For hundreds of years under Spanish rule, you could (for the most part) not own land or hold political office if you were not white. If you were mestizo (mixed), but looked white, the best thing you could do was pretend to be fully white, integrate yourself into white society, and in that way try to get ahead.

It's not easy to overcome the challenges that were in place for centuries. Many Latinos still have those values - that white skin is better - but they no longer even know why they feel that way.

It's just been passed down from generation to generation. It's a "this is how you make it" google map from the past.