Argentina - Racism?

[indiboy]

Hi

I am from (India) going to study in Bueno Aires for the nex3 years . Now have got a little afraid cos i heard stories about argentina and specially Bueno Aires to be very racist against dark skinned people. I talked to an other Indian buissnes man that went for holiday with his wife and kids .

And at several resturants even if the resturant was open and people sitting and eating they said the resturant was closed. Also they got the feeling that they was not really welcomed there.

If they was welcomed in they mostly got the worst table in the resturant and far back as possible.
And very slow service. Some of this resturant was expensive ones in the buissnes destrict also.

Is this just a smal phenomen and just unlucky case?? I know from personal experince that Russia is very bad but i could never think about this of an


South American country that in my mind was an multi cultural socity and with mixed people . I have liven in Sweden for last 10 years , and i have never been treated bad. Or not been served. I have traveled alot...allready.

Please i am happy for all comment...I hope i am wrong. I really would like to see Argentina and be your guest for the next 3 years

Nihal 24.

 

[DA]

Now have got a little afraid cos i heard stories about argentina and specially Bueno Aires to be very racist against dark skinned people. Nihal 24.

I am afraid that the stories you heard are correct but they will apply to any color including white. Don't worry there are many nice and intelligent people here in Buenos Aires that doesn’t judge you for your color. When you get here please contact me and I will be happy to invite you to my house for dinner.

 

[einnobnaej]

I do not at all want to minimize any racism against dark-skinned people here, but I would like to point out that service at restaurants here tends to be slow in general. At most places, you're expected to seat yourself and service staff don't always make service a priority. So don't take bad service as an automatic insult...it's just that "bad service" is relative, I guess.

 

[fatfugu]

hello

i think the portenos are racistic ,,

but not in general to dark skined people i think in general on some places foreigners are not welcome

even me get sometimes no service at all

i am blond maybe to blond

come and giv a shit on this

 

[gusgutier]

There are clear laws against racism im Argentina, so if you are a victim, you can report it at INADI (national agency against discrimination). In addition to this, there are no organized racist groups attacking people as recently happened in USA or some european countries.

 

[gusgutier]

hello

i think the portenos are racistic ,,

but not in general to dark skined people i think in general on some places foreigners are not welcome

even me get sometimes no service at all

i am blond maybe to blond

come and giv a shit on this

There are clear laws against racism im Argentina, so if you are a victim, you can report it at INADI (national agency against discrimination). In addition to this, there are no organized racist groups attacking people as recently happened in USA or some european countries.

 

[kanguro]

Hi ,

I can only present my opinion as an individual who was born here but brought up somewhere else.

In no way do I agree that there is the kind of racism that I have read described here, I'm sorry but I'm dark skinned too, and I feared coming back here & finding a racist culture since I was brought up in another place. Because I have relatives here & I speak the language too, I was slowly relieved to find that although some Portenios may be be seen to be arrogant, it is not to be automatically confused with 'Racism'. The term 'che negro' etc, will never have the same translation into English, it's used in the same way as "che flaco" etc.

This country is one of the least racist countries I've ever seen in all my travels. I have found absolutely no sign of any of the nasty racism I witnessed in other places, sorry. And please don't think that I'm being defensive cause I'm not.

I've lived in some Asian countries for more than two years, I can say that I did experience real racism in those countries more than any other. I've lived in Australia , Germany, Spain, USA, Japan, Thailand, Malaysia & now Argentina.

This is only my opinion & I'm not here to deny anyone from having an opposing opinion.
I just cannot understand how anyone could see Argentinian's as racist generaly!

There will be class & status issues between differing soscial groups as there is in any other country, yes. Trust me, I know what it's like to suffer discrimination, and I can say I have not seen any of the sort here, this is a very racially mixed country.

Best whishes!

 

[Moxon]

I'm quite surprised to hear this - Argentines by dint of their history are certainly traumatised and deeply divided over many issues - scratch the surface and all manner of enmities and neuroses can materialise but I have to hand it to them - racism here is far less apparent than in many countries I have visited. There has been a recent influx of West African, mainly Senegalese immigrants here - if anyone is going to suffer being singled out on the basis of appearance it is these people but from what I know they have very few complaints to make about discrimination. My partner came across an old man telling one such immigrant street trader that he had no right to be on the street selling his wares or in the country for that matter and when she came to his defense two or three other locals joined her, copping an earful from the old man in the process. Just a bad case of bronca needing an airing I suspect but the support from other locals who could have walked on by says a lot I think. As in many countries, racism is most apparent in the cross cultural relationships that date back the farthest - here it is with local indigenous peoples or immigrants from Peru and Bolivia.

I would give Argentina a chance and put your compatriot's experience down to cultural misunderstandings and/or the vagaries of dining in Buenos Aires as mentioned above. These are just my impressions from anecdotal accounts, racism is everywhere, but certainly Argentina is a long way away from Russia in terms of racial intolerance.

 

[Bairesgirl]

I have an Indian friend raised in America who lived & worked in Buenos Aires for a year and had a great time.
She is now back in Minnesota and misses the city a lot...

I will try to get her to post regarding her experiences here over the year to transmit her viewpoint... having lived it....

 

[RWS]

I've scant acquaintance with India, never having lived there, but from that limited acquaintance would hazard that Argentina as a whole is markedly less racist than India. There's certainly no social bigotry hiding under the veil of religion. However, Argentina does not have a "multicultural society" (does any nation?); as a shortterm resident, you'd do well to observe and, within courtesy and reason, adapt to this very different (from India) society.