[A. B.]

I was in Bogota, Colombia, last year with a group from my university. Overall, our stay was terrific. However, I and several of my friends experienced a bit of subtle racism, like people staring at us when we were walking down the street. I was surprised because I had always heard that Latin Americans were not at all racist. Was this an isolated case? A sign of things in Colombia? Or a sign of things in Latin America as a whole?

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Name : A. B., Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Bisexual, Race : Black/African American, City : Mangrove, State : NA, Country : Barbados, Occupation : Student, Education level : 2 Years of College, 

[Leo22858]

I’m Colombian myself, and I can tell you that just about anyone can pass for a Colombian, since we’re so mixed. Then again, blacks in Bogota are rare, but very common in the rest of the country. My best explanation: curiosity. They probably saw blacks speaking english and were a bit surprised, since there’s a stereotype that all english speakers are blond.

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Name : Leo22858, Gender : M, Race : Hispanic/Latino (may be any race), Religion : Atheist, Age : 26, City : queens, State : NY, Country : United States, 

[Sharon]

Latin Americans, South Americans and Mexicans are among some of the most racist people I have ever encountered. I believe it stems from the strong presence of a classist society, where the influential, successful and wealthy minority of the population tends to be ‘light-skinned’ and of European, rather than indigenous or African, descent. My Colombian roommate in college made it very clear to me that there was not one drop of Indian blood in her family; and the numerous Mexican nationals that I know make frequent disparaging remarks about Blacks and Indians. Also, in Latin America the ideal of beauty leans toward the fair skinned/haired people, who are tall and have ‘light’ eyes. Many Latins suffer from a major inferiority complex, rejecting their own brown, exotic beauty and idealizing a more Anglo Saxon image.

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Name : Sharon, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Hispanic/Latino (may be any race), Religion : Catholic, Age : 34, City : San Antonio, State : TX, Country : United States, Occupation : Professional, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Nelson-A20172]

You said it, ‘subtle racism’, but it’s mostly classism because of crime. Lower classes are associated with crime. The higher you go in the latin american social scale the whiter it gets, except in countries where the vast majority is white, like Argentina. So since dark equals low class, and low class equals crime, you get the stares. Now, the stares can also be because you look different (from out of town), that’s all, no racism implied; like when a group of guys from New York go to a small town in Nebraska. So, don’t flip over what happened, there is no real racism down here.

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Name : Nelson-A20172, Gender : M, Race : Hispanic/Latino (may be any race), Age : 33, City : Caracas, State : NA, Country : Venezuela, Occupation : Lawyer/Educator, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Carolina]

People in Latin America are extremely racist. They usually don’t say it out loud, but they have practiced racism quietly since forever.

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Name : Carolina, Gender : F, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Agnostic, Age : 23, City : São Paulo, State : NA, Country : Brazil, Occupation : student, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[peabody19826]

I spent 8 months living with Chile, so while my answer might not apply to Colombians, it might help. First off they might have been staring just because you’re black- I know in Chile I never saw a black person the whole time I was there, so any black person would have elicited a stare. They also referred to anyone who looked slightly asian as ‘chinito’. However, when I accused them of being racist they would say they were simply curious. But I would have to say latin americans are racist, especially the upper and middle class. My host mother was horrified to learn that my parents would not be upset if I dated a black man. Its a different sort of racism than you encounter in the states though.

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Name : peabody19826, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Episcopalian, Age : 22, City : Philadelphia, State : PA, Country : United States, Occupation : student, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class, 

[Rocko]

Racism in Colombia, it’s almost inexistent, what you felt was Classism, we live in a Couintry where the 90% of the people live in the worst conditions. So, when you where here, the people steared at you because you are difrent, nothing else

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Name : Rocko, Gender : M, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 20, City : Bogota, State : NA, Country : Colombia, Occupation : Student, Education level : High School Diploma, Social class : Upper middle class, 

[DanielPfalmer]

I lived in Costa Rica for a few months when I was 12. I never found the people to be anything but exceptionally nice. There was some staring when we would go out but it was always in a nice way, like you would stare at a celebrity you saw walking down the street. I was with my brothers and my dad and so there was 5 of us. That might have been another reason that they were starring at us. The girls there absolutely adored us. My older bothers took advantage of that. They had some preconceived notions about us, but that is only natural with people that you have rarely if ever seen before. On the whole I think that they saw us more as an oddity than something to discriminate against.

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Name : DanielPfalmer, Gender : Male, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Agnostic, Age : 22, City : Fairbanks, State : AK, Country : United States, Occupation : Student, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class, 

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