Black in Latin America

Pardon the lateness of the post. I was misinformed about the due date of this assignment.

After watching the PBS program "Black in Latin America", I asked myself what the word race means. Is race a color? Is it an ancestry? Is it a history? How do we define? Is it defined for us?

According to the video, race in Latin America is based more on where one has come from than the color on one's skin. Why is that? That is because the demographics of Latin America are multiethnic, with a great deal of racial mixing. If someone is able to trace a great deal of their ancestry back to Europe, such as Spain, then that person would consider him or herself to be "white". Race in Latin America is defined by the people, and where they have come from. History has a great deal of influence on racial terms. Many people who live in Brazil are considered black because of their African ancestry. When Portugal colonized Brazil, many black slaves came from Africa.

Race in Latin America tends to be defined by the view of an individual, and less by the norms of society. That is not to say these two terms are unrelated. However, in the United States, race tends to be a more social and political term, and less of an individual one.

Black In Latin America

Having watched part of the documentary, "Black in Latin America," I found myself wondering about racial identity within Latin America. The people in Latin America define their race using old words from the time of the caste system, and I found myself thinking about the census that our class looked at earlier on in the semester. Most of the words used to describe race in Latin America wouldn't be found in the census. My thinking on the census took two paths. I wondered, if the census were expanded to include more precise race definitions would anyone feel this to be beneficial? Would anyone feel any more of an identity? Or is race entirely unnecessary in the census? Why does the American government need information about the race of the inhabitants of the United States? The information from the census is apparently used mostly by governments to make decisions about economics, social policies, laws and regulations. Why should race be collected then in the census? Shouldn't the census leave out questions about race and focus on questions about money and income and such things? It seems to me that these race questions have no purpose in the census beyond allowing people to express some form of identity on a government document, which is unnecessary.

Black In Latin America

After watching the video "Black In Latin America", I read some of the comments posted by other viewers. Some expressed anger towards the host saying that he was politically incorrect, others thought he went about the documentary the wrong way, and the rest congratulated him on bringing this issue to light. But all of these responders had one thing in common: they spoke of their pride towards being black, or part black, or accepting and valuing their background. I agree that it is wrong to reject your heritage because it means you are also denying other parts of you. Whether you are tri-racial, biracial, or mixed, you should be proud of your upbringings and ancestors.
Unfortunately appearance is the first thing you see, and appearance is judged in our world. This is why society makes us want to hide "the black grandma in the closet", because society has always looked down upon darker skinned people. Even in India and China, the majority of the population wears long clothing to conceal their skin so they do not get darker because of the sun. The issue of racism is so controversial. In the United States, people flock outside in the summer to tan as much as possible, yet we then judge and look down upon those with dark skin. Even complexion and hair type are reckoned when dealing with the definition of race.

Latino in America

http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2009/latino.in.america/

I watched Latino in America 2 in her corner yesterday night. This is only the video from the first series but its actually very interesting. It covers alot of the topics we go over in class, its a really enlightening report giving the insight to Latin American Culture in the U.S.

Discovery of African Heritage

To begin, while watching the PBS program in class last school-week more than one aspect caught my eye. The issue of race and racial identity is a matter that is dealt with in many different ways depending on the area in which the issue is occurring; for one thing, in Mexico it was shown that the native people did not want to admit that they are descendants of African slaves that were brought over during the slave trade by European settlers. On the other hand, in Brazil, I have learned that the classification of a persons African heritage is determined by the pigmentation of their skin. For instance, in one scene in particular there was a group of Brazilian men all of different skin tones. The men claimed that they were all black but different titles were given to the different skin tones. To follow this theme, when the Brazilian people were asked wether or not the interviewer in the film was black, some said he was and some said he was not. I found this phenomenon to be very interesting because of the different ways that race is identified, or covered up, in different countries.

Another aspect that I found interesting is how a portion of the Brazilian population is actually celebrating the history of African enslavement in their land; instead of ignoring their African roots like in Mexico or trying to cover up the existence of slavery-as many Americans do- the Brazilian people carry out their traditions of song and dance. The way that this celebration is shown in the film is through "candomble, a religion that blends Roman Catholicism with tribal African lore"(Prada, 1). The history of African people is clearly evident through this religion because we see the European influence of Roman Catholicism being mixed with African tribal lore to create a unique religion that cannot be found any where else in the world. In addition to the blending of religions, the film illustrates an ancient exercise that allows the Brazilian people to be in touch with their African roots and history of enslavement by the European settlers begging by the Atlantic Slave Trade around 1550. This exercise, or fighting dance technique, is called "capoeira, a martial art that evolved when slaves disguised fight training as a dance"(Prada, 1); its popularity is booming on one specific area of Brazil and it truly shows how African heritage is not covered up. The film talked about how when the slaves would practice the martial arts in order to protect themselves against their owners but when the men would ride on horseback to investigate they would have to integrate a dance aspect in order to cover up their true intentions.

After watching this film in class, I am now able to understand that Latin American culture is not only made up of indigenous people but also the descendants of African slaves as well as European settlers. This film has caused me to become aware of the presence of black heritage and presence in Latin American and that the term "hispanics/latinos" may become incorrect due to the large portion of the population that have descended from African ancestors. The conclusion of this PBS film sparked me to research black heritage in Brazil and I came across an article that depicts how American tourists are not becoming aware of the prevalent black history and culture that exists in Brazil. This article, http://articles.boston.com/2004-10-17/travel/29205069_1_african-culture-african-legacy-african-influence, truly shows the reader that Black/African history exists in Brazil and unlike other nations, the people of this nation are not afraid to demonstrate their heritage. Black heritage is something that should not be covered up and I am glad that this discovery can be found/experienced by many like Simone Manigo Truell, who states: '"I've never felt more African than here"'(Prada, 2).

PBS Review: Perceptions of Race

While we watched the PBS movie, there was many things that struck me about it. For one thing, I found it interesting about the different skin tones, and how most people who would be considered black in the US don't consider themselves black in Brazil. I felt like for the majority of the movie, I was noticing that it was depicting slavery in the US to slavery in Brazil, and looking at the positives and negatives. It was kind of shocking to me when I heard that Brazil has accepted their slavery period in a way that's much different from the United State's point of view. As a whole, the US doesn't condone its use of slaves and we have come to an agreement against it. Brazil still today has not come to grips with the fact that slavery and segregation of blacks is bad. 

I was able to locate an article about Brazil and how it views its black race.  

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/5357842.stm

Most people tend to not even associate themselves as black, but somewhere in-between. The black population, though they make up almost 50% of the population, tend to be on the lower levels of the economic and social hierarchy that is Brazil. They are hoping to change that, but they have a long ride ahead of them. They are currently trying to pass a law to absolve the issues with race, but they were hoping that it wouldn't have to be this way. Although they showed in the film that this happens during carnival season that people appreciate their roots, they don't show what happens on a day-to-day basis in Brazil.

Also, I found it horrible that many black women in Brazil want to straighten their hair and erase their culture that comes with it. I believe everything about you, including curly hair, shows your ancestry and where you come from. I like how they have a week to celebrate their roots, but it shouldn't be just a week celebration, they should have parties more often and to be proud of where they come from.

Media Impact in Latin America

Much like the culture in the United States, the media impact upon people in Latin America is very influential. For whatever the reason might be, having an African decent is not considered to be very popular. In certain countries like Mexico, people do not identify themselves at all as being black even though they probably have some black ancestry. In Brazil however, it is not a thing to hide and many people identify as a shaded black.

The medias role within the communities is directly related to how they view being black. In many countries they do not highlight black women as being beautiful, or being successful. In those same countries people do not identify as black. Although this is a bad influence it is not uncommon. In America the media has a resounding influence on how people view themselves. One question I have that I don't think will ever be answered is, "how would the world be different if media had no impact, any part of the world, on how people viewed themselves and others."

Inequality in Brazil

After watching the PBS film in class, I had learned a lot about the racial elements of Brazil’s population. I was completely unaware that there were so many people from African descent living in Brazil. I found this interesting, and decided to research further to see what I could learn about this major population. I found a BBC article http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/719134.stm that discussed the “truth” about the black population of Brazil. It states that the racial democracy in Brazil is just a myth. Blacks feel invisible in Brazil, they make up half of the population- but they don’t occupy important political and social positions. Benedita da Silva, the first black woman elected to the Brazilian Senate states, “We live on the margins, in the ghettos where people can’t see us.” http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/brazil/brazil-race.htm The population of blacks have brought with them their traditions in music and dance- as we saw in the video. They excel in Brazilian sports (for example, Pele). However, they complain of social insults and police harassment constantly. Carnival season is a particular season where Brazil’s social rules are pushed aside. However, outside the Carnival season, according to the Latin American Studies website, “Black women accompanied by white men are often assumed to be prostitutes and black visitors to wealthy condos or high-rise office buildings are still often sent to the ‘service’ elevators.” After continuing to read both of these articles, I was shocked to hear about what truly is happening in Brazil in terms of the lack of a racial democracy. It made me question what was being done in order to potentially reach equality- because clearly, it has not been met yet. I found that there was a meeting on June 13, 2011 between the US and Brazil to produce a joint action plan in promoting racial and ethnic equality. According to this website (http://www.raceequality.org/current-news-and-events/83-meeting-of-us-brazil-joint-action-plan-to-promote-racial-and-ethnic-equality.html) there are many more meetings to follow, and I hope that they lead to a long-term solution to the inequality that Brazil is facing.

Media Influence

After watching Black in Latin America, I have realized how great of an impact the media has on society. The mass media influence has continued to grow as our technological resources have improved and as our self-image has become more important.

Due to the advanced technology, Latin American civilians have begun to focus on the celebrities in the media way more than they have before. Trends and customs have evolved into ones that come directly out of the media. As Latin American focus on the media has increased, the celebrities have influenced the way Latin Americans think they should be. The change in self-image in Latin America comes directly from the media and affects the appearance of a person and their nature.

A true "Latin American" in the media, was rarely black and their hair was always straight. Civilians would then change their appearance to mask their true colors and looks from the rest of society because they are afraid of how they will be viewed. Mothers even change the looks of their kids to make sure they are no perceived in a different/ bad way. Children are usually open minded individuals who do not care about colors and backgrounds but because of the media's influence, parents have become so media driven that their children have been taught to view other's based on looks too.

Drugs

Drugs throughout Latin America, and more commonly Mexico, have become a problem that has not seemed to decrease but instead increase as time went on. Even though authorities have been cracking down on drug trafficking nothing has worked the way it should. Drug traffickers are finding new and innovative ways to smuggle their drugs throughout the world.

Recently BBC published an article about how authorities captured a submarine designed for smuggling drugs (carrying over 7 tons) called Farc's drug submarine seized in Colombia. The submarine is supposed to be able to travel all the way from Colombia to Central America with no stops in between. Druglords are being forced to more and more extreme methods of smuggling their drugs.

Farc is a a revolutionary group in Colombia who's goal is to to make colombia marxist. They are just one of the many groups involved in the ongoing conflict in Colombia. They prefer to use guerilla tactics, and in 2010 they admitted to killing over 450 government soldiers and wounded over 200o soldiers. So, how do they finance all this?

Originally they used drug taxation in the areas that they controlled which resulted in millions of dollars every year. As time went on they started to kidnap for ransoms, rob banks, steal large parts of land, and sell drugs. As time goes by more and more drugs are being found and taken. Farc and other druglords are losing money and are being forced to find new ways to traffic their drugs to support themselves. This need lead them to submarines and other creative ways of trafficking their drugs. So what will be their next move?