"Oh dear. Yes there were. Otherwise why the Edict of Aranjuez of 10th February 1794 permitting non-criollos to adopt the title Don in the"
^
1795^^
"American empire?"
"So, a law against racial privileges is an evidence of a racist society?"
It can be, yes. In this case, it indicates that an edict was necessary to correct one aspect of the racist behaviour of the white (and self- declared white) colonists. It might also indicate that, before the edict, there had been a law forbidding non-whites to use the title Don, but I admit that this might not be the case: the edict might have been an attempt to correct behaviour not covered by earlier laws rather than to correct earlier laws.
It's worth noting that either this edict or a later one allowed non- whites (i.e., those who belonged to neither the peninsulares or criollo classes) to purchase a certificate declaring them to be white. Such a certificate wouldn't be worth having in a non-racist society.
"And, as it seems, the worst thing for the non-criollos was that some criollos didn't allow them to use the title Don, and the Spanish Crown had to draw a law against this inhumane behaviour?"
No, that wasn't the worst thing. I was just trying to show that there were indeed 'racist laws in the hemisphere', but I'm not sure I succeeded in that.
"Interesting. Let me think about it: some non-criollos wanted to use the title Don; this title was only used by ... Don. And do you call this a racist society? I see it as less racist than the so-called "positive discrimination"."
An entertaining argument but, alas, not very convincing. Every book and website I can find says that Spanish colonial society was organised according to race and class - and class was determined almost entirely by race. The criollos were subordinate to the peninsulares because, unlike the peninsulares, they couldn't prove that their blood was 100% Spanish. (A meaningless boast given Spain's history but it was considered important at the time.) This made them very prickly on the subject of race and they furiously defended the large gap between themselves and the next group down, the half-castes. (Pardos?) Then came the Indians, then the free blacks, then the black slaves.
But I'm sure you know all this.
"If it had survived longer, perhaps it would. The Spanish ... have been concerned about the fates of the native peoples."
"And do you really think that this is characteristic of a racist society? For me, it is just the opposite."
It supports some of what you have been saying about peninsular Spain not being racist. The Crown and Church spent centuries trying to force the colonial aristocracy to treat the Indians and half-castes more fairly. But the colonials took very little notice and Spanish America continued to be racist from top to bottom right up until independence.
"But the Spanish Empire was an early European empire and ... early European way - in fact, in law, in toto."
"If you say so... But I prefer facts to unknown people's opinions."
Well, a google with (criollos peninsulares Indians site:.edu) should point you to the generally accepted facts about the social structure of Spanish America. I assume that named academics at respected universities are acceptable to you.
Mick 'The Unknown Person' wick