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Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
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Despite being mixed countries, I've heard mixed opinions about how racially harmonious Brazil is. I've heard that some black people do believe they are discriminated against on the colour of their skin, if not necessarily their 'race.' Since there is a more complex social hierarchy of peoples based on skin colour in Brazil than the US, it makes a complex situation.
What about Cuba and the northern South American countries?
I didn't include the Dominican Republic. I forgot to put Puerto Rico.
Being an American who lived in Brazil, and later explored Spanish-speaking South America as well...it is very very different.
Brazil: Friendships and socially and everything else...everyone mixes with everyone. You don't see a group of 5 white guys at one table, and 5 black guys at another table, like is common in the US, where they aren't intermixed socially so much.
However, WORK WORLD. In the US, I've always seen African-Americans at EVERY LEVEL...tons of bosses, just everything. When I was teaching in Brazil, regularly I only saw light-skinned Brazilians of european-descent with most of the office jobs. Almost never saw a black brazilian in an office setting - I was teaching English going in and out of corporate offices. I met one light-skinned black guy, who was so pale but with black features. He use to thank God all the time his skin was so light, as he said he'd never had got that job. He wasn't complaining about it, just being thankful about it all the time.
In other words, in the workworld, things seem very segregated with the better jobs going to european-descent. However, socially, a completely different world. Everyone hangs out with everyone else, without such division of friendships on race.
In short, I don't think anywhere in South America, there is much 'equality' on a structural level. But socially, people don't avoid anyone else because of skin color.
Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
24,544 posts, read 56,081,790 times
Reputation: 11862
Did you just copy and paste that from an older post? lol...it sounds very familiar, haha. Not that I'm 'calling you out on it', still an apt reply which I appreciate reading again.
Tiger Beer's post is quite interesting, considering how social classes don't really socially (or any other kind such as corporate) mix in Latin America.
What could explain TB's experience of seeing mostly whites in higher status jobs but very mixed socially, in a classist country as Brazil?
Unless, of course, TB's experience was very peculiar (the offices he visited were predominantely white, but could had been a small sample that didn't reflect the whole picture, maybe?)
How many corporate offices did you visit?
Do you think it was a sample large enough to represent an actual trend or too small to generalize?
What percentage of the total number of office buildings did you visit in the city/town you taught English?
Where was this, in Sao Paulo, Rio, somewhere else?
On another note, I don't think there's much affirmative action type programs in Brazil. In the US, companies are practically obligated to have a certain percentage of their workforce belonging to some minority group. This explains why corporate USA appears to be integrated but on a social level the true nature of race relations become much clearer (much more segregated.)
Anyway, regarding the topic of the thread, I would say that its a toss up between Venezuela, Panama and Cuba. The first two due to the nature of the people there, they are just not as color struck or race obsessed as others might be, not to say there's no racism or colorism there. In Cuba its mostly due to government initiative after Castro rose to power, but some old habits still exist.
Tiger Beer's post is quite interesting, considering how social classes don't really socially (or any other kind such as corporate) mix in Latin America.
What could explain TB's experience of seeing mostly whites in higher status jobs but very mixed socially, in a classist country as Brazil?
Unless, of course, TB's experience was very peculiar (the offices he visited were predominantely white, but could had been a small sample that didn't reflect the whole picture, maybe?)
How many corporate offices did you visit?
Do you think it was a sample large enough to represent an actual trend or too small to generalize?
What percentage of the total number of office buildings did you visit in the city/town you taught English?
Where was this, in Sao Paulo, Rio, somewhere else?
On another note, I don't think there's much affirmative action type programs in Brazil. In the US, companies are practically obligated to have a certain percentage of their workforce belonging to some minority group. This explains why corporate USA appears to be integrated but on a social level the true nature of race relations become much clearer (much more segregated.)
The Brazil ordeal doesn't makes sense.
I was teaching in Sao Paulo. I taught 'shifts', either before personnel go to work, or during their lunch hour, of after they get out of work. Different places different days.
Maybe 10 different companies? Maybe it was just coincidence, but I never saw anyone who was black working in any of them. It just really stood out.
Even though blacks are not really equal in any Latin American country, but if I had to pick a country it would probably be Cuba. The Communist era may not have been the best thing for Cuba but a least they actually tried to address the racial disparity that existed in their country.
Last edited by gwillyfromphilly; 03-31-2012 at 09:13 PM..
Um, I cannot say I have never been to Cuba. But I live in Miami and the white cubans are some of the most racist people I have ever met (and many were from the island or their parents were) But like I said I have never been there.
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