hint of Blackness in a lineage was a stain continued to the end of the colonial period.
Wikipedia (Casta)
Like eroding wood.
Like aging bricks.
Like initials in
concrete.
Like rusted pipes.
Like dirt walls,
or the paint
that covers them.
Like sweat on shirts.
Like blood on shirts.
Like wine spills.
The lipstick
on the glass.
Like a last
goodbye.
Or a first
hello.
Like tobacco teeth.
Like puncture wounds.
Like scabbed wounds.
Like blackened eyes.
The skin
after the slap.
Like beaten leather.
Or bruised fruit.
Like leprosy.
Like bubonic.
Like Aids.
Like a disease–
forever
