Racism in BA, am I alone?

[HenryNisental]

My family here are good friends with a chinese family from the Belgrano area.
We invited them them to several BBQ´S, pork roasts,etc.
Now historically speaking, the most racist organizations in this country were the military.
Early in the 1900´s, they would not accept indian or mestizos children to the military academies in this country.
Gral. Juan Domingo Perón lied about his own mother (she was indian) stating in the application forms that she was "spaniard" in origin.
And my own uncle was kicked out of the Aviation Academy here when they found out he was a Sefaradic Jew (during the phisical, of course).
They planted ONE "stolen" boot under his pillow and thew him out of the school (why he would steal only one boot? why not both?).

 

[TheBlackHand]

I don't understand this statement. Is pointing this out an example of you " not " being racist ? No offense, it just didn't really make sense in the context of the rest of your post.

My family here are good friends with a chinese family from the Belgrano area.
We invited them them to several BBQ´S, pork roasts,etc.

 

[joelie]

i havent been in a place like this where money is completely associated with your sking color or how you look.

Trying living in Africa as a white person some time! I guarantee you, it's something else! (although probably in the reverse to the situation you described).

Africans (I should say SOME Africans, definitely not all of them) can be astonishingly racist towards and about each other - anyone remember Rwanda 1994? Or Kenya 2005? - as well as towards white people. It really is a 'human' thing as someone else said.

I get the 'te puedo ayudar' everywhere and I am a blue-eyed whitey.

My reaction to people staring is to 'strike a pose'.

 

[Mano Negra]

Some interesting perceptions and misconceptions in these posts. There is no doubt that Argentines like the fact they are a reasonably homogeneous European immigrant society and are quite frightened of those they don't understand. Further they can be quite dismissive on a general basis of the poorer, normally Latin american immigrants that come into the country and generally seek poorly paid jobs. On the other hand they do have a constitution that allows such immigrants to enjoy the same right as Argentinians from the get go. It is not surprising this causes some friction.

However the appellations, Negro, gordo, flaco, turco, grandote, chino, etc. etc. are equally applied to their best friends as their enemies. Everyone seems to have a nickname. In England I wouldn't call my friends father "fatty" it would be considered rude. Here I say to him Che Gordo and it is a sign of affection and taken as such. I certainly wouldn't call a six foot something pro polo player, who could kill me on the field, Chino if I felt it would offend him, but that is what his name is (no one calls him Santiago). And my polo manager was Negro. By the way I was very happy the first time someone called me flaco (having previously been rather gordo).

In England we used to go to the Paki shops before supermarkets started staying open the same hours, here we go to the Chino's. Is it disparaging to call a supermarket a Chino? Listen to how people talk about them. Che same quality, better price, the people work hard!

My point, yes there is racism here, though actually people treat you as an individual the moment they know you and there is none of the kind of tribal racialism or religious racialism found in so many parts of the world. But don't get distracted by the way they label people, that they do with their family!!!

 

[Lucas]

To the ones who think that here there is a rampant racism, yes, there are some form of racism but there are like everywhere else, the perception and definition of particular cases make the difference in what define a social and cultural racism which is ingrained more in some cultures and societies than others, the situation and grade of denigration that a family must support before move on with their lives is appalling....reading this case will enlighten some people but not to all, this case didn't happen here but in a country which is supposed to be more cultured and developed in their social structure, which really is, but some cultural retrograde sediments still remain attached in the subconscious.

Leaving because of racism experience

http://www.pomsinoz.com/forum/moving-back-uk/124101-leaving-because-racism-experience.html

 

[Driftline]

I don't necessarily agree that the U.S. in general can be compared directly to Buenos Aires as the populations and land mass is so different. There is surely racism in the States, but I think that your average person is more acclimated to a melting pot of ethnicities and has no issue with it than your average person here.

The U.S. still has a high number of hate groups. Last time I checked, Argentina didn't have hate groups. Ironically, most of the racist stuff Argentinians get about violent black people in Chicago and Brooklyn comes from Americans themselves.

And the average person in the U.S. is far, far, far from being acclimated to a melting pot of ethnicities. Not even close.

 

[CarverFan]

In England we used to go to the Paki shops before supermarkets started staying open the same hours, here we go to the Chino's. Is it disparaging to call a supermarket a Chino?!!

Paki is a disparaging term in UK, I'm sure you don't need me to warn you that if you shout, "hey, Paki!" at a guy in the street, you may well get your head kicked in. Fair enough, it's different here and not seen as un-PC...

 

[tez]

Have any of you been to Japan? I lived there for a year, and they would follow me around any shop I went to. I was 20 years old at the time, brunette, freckles-- not exactly a threat, but Japanese are positive that the only crime in the country comes from foreigners.

I don't think racism or the fear of foreign people (xenophobia anyone?) is unique to Argentina.

For the girl who was running, that situation sounds awful and that would make me feel bad as well, but how often do you see people running on the street here?--people aren't used to it. I hear footsteps running up behind me and I get a surge of anxiety and I definitely hold on tighter to my bag. Of course!! I'm sure most on here have read the other posts about how people come running up and steal cell phones, bags, watches, etc. as they run past. So there you go! It doesn't help that these people usually are, in fact, dark-skinned. It's a conditioned response.

Acceptance and diversity are slow processes, evolutionary, you're in a white-dominated society (as far as power goes), this is the country you picked to come to. If we are here and setting good examples, people will get used to these changes, like non-violent darkies (I'm being facetious, I hope that doesn't offend too much!). Think of it as you being a part of the change--how sweet!

Also, just FYI, I got pretty depressed living in Japan, always being an outsider. It definitely sucks, so I do feel your frustration.

 

[Driftline]

Acceptance and diversity are slow processes, evolutionary, you're in a white-dominated society (as far as power goes), this is the country you picked to come to. If we are here and setting good examples, people will get used to these changes, like non-violent darkies (I'm being facetious, I hope that doesn't offend too much!). Think of it as you being a part of the change--how sweet!

You seem to be unaware of the treatment the Irish get from the English; or the Catalonians and Basques from the rest of the Spanish; or the Southern Italians from the Northern Italians; or the Ukranians from Russians. In Europe, people who are the same skin color can show the most extreme prejudice to one another. Even today, they still have not gotten used to the differences, no matter how many good examples are set. Your optimism is laughable. In Japan, Koreans and Chinese get just as bad if not worse treatment than whites. The same goes for other Asians. How many good examples must there be set for people to mellow out when it comes to prejudice?

 

[zingara]

Interracial marriage!
International marriage!
The more we mix the less racism
My daughter love checking OTHER when asked about race.