Latin America Tried To Eliminate Black People — And Failed

The dominant narrative in Latin America is that racism doesn’t exist, but that is a lie. Here’s why.

[alrqmcr]

In some Asian countries— people associate having a dark complexion as someone of “lower status” or “dirty”, hence the obsession with whitening products. It’s really absurd.

[Kayzblog]

I'm a black person. I remember wanting to be light skinned and having eurocentric features as a child, and feeling like my existence was a mistake. I'm slowly unlearning this.

[ramonematosnieves]

The only problem with American or Latino Americans talking about racism in Latin America is that they believe every country in Latin America is the same. In Puerto Rico black people make exactly the same as white or mixed people. That’s in the US census. We really appreciate our black culture.

[SusanaGimenez]

who tf said that there isnt racism in latin america have they even lived there

[hayatimofire]

As an African, I was really moved to see afro Colombians have been listening and know African music from 50's.they call it champeta.

[shannonoah_]

This is so disappointing. To be Black in this world means being unwanted, mistreated, and disregarded. Seems no matter where we go or exist, outside of where we where stolen from, we are the undesirables. Meanwhile our culture is rebranded and stolen by everyone. They won't break our souls!

[Richbidness]

As a black Panamanian this means everything. Clearly recollect a chola calling me a monkey when I was just 7 years old.

[ailleenvargas]

i really do not understand Latin Americas obsession with looking more European!

[frederickgriffith]

As an African American in my late 60s the running joke amongst the people of my parents and grandparents generation was this.Segregation was so bad that even the blood supply was separated by race.That Black blood was somehow tainted, dirty and diseased.And because of this so many Black Americans of that generation never even considered donating blood and other organs because they figured nobody else would want them.Including their own people.Its a terrible problem even to this day.

[rongottimetoday]

The discrimination is a worldwide thing for those of a darker hue. I’m glad that the exposure is becoming more abundant for the world to see.

[QueensNY]

My family is mostly a white Dominican family. Most of us are light ski with straight hair, but l love my African Heritage clearly present in Dominican society. I have zero problem acknowledging the African influence in the DR and the rest of Latin America. We are all the same, period.

[akcoop]

My parents are from Cuba but I was born and raised in Washington DC. My entire family is dark skinned. Growing up my mom always warned me about Columbians and Argentinians, now I understand why

[Salad]

I'm Panamanian. One of the most celebrated presidents of our history, Arnulfo Arias Madrid, once wrote an article praising and advocating for eugenics, as well as a list of ethnic groups that he explicitly deemed as "undesirable". He also tried to pass a law to strip Asian-Panamanians from their citizenship. Funny thing is, most of our historians hail him as a hero because he gave women the right to vote, but refuse to acknowledge his racist ideologies.

[lvizao]

This whole video was incredible to see. I´m brazilian and to this day, race it´s a difficult and loaded topic here in Brasil. Even though we´re the most black country outside Africa, we still fighting daily to survive, to have the same oportunities as white brazilians. In all the Latin America, we got the most whitening policies in the past. But even the lightskinned black people goes through viceral racism everyday here. Other than that, we´re fighting to love ourselves as black people. But we will thrive. One luv

[xoanwahn]

I was born in Venezuela but grew up in the US. My mother is black and my dad is white. I grew up with those sayings and with no real knowledge of Venezuelan history beyond the "Bolívar liberated us and we were once one giant country" narrative. It's amazing how much we owe to Haiti and how we continue to ignore it today. It's amazing how much we owe to Africans and Native peoples and yet most of us seem to only remember that one ancestor who came from Spain, myself included. There's a lot to unpack here for me. Thanks for doing this work.

[thekingofmoney]

Latin America never had the “one drop rule” like they did in the USA. The way Latinos view race and the way people from the US view race is completely different. Latin America is a melting pot of races and ethnicities. That however does not excuse hate or racism.

[ladybubbly]

As a Jamaican living here in Colombia I stand with my brothers and sister here 🇨🇴❤️💪🏾💪🏾💪🏾💪🏾✊🏾✊🏾✊🏾✊🏾

[tonyday]

I am so thrilled that this is being expressed. As a Jamaican who has travelled throughout quiet a bit and specifically in the Latin world it is terrible to see for myself what the presentation highlights. We are all God’s children, yet these same folks are given a chance to come to the America and they still have this ignorance as part of their mindset.All this while reaping the benefits of what Blacks have built.I hope that they will change their ways, and that we can live in harmony as God had intended.🇯🇲🙏

[appleopps]

This makes me so sad. As a black woman of African descent, not Latina at all, I love the Latin culture so much. I’ve gone on mission trips to Peru, Guatemala and the Dominican Republic and fell in love with the culture but I could feel the segregation and it hurt. I can only imagine what black Latinas and Latinos deal with…

[groundzero]

you can see lot of africans face racism in arab world, do you hear me AJ+ JUST SAYIN