21st Century Racism vs. 20th Century Racism
by
Irene Castro
Language Arts 10A
June 17, 2014
Saint Mary School
Mrs. Bonzer
Can you believe that racism and discrimination still exist in the 21 st century?
The racism the world saw in the U.S. during the 1960s never fully extinguished;
look at Colombia and its racism issues today. Racism in Colombia is quite similar
to the United States in 1960s. Many blacks and indigenous people suffer every day
from discrimination. Let’s start by looking at the US in the ‘60s.
Racism in the United States in the 1960s was a battle between white and
colored people. Propaganda played a big part in changing people's minds. Groups
such as the KKK (an organization that made resistance to the Republicans and
Blacks). This organization was created because people were upset that African
Americans were getting all those rights, and they felt they needed to do something
about it. The Ku Klux Klan intimidated the Negroes with fights and even murder.
People like Martin Luther King Jr., a Baptist minister, led a Negro movement to end
racial segregation and tried to draw people to him by giving speeches. The book
To Kill a Mockingbird is a great example to show what people thought about
Negroes in the ‘60s. “Just what I said. Grandma says it’s bad enough he lets you
all run wild, but now he’s turned out a nigger-lover we’ll never be able to walk the
streets of Maycomb again. He’s ruining the family, that’s what he’s doin’.” (Lee, Ch.
9). This quote demonstrates that talking, helping, or being friends with a black is
considered the worst thing you could do, at this period of time it was considered a
sin.
People in Colombia also suffer from discrimination and racism. Many
indigenous people are exploited at work as farmers and women as maids as
consequence of the lack of education they receive. They are mostly seen selling
fruits or jewelry in cities; this citizens don’t get the opportunity to work on a high
prestige company. Internationally, Colombia has been generalized by other
countries as the drug traders, but when you think about drug trafficking you only
imagine black people. Why? Because of stereotype created in the 1960s making
us believing that blacks are always the bad person.
During the 1960's, the Civil Rights movement began. This started a new era
of violence. White citizens were not happy because the blacks had the same rights
as them. They needed to feel powerful. Blacks were excluded from society. They
had to use different bathrooms, restaurants, and water fountains. Blacks were
forced to live in ghettos and sit in the back part of the bus. In some states, a citizen
had to pay a poll tax before he or she could vote in state and local elections. The
tax is seldom more than two dollars. The poll taxes were used to discourage
African Americans from voting in state and local elections.
At the end of the 19th century a Negro was elected as president in Colombia.
"There’s no way Colombia would elect a black president today" (Jaramillo). No one
knows about this president, he is not even mentioned in books just for being black.
The historian Orlando Fals Borda found several portraits of the president and by
comparing them, he discovered that in most of the portraits the first black president
of Colombia’s skin what painted in white. Colombia has only two congressional
seats for blacks; there are no black ambassadors or black generals. Currently,
Colombia has a lot of similarities with the US in the `60s. In both countries
colonialism by the whites has grown rapidly. Most of the Afro-Colombians are from
the lower class. They are working in domestic service and various low-skilled labor
positions in urban and rural areas. According to the Information Services Latin
America Organization (ISLA) it is estimated that 38% of the black population go to
school and less of the 2% attend to university. Like in the United States in the ‘60s,
in the present Afro-Colombians are suffering from lack of government support for
education.
Differences are also evident: Afro-Colombians have more rights than the
Negroes in the 1960s. In Colombia there isn’t propaganda against them or antiblack groups like the KKK. Also some of the Afro- Colombians have better
opportunities for education and to have decent work.
Racism hasn’t totally disappeared. You can see a lot of discrimination in
Colombia today. Racism has abated through the years, but many practices still
remain; such as generalizing blacks as bad people. Many Colombians suffer every
day from this. How do you visualize racism and discrimination will be like in the
next 10 years?
Works Cited
Jaramillo, Juan Carlos. Quote. "There’s no way Colombia would elect a black
president today." Web. 27 May 2014.
Lee, Harper. To Kill a Mockingbird. New York: Grand Central Publishing C. 1960.
“Racism in the 1960’s.” BlogSpot. 16 Dec. 2008. Web. 27 May 2014.
Rodriguez, Cesar. "Racism in Colombia resembles the U.S." El Espectador. 25
Sep 2010. Web. 27 May 2014.
Salem, Badar. “Colombians Still Fighting Racial Discrimination”. Suiteio. 16 Jan.
2010. Web. 27 May 2014.
“The black president Colombia forgot”. France 24. 24 March 2009. Web. 27 May
2014.
Video. “Black People in Medellin, Colombia”. YouTube. 17 March 2013. Web. 27
May 2014.
Video. “Racism, School Desegregation Laws and the Civil Rights Movement”
YouTube. 14 Aug 2012. Web. 27 May 2014.