Discrimination in Latin America: Afro-Latinos in , Colombia, and Mexico Marielle Hankerson Introduction

• Dixon, K. & Burdick, J. (2012) “. . . ideas of common descent from Africa, a common history of enslavement and emancipation, and common experiences of social oppression (Wade 2008B) . . .” (p. 2) What discrimination do Afro-Latinos face?

• Haywood (2017) Compared to Latinos, Afro-Latinos rank lower “on all socioeconomic measures, including income, employment, and housing.” (p. 762-762) • Haywood “. . . Those with dark skin were forced to occupy lower social and economic positions (Ruiz, 2008).” (p. 762) Brazil

• Sansi (2007) “Salvador de , once the colonial capital of Brazil, is nowadays the capital of Afro-Brazilian culture.” (p. 1) • Urban distribution Education in Brazil

• Morrison (2012) “Half of all blacks are functionally illiterate, while less than 20 percent of are unable to read.” (p. 245) • Morrison “. . . Three-fourths of all Afro- have less than eleven years of formal schooling.” (p. 245) • Gates (2011) Affirmative action in universities, Universidade do Estado do – 20 percent of spaces would go to black students Careers and Jobs in Brazil

• Phillips (2011) “In Salvador, a former slave port with one of Brazil's largest black populations, the findings were even worse: whites earned 3.2 times more than blacks.” • Morrison (2012) “. . . White men in Brazil earn 98.5 percent more than African-descendant men . . . And white Brazilian men earn 200 percent more than African-descendant women (Paixão 2009b, 20-22). (p. 244) • Morrison “Unemployment is 50 percent higher among Afro- Brazilians than among whites.” (p. 244) Housing in Brazil • Perry (2012) Story of Senhor Amilton and Dona Telma (p. 219-220) • Perry “The city’s urban redevelopment process, involving the demolition of poor neighborhoods, is one public manifestation of the power differentials that have defined social relations between blacks and whites . . . .” (p. 221) • Perry “The Brazilian state represents black people as the ‘undeserving poor’ who should be excluded from the blossoming urban center of Salvador.” (p. 221) • Perry “During recent processes of urban revitalization, the government’s plans to transform Gamboa de Baixo into a historical and cultural site for tourism and leisure have posed a threat of mass land eviction.” (p. 223) • Perry “In Brazilian cities, where the vast majority of the nation’s black population and poor occupy these settlements, equating ‘slum clearance’ with ‘black clearance’ reflects how black people experience the interconnectedness of class-based racial and gender inequality and spatial displacement.” (p. 230- 231) Colombia • Andrews (2018) “…Cuba, Colombia, Argentina and Honduras— were between one-third and one-half Afrodescendant.” (p. 38) • Morrison (2012) “Estimates suggest that there are 10 million to 17 million African descendants in Colombia, between 20 and 30 percent of the total population.” (p. 245) • Morrison “Although Afro-Colombians make up about 26 percent of the entire population, they represent well over 75 percent of the poor.” (p. 245) Education in Colombia • Wade (2012) “. . . Afro-Colombians work hard to gain an education despite the lack of facilities and services in their communities but that their education does not benefit them as much as it does other people in terms of employment and income.” (p. 138) • Morrison (2012) “. . . Black students are less likely to attend high school, because secondary education is available to only 62 percent of Afro-Colombians compared to 75 percent of all Colombians.” (p. 246) • Morrison “. . . 65 percent of schools in Afro-Colombian communities are identified as poor quality or very poor quality.” (p. 246) • Castillo Guzmán & Caicedo Ortiz (2015) Push for ethnic education Careers and Jobs in Colombia

• Wade (2012) “Unemployment is higher for Afro-Colombians than for non-Afro-Colombians (6 percent versus 3 percent) and poverty is greater (10 percent versus 7 percent).” (p. 138) • Morrison (2012) “Afro-Colombians earn 34 percent less than their nonblack counterparts and are overrepresented the the lowest two quintiles of wage earners – blacks are 49 percent of these low wage earners, compared to 40 percent for the nation as a whole.” (p. 245) Housing in Colombia

• Machuca (2010) “However, perhaps no one is affected as much as Afro-Colombians, who make up a disproportionate number (40 percent) of the over 3.5 million internally displaced Colombians uprooted from their territory since 1990.” (p. 369) • Wade (2012) “. . . Only about 20 percent of these Afro- Colombians live in the Pacific coastal region.” (p. 137) • Wade “. . . Nearly 600,000 of the self-identified Afro-Colombians in the census live in the province of Antioquia, generally famed for being one of the whitest in the country.” (p. 137) Mexico

• Gates (2011) Caste paintings that came from the Spanish show 16 different racial mixings • Andrews (2018) “Even Mexico, only 10 percent black and mulatto, had the second-largest Afrodescendant population in the region, at an estimated 635,000 people.” (p. 38) Education in Mexico

• Jones (2013) “Many towns did not have . . . High schools, creating a sense of local community, low levels of education. . .” (p. 1569) • Jones “. . . The level of education is relatively low . . .” (p. 1575) • Saucedo, Garcia & Castro (2008) “Education levels of male heads of household range from unfinished elementary school to incomplete secondary school.” (p. 150) • Saucedo, Garcia & Castro “One in ten is either illiterate or can barely read and write. . .” (p. 150) Careers and Jobs in Mexico

• Gates (2011) Black Mexicans see themselves as people who can only do a certain type of work because of their history • Jones (2013) “Because there is very little work for unskilled labour and the level of education is relatively low, few alternatives in rural farming towns exist (Fernandez-Kelly and Massey 2007).” (p. 1575) Housing in Mexico

• Gates (2011) Costa Chica is the region with the most black people, and also one of the poorest communities • Saucedo, Garcia, & Castro (2008) “Occupancy of the land is primarily communal . . .” (p. 150) • Rural distribution How is change possible?

• Cultural movements and celebration • Raises awareness and promotes acceptance and tolerance • Social movements • Power of grassroots campaigns • Legislative change • Securing education, protecting land, preventing job discrimination Sources Andrews, G. R. (2018, Winter). Afro-Latin America by the numbers: the politics of the census. Revista Harvard review of Latin America, 16 (2), 38-40. Retrieved from https://revista.drclas.harvard.edu/

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