#the myth may also sometimes suggest that (apparently) 'if asians can do that then maybe the other groups aren't as oppressed' | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

gringoslur · 7 years

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hey... about argentinians being apparently mostly white... i've read that about 90% of argentinians are originally solely of european descent, which would mean 90% are white people. that does seem like a lot to me, but could you explain to me why you wouldn't agree with this? are the books missing sth important concerning this??

Hi! A friend helped me with this answer, because i’m usually here to rant but i don’t know how to share stuff like this in english, lmao (thanks again btw!!)

“Spain and Italy are not the only place from which Argentina has received immigration waves from throughout our history, besides our native peoples still exists. Non white Argentineans, whether with native, Asian, Jewish, Romani, Middle Eastern, African, etc background do exist. Like, Argentinean also have background from Syria, Lebanon, Senegal, China, South Corea and countless other countries in which their populations and racial backgrounds are not white so… just because the central provinces, and generally those with the most power are seemingly predominantly white doesn’t mean all Argentineans are white. In fact, if you’re also using Argentinean media, movies, shows as basis for your analysis.. uhm how do I say this, we have the very same problem other Latin American countries have which is giving more focus and preferential treatment to whiteness or what can be perceived as white so…

Besides, through many different government administrations at the end of the xix century people were forced to/made deny their non white heritage, so many Argentineans that have, for example, Afro-Argentinean great grandparents or grandparents don’t know it because the families denied it or they were labelled as criollo to avoid recognising there was a non white European background in the family. And this answers to many presidencies but mostly Sarmiento who tried to cleanse, both literally and figuratively, non white backgrounds from Argentina because he praised European countries like France, even when (it is said) that he had Afro-Argentinean background himself. So yeah, are there white Argentineans? yes, are all Argentineans white? NO.”

I also found very interesting articles about this:

However, the myth of the invisible Afroargentines is deep-rooted, as airport officials confirmed when they told Ms Lamadrid in 2002: “This can’t be your passport. There are no blacks in Argentina.” This attitude echoes prejudices that allegedly died out in the late 1800s, but have seemingly survived past the millennium. A court case on the issue produced no ruling (…)

History books used today in schools still perpetuate the myth that there are no Afroargentines, suggesting instead that they were all wiped out in the 1870s during the war in Paraguay and the yellow fever epidemic. True, many African male descendants were killed in the war but women and children survived. Similarly, yellow fever killed some, but not all.

Sadly, masking identities seems to be a rule rather than an exception, which becomes easier as mixed marriages fuse skin tones. “If you are looking for traditional African people with very black skin, you won’t find it, Ms Gomez explained. “African people in Argentina are of mixed heritage.”

“People for years have accepted the idea that there are no black people in Argentina,“ Miriam Gomes, a professor of literature at the University of Buenos Aires, who is part black herself, told the Post.“Even the schoolbooks here accepted this as a fact. But where did that leave me?” She also explained that almost no one in Argentina with black blood in their veins will admit to it. “Without a doubt, racial prejudice is great in this society, and people want to believe that they are white,” she said. “Here, if someone has one drop of white blood, they call themselves white.”

“There is a silence about the participation of Afro-Argentines in the history and building of Argentina, a silence about the enslavement and poverty,” said Paula Brufman, an Argentine law student and researcher, according to Planete Afrique.“The denial and disdain for the Afro community shows the racism of an elite that sees Africans as undeveloped and uncivilized.”

Then there are recent African immigrants, who move directly from the continent of Africa to Argentina with a large population coming from Senegal. This difference matters, not only to the people whose history it reflects, but also is necessary if a productive discussion on race in Argentina is going to take place. One that goes beyond saying “Argentina doesn’t have Black people”. Because it most certainly does.

I’m white. My skin is white, but i only know my italian heritage: my lastname + one great grandfather + my father is not white. My family speaked guarani (a native language) but sadly, we don’t know where it came from and it dissapeared. That’s how blurred most of our heritage is. I’m white, so if say something wrong, please correct me.

So, this thing about “all argentines are white”…it’s kind of frustrating. I live in Argentina.I see how non-white people are treated. I see the racism (ofc, is not the same racism that you may see in USA, latine rascism is different. And i probably don’t see ALL of it) I was born in a racist society, i made racist comments when i was a child (you know, “i’m joking!! lol!!!”) but i’m trying to learn. I’m educating myself, i’m correcting friends and family, i’m seeing how racism affects people and now, when i see people (mostly latines) saying that “99%″ (or sometimes “all”) of people in Argentina is white, it makes me so mad. Yesterday i was in a bus that was FULL and i noticed (i have like a 2 hours trip) how i was one of the 5 white people there (most of them were brown skinned people + asian people). I looked outside, i saw a group of like ten black people (probably africans, considerating the place, first-gen) talking and laughing, after awhile i hear accents from Paraguay and Bolivia (i also heard people talking asian, africar and native languages in the bus a lot) people with their childs. I looked outside again. I see something written in a wall: “Argentina para argentinos todos” (Argentina for argentines everyone). Maybe they’re inmigrants, we have a lot of them. And they had family here. Their childs? are Argentinian. Were they white? No. They probably suffer racism everyday.

I know that my country has a big problem of racism. I know that a lot of people here considerate themselves “europeans” (even if in europe we are “sudacas”, lmao). I know that we use racist words as insults. Even if i don’t suffer from it, now i can see it.

And maybe you’re latine and you had problems with a racist argentine. And maybe you’re mad about it. Be mad, tell them to fuck off, it’s your right. But don’t ignore the people here that also belong to your community, don’t tell them that they don’t exist. Seeing a nonwhite argentines fighting to be recognized by other latines it’s really sad, like it’s sad to see them being denied by our society. Don’t do that, you are not helping, you’re just feeding the racist argentines that say that we are all white people/europeans, you’re just saying that they’re right while they abuse the non-white people here, even if they probably don’t know where they came from.

Next time, tell them that they’re probably have african/native blood too. That’s their worst dream.

#argetina #latine #latinxs #latinos #anyways this was long #i need to study lmaooo #@anon why u made me do this #if i have any mistake/i used some term that is wrong/or said something insulting/offended someone please tell me!! thanks!!#nonies #long post /

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