Race Relations Across the World

By Jaskaran Bajwa

The world is full of distinct races, ethnic groups, and cultures, some closely intertwined, others uniquely different. All of these unique cultures come with their own flair, their own unique backstory, but unfortunately many come with their own dark side. With race relations being brought to the forefront of the world, I wanted to look at race relations and racism across different communities across the world. From the complex racism in Europe to the mixed ancestry in Latin America, to the colorism of South Asia I wanted to take a look at it all with some words from our own classmates.

To begin, I wanted to take a look at my own experiences. For some background, my family comes from India but half of my family has been in the country since 1945. Before that, they were natives of what is today Pakistan. Ethnically, I am Punjabi and have become quite well versed in the culture of racism in the Indian world. One thing that is important to understand across all cultures and communities is the effect of colonialism. Colonialism brought with it colorism. Colorism is the discrimination between a race and ethnic group against those with darker skin. Colorism is the most prevalent form of discrimination not only in India but in South Asia as a whole. Coming from north India, where people tend to have lighter skin tones, I have seen firsthand how casually derogatory remarks are thrown around. Skin lightening creams are widespread and common all across South Asia in every supermarket. I know this firsthand as growing up these whitening creams were regularly applied onto my skin. This is especially prevalent in South India where people are predominantly Dravidian and have darker skin. Colorism towards them is not only widespread but common and unfortunately accepted in many parts of the community. A politician was even caught telling two sisters, “You look like a south Indian but your sister looks Indian.”

South Indians are treated as second-class citizens in their own country. This divide is only further deepened when the language barrier is taken into account. North Indians are seen as “superior” while south Indians are looked down upon.

The same colorism is prevalent across the Muslim world. Muslims are extremely diverse due to the widespread Islam. From the south Asians of Indonesia to the Arabs of the Middle East, and the Africans of Somalia, Islam is extremely diverse. This diversity is something to be celebrated and the large majority of Muslims are proud of the diversity within their religion. Many organizations, such as the Organization for Islamic Cooperation, say that the Quran unites them all. While on paper, Islam sees all Muslims as equal unfortunately the culture sees otherwise.

In speaking to people in our class the issue of colorism comes up yet again. This like anything is a byproduct of colonialism and the pushing of the European beauty standard. The same person also said that the culture has a long way to go when it comes to moving forward in regards to race and race relations, but things are at least progressing and the new generation, especially children of immigrants, are beginning to become more open.

One of the more complicated regions when it comes to race is Latin America. Latin America includes countries in the Americas that speak Latin-based languages, most notably Spanish and Portuguese. The most prevalent countries include Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, etc. In speaking to some people whose families come from Latin America many say that they identify themselves as Latino or, racially, mestizo. The terms Mestizo and Latino encompass a large group of people. Like always, colonialism played a huge part in shaping and forming the society of Latin America.

The people of Latin America are a mix of many races. Most commonly, they are a mixture between Native Amerindian and Spaniards with often some African ancestry. People I have spoken to have said that many people don't know their race. “They assume being Mexican is their race which is why they're confused when someone tells them they're racially black but ethically Mexican, or when someone tells them they’re white and they refuse to believe it.” Discrimination against those who are black and have darker skin is common. “...Growing up in an interracial family...her mom was called derogatory slurs and her father was treated unfairly at work.” Discrimination against native populations is also common, but according to a source, “It's ironic since most Mexicans are part indigenous.” This indigenous racism is unfortunately directed towards Central America which is majority indigenous. This racial mindset is a carryover of the colonial mindset which has ingrained into people's minds. This mindset can also affect how people look at other countries. Latin America as a whole is extremely diverse racially. Many countries in the south, such as Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, and South Brazil, tend to be more European compared to their counterparts. This can cause the mindset to form that these people are more “normal” and “superior” compared to other countries. This mindset culminated in many horrific incidents none more prevalent than in Argentina.

Argentina, like other South American countries, was once a colony of Spain and thus had a large number of Black Africans land upon its shores. By the late 1700s, early 1800’s the country’s population was close to 50 percent black. This number may seem like Argentina today is racially diverse, but it could not be farther from the truth. Today Argentina is the “whitest” country in South America. European descendants account for close to 97 percent of the population, close to half being descendants of Italian immigrants. Unlike other Latin American countries, Argentina did not undergo the process of mixing and intermarriage. Instead many Argentinian today believe that their ancestors never took part in the Atlantic Slave trade. The President of Argentina Carlos Menem once said, “ In Argentina, Blacks do not exist…”

As a whole, racism is still alive and well, but in talking to my sources one thing is very clear, it is not here to stay. People are becoming more aware, more alert, and more vigilant to their own biases. Younger generations especially are having tough conversations with their traditional families about this racism. These are the first steps to properly moving forward to a more equal society.

Special thanks to Lizabeth Gaona, Dahyana Arroyo, and Jena Tufail for their contributions to this article.

Hello everyone! This will be my last article in Deadline and I wanted to thank everyone for reading and coming this far! This was my first year in Deadline and I’m sad it's going to be my last. I want to thank everyone for their kind words and for helping me along the way. Please consider joining the Deadline, let your creativity flow!