Racial Inequality In Latin America

Movies and entertainment outlets speak volumes about the current state of a nation’s culture. Cinematic creations in the United States allow small voices to be heard and controversial issues to be addressed. However, a repetitive and monumental issue continues to be addressed, yet continues to persist in our 21st century culture, racial inequalities. Since the inception of the United States, black men and women alike have been disenfranchised at the hands of the “white man” in America. Instead of continuing the conversation today, the issue is continually silenced referencing the successes and achievements of the Civil Rights Movement in the 20th century. Nonetheless, an unfortunate reality looms upon this great land; racially based systems and structures continue to exist in 2015 the in United States. This paper synthesizes three films focused on racial inequalities in different time periods. Separate but Equal (1991), Selma (2015), and Crash (2005) illustrate how influential the Civil War amendments are, while serving as an uncanny reminder of how the racial prejudices during the 20th century continue to exist in our great nation today. Needless to say our nation has made great strides, but still has a long way to go.

There are approximately 7 billion people in this world. Each person has a unique combination of traits such as skin tone, face shape, body type, eye color, hair color, and other characteristics. These traits vary due to genetics, environmental factors, and much more. An individual 's race is defined by their physical characteristics and how they differ among others. Race is not defined by the way an individual behaves or portrays themselfes; it is based strictly off of their physical traits. Since America was founded, race has played a significant role in the relations of the citizens in this country. For decades, different races have been stereotyped and been prejudice towards one another, without realizing how invalid their judgements are. Specifically, African Americans have been discriminated by caucasians in America since it’s founding. It began by the enslaving of African Americans, and today, the discrimination and inequality is more hidden in society. Although America has made significant progress in overcoming racial inequality in the country, many African Americans are still being subject to hardships that Caucasian Americans do not face, especially in regards to the justice system.

As a mix of diverse people gave rise to a new social structure and introduced a cultural blending in the Spanish empire, located in Latin America, eventually a growing population of lower-classed non-white people became angered at the privileges of the whites. Being denied the status, wealth and power that were given to whites, the mestizos and the mulattoes resented the Spanish. Masses of enslaved Africans and the many populations that were looked down upon suffered economic misery and longed for freedom, eventually leading revolutions across Latin America. Those revolted were motivated by love for one’s race and freedom, like what Father Miguel Hidalgo says in Document A of the Latin American DBQ, “we are not Europeans; we are not Indians;

Johnson, H. B. (2014). The American dream and the power of wealth: Choosing schools and inheriting inequality in the land of opportunity. Routledge.

Being part of a minority community is beautiful. Although, the burdens that come with it are truly unjust. I constantly grow more aware of the inequality between the people of my Hispanic community and those that have been redlined. I was born into a home where my mother could not find a job after my father left due to personal reasons, leaving my brother to bear the burden of taking care of eight children. It was as though poor people could not have nice things. I realized that for some strange reason, segregation is ever present in our society. A society that claims to have done away with that practice. It is not only the Hispanic coming, but also Latinos and African Americans that are being redlined. We battle with rampant racism along with

The barriers that separate men have existed for centuries. Race, class, status, these are all ideas that have created a divide among humans. This divide creates competition and tension. Throughout the history of the legal system, justice has been used to validate slavery and other forms of racial inequality. Our system now has changed, but the basic concept has remained the same. According to one study, the judicial system was invented by whites to protect whites and keep people of color at bay (Constitutional Rights Foundation, 2017, p1). This idea of preserving a one superior racial system resulted in a bias still existent today.

When the Europeans first arrived in Latin America, they didn’t realize the immensity of their actions. As history has proven, the Europeans have imposed many things on the Latin American territory have had a long, devastating effect on the indigenous people. In the centuries after 1492, Europeans would control much of South America and impose a foreign culture upon the already established civilizations that existed before their arrival. These imposed ideas left the continent weak and resulted in the loss of culture, the dependence on European countries, and a long standing ethnic tension between natives and settlers which is evident even to this day. The indigenous people of South America, which

Imperialism and then colonialism opened the floodgates that are troubled race relations, racism, and misguided societal values. Race has played a vital role in how Americans view each other, and themselves, and the experiences that they have. We constantly hear about institutionalized racism, the school-to-prison pipeline and police brutality on the news. The topic of race has such an enormous presence in our society that it simply cannot be ignored. But what is rarely talked about is how these conditions are incredibly similar to those that people in Latin America have to endure as well. Racism does not end at the borders of the United States, and in fact, they only seem to get worse in countries that are less developed.

Having a colored skin can have different and multiple meanings, depending on which place of the globe you are located. The documentary, “Black in Latin America (Episode 1) Haiti and The Dominican Republic- The Roots of Division” adequately portrays how two countries that are relatively close to one another, can have very different way of thinking and perception about where they come from. Moreover, this video provides a tremendous amount of information regarding the history and traditions that each of these countries practice now at days. Although the division between the Dominican Republic and Haiti is just the “Massacre River”, what differentiates these countries goes beyond just a river, and as the video mentions, they even have different time, different language, and consider

Earlier this week President Obama made history by being the first American president in 90 years to visit Cuba. This visit will not only mark the monumental progress made in the American-Cuban relationship but it also began to shed light on the racial inequalities present in Cuba. While Americans haven’t been allowed to travel to Cuba and many embargos were placed on the country, it hasn’t been completely isolated from the western world. With almost all western cultures racial/ethnic inequalities are very much present throughout the society. Cuba is no exception. What makes Cuba special however, is the amount of effort put in to create a post-racial society. While after the revolution they tried incredibly hard to eradicate racial/ethnic inequality they “fell short” according to a recent NPR broadcast. With the Cubans relationship with the Americans growing, Cuban racial inequality is being slowly brought to the American spotlight.

There are currently 150 million Afro-descendants in Latin America who make up nearly 30 percent of the region’s population (Congressional Research Service, 2005). Out of the fifteen Latin American nations that have recently adapted some sort of multicultural reform, only three give recognize Afro-Latino communities and give them the same rights as indigenous groups (Hooker, 2005). Indigenous groups are more successful than afro-descendent groups in gaining collective rights and development aid from international NGO’s. Collective rights important because are closely related to land rights and can become a tool to fight descrimination .I will attempt to uncover the causes for the discrepancy. This study relies heavily on ethnographic

Studies show that police are more likely to pull over and frisk blacks or Latinos than whites. In New York City, 80% of the stops made were blacks and Latinos, and 85% of those people were frisked, compared to a mere 8% of white people stopped (11 Facts about Racial Discrimination). America is known as the land of opportunity. Immigrants and people come from far and wide seeking success and achieving their dream in this land. There is a reason for that and throughout history this reason hasn’t changed. America is a melting pot. The most diverse country in the world. We have Asians, African Americans, Chinese, Indians and much more all living together as one. You go into any big business, law firm or

Given Latin America's great land mass and population, it is no surprise that the country shouldproduce inequalities in race/ethnicity, income, and politics. While Latin America produces countries with a large population above the poverty level, it stillhouses a striking number of those that live below it. After all, “many Latin American states fall into themiddle-income category and support a significant middle class. ”(pg.103) However, even with all of it'simprovements, Latin America still proves to have poverty as a major hinderance to it's development.

What is racial and ethnic inequality? To understand racial and ethnic inequality you must understand what is considered race and what is considered ethnicity. According to our textbook, “Race can be defined as a group or population that shares a set of genetic characteristics and physical features” meanwhile ethnic groups “are set off to some degree from other groups by displaying a unique set of cultural traits, such as their language, religion, or diet” (Leon-Guerrero). When others are treated unjustly, whether it is in the workplace, school, community, public facilities, etc., due to their race or ethnic group then that is racial and ethnic inequality. One big factor or cause of this inequality is racism. Racism is “the belief in the inferiority of certain racial or ethnic groups, often accompanied by discrimination” (Leon-Guerrero). People believe that the color of a person’s skin or certain features of that person make them better than those who have a different color of skin or set of physical features. They believe that their language and religion is the correct and best meanwhile the rest are seen as inferior. Those same people think that because of their skin tone or language, they should have more privileges and rights than those who are different from them. Most of the time, those people are not part of the minority group and think they are better than those in minority

Although Latin America has faced many social, political, and economic issues within the last three centuries, inequality remains one of the most important, historical, and omnipresent aspects of the region’s culture. As Europeans took over Latin America during the time of colonization, they implemented many elitist social structures that have held strong and are evident today (Harris). Income inequality is the most visible and greatest disparity that the region faces; yet inequality between gender, ethnicities, and education remain strong and significant problems with a necessity for improvement. Inequality of wealth and disparity of power and influence are Latin American’s greatest curses and are at the root of many of the