Bigotry? What Bigotry?

While Mexicans typically deny that discrimination exists, the not-so-subtle racial undertones of their society are apparent to foreigners who live and work here since Nafta was passed. When Henry B. McDonald, director of the Cushman & Wakefield Real Estate office in Mexico City took his family out for dinner last November, he didn't think twice about inviting his 45-year-old housekeeper, Gabriela Miranda, an Indian. It was a Friday night and they went to a popular Italian restaurant called Prego in the Polanco section of Mexico City.

"We got there early by Mexican standards, around 7:45, and the place was empty," Mr. McDonald said. "But we stood there waiting and waiting until finally the maitre'd came along and told me, in English, that domestics are not served here." Mrs. Miranda was not wearing a uniform, Mr. McDonald said. The restaurant simply assumed that because she was an Indian she was a maid.

The restaurant manager, Mario Padilla, acknowledged that it is policy at Prego and other top restaurants to prohibit servants and drivers, many of whom are Indians. "The type of people who usually come to restaurants of this class all have servants, but they usually leave them at home," Mr. Padilla said. He said the restriction was needed to protect patrons against people who "lack discretion" and try to bring their servants. He denied the policy was discriminatory. "We're not racists," he said. "We're just trying to protect the image of the restaurant."

Social Tension

Now that Mexico is struggling to overcome an economic crisis caused by the peso's devaluation last December, there is concern that racial tensions will flare. More than half a million Mexicans have been thrown out of work in the last six months, and the struggle to survive is likely to be decided on the basis of education, access to money and cultural connections, all of which are based in large part on racial identity.

"There is going to be a sharp increase in social tensions," said Sergio Aguayo, a human rights activist in Mexico City, "and some of it is going to be racially inspired."