The Black Américas
A briefing on Afro-Descendants in Latin America
from the Inter-American Dialogue (IAD)
Issue 15
IAD RESEARCH BRIEF
World Refugee Day: A Celebration of Strength and a Wake-up
Call to Human Rights Violations
Emily Mitchell-Eaton June, 2005
On June 20th, the world took a moment to recognize the strength and
struggles of its refugee population on World Refugee Day. This
event has been celebrated annually since 2000, when it was initiated
by the United Nations General Assembly. Worldwide, more than a
hundred countries participated in the celebration, which is organized
by the United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees, the UN
agency for refugees and asylum-seekers.
More than just a recognition of refugees’ strength, however, World
Refugee Day serves as a reminder of the extreme hardships that
refugees confront on every continent. There are currently an
estimated 9.2 million refugees in the world and an additional 10
million other asylum-seekers, returned refugees, Internally
Displaced Persons (IDPs), and stateless persons. Forty-seven percent
of the world’s refugee population is under 18, and 13% are under the
age of five. In the Americas, there are currently over half a million
refugees and a rapidly rising number of IDPs.
On a positive note, the global refugee population has fallen
significantly in recent years. In the Americas, the refugee population
dropped from 623,900 to 598,400 in 2004, constituting a 4.1%
decrease. However, these numbers alone are not cause for
celebration. In recent years, many wealthy industrialized states have
adopted hostile refugee policies, and much of the emergency anti-
terrorism legislation passed by the United States since September 11
severly restricts the rights of refugees.
In Latin American countries such as Haiti and Colombia, internal
political conflicts cause hundreds of people to be forcibly displaced,
tortured, and even killed, leading many to seek asylum in other
American countries. Afro-descendent refugees often face an added
element of discrimination, as racism is compounded with the
plethora of other prejudices normally faced by asylum-seekers.
Afro-descendants are also more commonly displaced in their own
countries. With 2.7 million internally displaced persons, Colombia is
the country with the largest internal refugee crisis in the world, and
fifty percent of its IDPs are Afro-Colombian or indigenous.
There have been recent advances in these issues, such as the
attention given to the question of race and racism in refugee and
migrant populations at the World Social Forum in Brazil in January
and the work of organizations such as the UNHCR and the Women’s
Commission for Refugee Women and Children, who have begun to
focus on the racial and ethnic component of refugee rights
violations. World Refugee Day should serve as a reminder that the
fight against the violation of refugee rights is far from over.
IN THE NEWS
MEXICO
Mexico's Forgotten Race Steps Into Spotlight
Jo Tuckman, The Guardian, July 6, 2005 (Excerpts)
Under the punishing rays of summer the shirtless Eladio Garcia
throws his fishing nets over a mangrove-ringed lagoon in the
isolated Costa Chica region on Mexico's Pacific coast.
Pointing out the natural beauty around him with understated head
gestures, Mr. Garcia pronounces: "I like being black."
But his pride in the colour of his skin soon runs up against a jarring
contradiction. He says he is happy that the number of mixed
marriages in his community is rising fast. "That's a good thing," the
fisherman says, "it improves the race, cleans the blood." His
statement betrays what many see as the limitations on advancement
and the realities of life for Mexico's black population. They are few
in number and rarely mentioned, but they are always there.
They are there, for example, behind the bizarre international row
about racism that is souring relations between Mexico and the US.
That row erupted when President Vicente Fox announced in May
that Mexican migrants in the US were doing jobs "not even blacks"
would do. There were barbed comments from the White House,
outrage among African-American activists and a half-hearted
apology from the Mexican government. The tension worsened last
week with the issue of a series of stamps honouring a popular 1950s
cartoon figure called Memin Pinguin, a little black boy drawn with
exaggerated features, thick lips and wide-open eyes.
But throughout the row there has been barely a reference to the fact
that Mexico also has a black population and a black history. "This is
the one community that is not recognised nationally. Indigenous
groups are worse off in many ways, but at least they are paid lip
service," said Bobby Vaughn, an African-American anthropologist
who specialises in the Costa Chica. "Mexicans of African descent
have no voice and the government makes no attempt to assess their
needs, no effort to even count them."
To read this article in its entirety, please visit:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,1522125,00.ht
ml
BRAZIL
Afro-Brazil Museum Reappraises Brazilian Culture
Bill Hinchberger, Brazilmax.com May 07, 2005
São Paulo- A museum dedicated to a reappraisal of the history,
memory, culture and identity of black Brazilians opened here in late
2004. While a public institution, the Museu Afro Brasil owes its
existence in large part to a private individual: artist, collector,
curator and administrator Emanoel Araújo. The former head of the
Pinacoteca do Estado, another public institution that he built into one
of Brazil’s most successful exhibition spaces, Araújo served as
curator and coordinator of the new museum during the institution’s
inaugural period.
“This is a museum that avoids the old stereotypes,” said Araújo, who
took over as director of the museum after a brief stint as municipal
secretary of culture in early 2005. “We’re thinking about the
diaspora, thinking about the black as an actor.” Rather than serving
as an anthropological or ethnological museum, the institution intends
to work with the creators of contemporary black culture from art to
dance to music.
The institution’s story dates to 1988, the 100th anniversary of the
abolition of slavery in Brazil, when a commemorative exhibition
curated by Araújo called The Afro-Brazilian Hand: Understanding
the Artistic and Historical Contribution appeared at São Paulo’s
Museum of Modern Art (MAM-SP). Araújo also directed the Afro-
Brazilian section of the Brazil 500 Years mega-exhibition in São
Paulo in 2000. A scaled-down version of that show became Brazil
Body & Soul at the Guggenheim Museum in 2001-2002.
The first temporary exhibition opened in November 2004. Called
Brasileiro, Brasileiros (Brazilian, Brazilians), it hailed the
contributions of all of the main groups that comprise Brazil’s racial
melting pot and calls attention to individuals of mixed ancestry. It
may indeed set the tone for the museum. “Some people my not
accept the idea of racial mixture that Brazil presents,” said Araújo.
“The idea of 1,000 colors is different from that in the United States.”
To read this article in its entirety, please visit the website:
http://www.brazilmax.com/pff.cfm/tborigem/pl_southcentral/id/
24
URUGUAY
Uruguayan Afro-Descendants Want Affirmative Action
Agence France Press, May 17, 2005 (Excerpt)
In Uruguay, the black community is making an attempt to insert
itself into the educational system and the job market with affirmative
action projects, considering that within the country there exist
“structural factors of racism”, stated a spokesperson of the
organization Mundo Afro. Starting on May 27, there will be a
seminar on “Policies for Afro-descendants after the change in
government”, whose intention will be the “affirming of affirmative
action” and the “renewal of ties with new authorities”, added the
organization’s spokesperson.
Currently, the only educational program with an entrance quota for
Afro-descendants is the Center for Professional Capacitation of the
Ministry of Education and Culture, where five of every one hundred
people admitted must be black, declared Alicia Saura to the
newspaper El País. Saura, an attorney, is also the director of SOS
Racismo, the legal council branch of Mundo Afro.
Saura indicated that Afro-descendants hope for an
“antidiscrimination unit” to be installed in the Ministry of Work in
addition to other units focused on the black community in the
This briefing was organized by the staff of the race program. Please visit our web site at: http://www.iac-race.org
Ministry of Public Health, the National Institute for Women, and in
the National Prison Board.
The judicial branch is not able to determine how many racial
discrimination cases make it to the courts, a judicial source told the
Agence France Press. Sometimes a discrimination case is wrapped
up in another crime and discrimination is not cited within the charge.
The National Criminology Institute also lacks statistics
disaggregated by race or ethnicity, which makes it impossible to
know the precise number of incarcerated Afro-descendants;
however, the spokesperson from Mundo Afro comented that it was
obvious that Afro-descendants represent far more than 6% of the
incarcerated population. He also pointed out that black judges and
lawyers are a minority in Uruguay.
Mundo Afro is currently working towards a project to assist all
Afro-descendant prisoners and provide legal assistance and support
to their families.
IN THE U.S.
Mexico Stands Firm in Stamp Row
BBC News July 1, 2005 (Excerpt)
Mexico's President Vicente Fox has said that a set of
commemorative postage stamps featuring a black Mexican cartoon
character are not racist. Anti-racism campaigners and White House
officials had condemned the stamps, based on the Memin Pinguin
cartoon, as the character has large eyes and lips. Mr. Fox said he did
not understand the hostile reaction in the US, and urged Americans
to read the original comics. Many Mexicans appeared to back Mr.
Fox, queuing for hours to buy the stamps. In an interview with the
Associated Press news agency, Mr. Fox said the Memin Pinguin
character is "an image in a comic I have known since infancy". "It is
cherished here in Mexico," the president added. He urged Americans
to read the comics before rushing to judgement. Fox provoked
another row in May, when he complained that Mexicans in the US
were forced into taking jobs that "even blacks" don't want.
In Mexico City, hundreds flocked to post offices to try and get their
own copies of the stamps. Many took exception to comments by
White House spokesman Scott McClellan that the stamps "have no
place in today's world.”
To read this article in its entirety, please visit:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/world/americas/4643245.stm.
UPCOMING EVENTS
The Status of Afro Latino Organizations 2005
Global Afro-Latino & Carribean Initiative
Buenos Aires, Argentina
August 5-7, 2005
Pre-Conference for Santiago +5
Santiago, Chile
August 10-12, 2005
Black Legislators’ Conference
San José, Costa Rica
August 29, 2005
Inter-American Dialogue, 1211 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Suite 510, Washington, DC 20036
Tel (202) 822-9002, Fax (202) 822-9553