Why is racism towards blacks in Latin America so subtle?

Question

I have had the pleasure of witnessing and experiencing several situations in which black people are either looked down upon or don't exist in the Latin America sphere. Example #1 A really good friend of mine is Puerto Rican (woman) and dates another friend of mine who is Black (male). My friend (the woman) mother questioned her about 'why' she couldn't find a white man or latin man to date.

Example #2 A neighbor of mine who is Domincan (I really like this neighbor too) in a conversation about image--stated that I shouldn't say that I am black but Indian (native american) ---WTF!

Example #3 One of my best friends is Brazilian and they tell me all the time that Brazilians are color blind and don't believe in racism and discrimination.----Well I believed her until I had a run-in with a Brazilian who told me that there are at least 100 different words for shades of black because No one wants to be called black outright in Brazil unless you are really really dark. UGH.

To crackerhater: With a name like that you shouldn't be getting me anything, but you can do yourself a favor and get a few lessons on learning not to hate!

Caio

FYI---the reason why I asked this questions was to get honest views from people from all over including Latin Americans. Remember this is a public forum and questions are questions. If I think there is a question that needs to be addresses I am going to throw it out there.....so if you don't like the question then move on--don't waste my time and yours by leaving stupid comments. Thank you!

Answer 1

I think one reason for the racism may be the fact that many of the black people in Latin and South America were brought there as slaves. They were first taken to the islands in the Caribbean, and then they were bought by Europeans to come and work on their plantations and ranches. Once slavery was abolished, they became marginalized citizens without very many opportunities to better their situation. It's much like the situation in the US, except those societies don't have any programs at all in place to try and help people escape poverty, and the black population is much smaller than that of the US, so there was no way for people to really help each other out. Organizations like the United ***** College Fund or the NAACP have been able to lobby for and assist people in the US, but there is nothing like those organizations in other, more southernly parts of the Americas.

When I was in high school my French studies were too advanced for me to attend regular classes, so I had to go to the state university for night classes to fulfill my foreign language requirements. I went for a year, and I had the same teacher the whole time. She was from Chile, and she was of European descent. I remember one time in class she was telling us of her studies in France and she made a remark that was so terribly racist I was actually shocked. She was remarking on the fact that there are so many Algerians in France, and she stated that the Arabs are "intelligent" and "dedicated" enough to learn fluent French if they don't already speak it, but the black Africans that go to France, be they from Algeria or someplace else are, "not bright enough" and "not interested in bettering themselves", so they rarely bother to learn to speak French properly. I thought that was amazing because there are many countries in Africa where French is one of the commonly spoken languages. Several years later, when I had graduated and was attending the university as a regular student, I again had her for one term of French. She again made an amazingly racist remark when she said that French is a subtle language and not suited to those "with big lips" so it is spoken incorrectly in most of Africa. She also reiterated her remarks about the black people in France. I am pretty sure her sentiments are not generally shared by the French people because I read a quote from someone's memoir once (don't remember who), and she said the first time she really felt good about being a black woman was when she went to study in France in the 60s. She said the color of her skin was a non-issue everywhere she went in France, and no one looked at her funny when she dated men who weren't black.

Damn, I hate racism. It's ugly.

Answer 2

Blacks In Latin America

Answer 3

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
Why is racism towards blacks in Latin America so subtle?
I have had the pleasure of witnessing and experiencing several situations in which black people are either looked down upon or don't exist in the Latin America sphere. Example #1 A really good friend of mine is Puerto Rican (woman) and dates another friend of mine who is Black (male). My...

Answer 4

How in the hell is that subtle? Do you know what subtle means? Do I need to get you a dictionary?