In 1568, a group of Mexican mulatos unsuccessfully petitioned the Spanish crown for a license to build a hospital. The mulatos’ petition, however, is an important document that speaks to the legal avenues Afro-Mexicans explored in the mid sixteenth century in their attempts to improve their social position. Through an analysis of how the petition process played out, this article demonstrates how that process epitomized the growing limits placed on Afro-Mexican autonomy by colonial administrators. I contend that this case attests to the difficulties Afro-Mexicans continually encountered in their efforts to establish safety nets through such institutions as hospitals and cofradías, following the example of other colonial subjects. Over time, however, the mulatos’ attempts to institutionalize their privileges as permanent fixtures of colonial society, for example, in petitioning to establish a hospital, intensified the opposition of local royal authorities. I also argue that the petition reveals a Mexican mulato community taking form as a common goal brought the mulatos together, setting in motion a process of community-building through petitioning. Finally, the petition process allows us to see how mulato-ness was understood at the time, broadening our understanding of the category at the time as well as its transformations. The article thus contributes to the study of Afro-Mexicans’ use of the Spanish legal system in the mid sixteenth century, as well as their engagement with the Spanish petition system, two topics that have received little scholarly attention.

1568 年，一群墨西哥混血儿向西班牙王室申请建造医院的许可，但未成功。然而，黑白混血儿的请愿书是一份重要文件，讲述了非洲裔墨西哥人在 16 世纪中叶试图改善其社会地位所探索的法律途径。通过对请愿过程如何进行的分析，本文展示了该过程如何体现了殖民管理者对非裔墨西哥自治施加的越来越大的限制。我认为，此案证明了非裔墨西哥人在通过医院和cofradías等机构建立安全网的努力中不断遇到的困难，效仿其他殖民主体。然而，随着时间的推移，混血儿试图将他们的特权制度化为殖民社会的永久固定物，例如，在请愿建立医院时，加剧了地方王室当局的反对。我还认为，请愿书揭示了墨西哥混血儿社区的形成是一个共同目标，将混血儿聚集在一起，通过请愿启动了社区建设的过程。最后，请愿过程让我们看到了当时人们是如何理解混血儿的，从而拓宽了我们对当时的类别及其转变的理解。因此，本文有助于研究 16 世纪中叶非裔墨西哥人对西班牙法律制度的使用，以及他们与西班牙请愿制度的参与，