Mr. Victor Rangel-Ribeiro in his post Anglo=Indians wrote: If Anglo-Indians were disliked in the years immediately preceding Independence, could it be because Anglo-Indians generally treated us Indians as inferior beings.....In Bombay,.....I was exposed daily to Anglo hostility..... (had) Anglo- Indian friends of dark skinned variety,,,,, There were problems in Goa , too,.....with mesticos.....many were outright racists. Mestisos were in Goa from 1510 to 1961, a period of four and half centuries whereas Anglo-indians came into existence with the arrival of English in India in early eighteen century therefore their sojourn inIndia is not more than two centuries old. During the first three centuries in Goa, the Portuguese male settlers could not have brought their womenfolk because navigation by sailing ships was a dangerous undertaking. So the Portuguese had to rely on "women of comfort " hailing from matriarchal families coming from temple areas across original Goa's eastern rivers. Suez Canal was opened for navigation in 1869 so the British in India did not have to wait long for their womenfolk to join them. Before Suez Canal was opened, sailing ships from Western Europe used to take the South African route and ships could have taken months to reach India Mestisos like Anglo-Indians are children of mixed marriages between European males and Indian females. In any mixed marriage, some children are born light skinned whereas others are dark skinned. Light skinned Anglos were well looked after economically, They were absorbed in Indian Administration , Army and Police. and if I am not mistaken dark skinned Anglos were mostly employed in Railways and Post Offices. In case of light skinned Mestisos they could have been absorbed by local administration, army and police. But I am not sure where dark skninned mesticos found their avenue for employment.Could it be the Catholic Church.
Antonio N,B. Cornel, I am begining to have some doubts about Catholic casteism. Could it be ,in fact, racialism of dark skinned mestisos ? India still has its dwindling Anglo-Indian population whereas Goan mestisos have practically disappeared.
