Racism in Chile

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Racism in Chile encompasses any type of racial or ethnic discrimination by a group of inhabitants or organizations of that country against groups from other nations or the same nation. The origins of Chilean racism, and that of other Latin American nations, can be traced back to 16th century colonialism under the rule of the Spanish Empire. In the establishment of imperial rule, Native Americans experienced extermination, slavery and forced miscegenation.

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In Chile, Mapuches and Mestizos have been the primary victims of racism and ethnic discrimination. Other groups such as South American immigrants (Bolivian, Peruvian, and Colombian), black people, afro descendants, and Muslims are also included. Discrimination exists on many different levels, on the basis of culture, economic status, age, geography, as well as gender and sexuality.

In academia, studies surrounding racism in Chile have only just recently been looked at profoundly. Before 2010, there was little research surrounding racism in the country.

Types of racism in Chile

Racism against indigenous peoples

With a significant racist mentality,[ who? ] the conquest of the territories of Bolivia and Peru in the 19th century was justified. [1] Chileans[ who? ] saw themselves as representatives of the superior white race, conquering the lower race. [1]

Between the second half of the 19th century and the first decades of the 20th century, what was called the Selk'nam genocide took place, where European, Argentine and Chilean settlers exterminated the Selk'nam or Ona people, an Amerindian people who inhabited the Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego, in the extreme south of the country. This genocide had both economic and racist reasons in between. [2]

This attitude was maintained in the Pinochet-led dictatorship, which remained in power until 1990, an example of that is that the Chilean admiral José Toribio Merino described the Bolivians as "metamorphic representatives of the camel". [1]

Despite the significant dismissal of the local population, [3] Chileans still have widespread neglect[ clarification needed ] of the indigenous population, [4] [5] particularly the Mapuche, who have been distinguished by considerable opposition. [6] [7] [ clarification needed ]

Racism against black people

Due to the early ban of slavery after Chile's independence and the previous few black slaves during the Spanish rule, Chile had almost no black population. [8] [ dubious – discuss ] Since the end of the military dictatorship, the first immigrants arrived, but few were of African ancestry, being most of them from neighbour countries like Peru. In 2014, for the first time a bigger group of black migrants arrived in Chile and created a diaspora [9] mainly from Haiti. [10] [7] Neo-Nazi movements chasing black people in the country were recorded in the 90's and early 00's, but they targeted mainly LGBT, homeless and punks due to the lack of black people at the time. [11]

Anti-semitism

The first case of large-scale incitement of anti-Semitic hysteria in Chile was the idea of the "Andinia Plan" formed in the 19th century in parallel with the beginning of the migration of Jews from the Russian Empire to the American continents: fears arose between the Chilean population about the desire of the Jews to steal the lands of Patagonia to form their own state in them. [12] [ unreliable source? ]

According to the Anti-Defamation League, cases of desecration of Jewish cemeteries and insults, or the call for retaliation against Jews, graffiti in synagogues are widespread in Chile. [12]

19th century

Between 1879 and 1883, the War of the Pacific – an armed conflict between Chile on one side and Bolivia and Peru on the other – ensued. The memory of this war, which ended in Chile’s favor and resulted in the loss of land in the defeated nations, has since brought about enmity. The rivalries between both sides may sometimes be interpreted as expressions of racism, [13] [14] while in other cases the hostility effectively corresponds to the cause and trigger of modern racism. [15] This racist attitude is sustained by a variety of Chilean history books that assert that part of Chile’s triumph was due to its “racial homogeneity.” [16]

In the second half of the 19th century and the first decades of the 20th century, the Selk’nam Genocide transpired. European settlers, Argentinians, and Chileans – with both economic and racist[ citation needed ] motivations – exterminated the Selk’nam (Ona) people, an indigenous group that inhabited Isla Grande of the Tierra del Fuego region at the southern extreme of the country.[ citation needed ]

20th and 21st centuries

There are several contemporary Chilean essayists and historians who have assumed racist tendencies in their work. Nationalist Nicolás Palacios (1858-1911), author of Raza Chilena, [17] promoted the intermarriage of Germanic peoples with the mapuche race, which produced, according to Palacios, a blond and stocky “roto chileno”. Politician and diplomat Galvarino Gallardo (1877-1957) agreed with Palacios, rejecting pre-Columbian origins from the Chilean race, praising the kinship of Germanic people. [18] Historian and essayist Francisco Antonio Encina (1874-1965), for his part, looked down upon the mapuche people, liberalism, and “latinoamericanismo”. Historian Jaime Eyzaguirre (1908-1968) was a follower of fascist dictator Francisco Franco, as described in his written work and the work of his followers Gonzalo Vial and Fernando Silva, among others. According to historian Rafael Luis Gumucio, the works of Encina and Eyzaguirre exhibit in the international relations between Peru, Bolivia, and Argentina a nationalist attitude that diminishes the image of these neighboring peoples. Gumucio suggests that the work of these historians has negatively influenced modern international relations among them all. [19]

According to one of the few Chilean investigative groups on the topic, one of the more recent causes that has helped to sustain and strengthen racist attitudes and misconceptions about people because of the color of their skin is derived from the racist stereotypes that have developed in the world, especially in the United States, a very influential country in Chile at the social level. [20]

Peruvian immigration in Chile has increased sharply in recent decades. Many Chileans negatively stereotype said Peruvians, the situation that those referred to as the “Pequeña Lima” experience in Santiago being an emblematic point. [15] People from other latitudes who have migrated to Chile recently have also been victims of racism and discrimination. Such is the case for mixed-race indigenous people from distinct parts of Latin America, [21] [22] in particular Afro-Colombians in northern cities like Antofagasta, [23] black people, [24] Palestinians, and Muslims. [25] In 2010, the immigration of Haitian and Dominican people also increased greatly, and they have similarly become victims of xenophobia. [26]

Additionally, since the beginning of the 1990s, after the return of democracy, there have been reports of active right-wing extremists and neo-Nazi groups with racist, anti-semitic, and homophobic attitudes. [27] With the explosive development of the Internet and social media since the beginning of the 21st century, people have created various Chilean websites where they have proliferated racist and Nazi discourses, death threats, and hate speech. [28]

For their part, some factions of the Mapuche people have also demanded ethnicity-based control of those who should be able to enter the conflict zone in the south of the country, demanding “the cessation of entry of non-mapuche people in mapuche territory” and “a negotiation to impede the entrance of foreign people into region inhabited by the mapuches.” [29]

See also

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mapuche language</span> Araucanian language

Mapuche ; from mapu 'land' and dungun 'speak, speech') is an Araucanian language related to Huilliche spoken in south-central Chile and west-central Argentina by the Mapuche people. It is also spelled Mapuzugun and Mapudungu. It was formerly known as Araucanian, the name given to the Mapuche by the Spaniards; the Mapuche avoid it as a remnant of Spanish colonialism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mapuche</span> Ethnic group in South America

The Mapuche are a group of indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina, including parts of Patagonia. The collective term refers to a wide-ranging ethnicity composed of various groups who share a common social, religious, and economic structure, as well as a common linguistic heritage as Mapudungun speakers. Their homelands once extended from Choapa Valley to the Chiloé Archipelago and later spread eastward to Puelmapu, a land comprising part of the Argentine pampa and Patagonia. Today the collective group makes up over 80% of the indigenous peoples in Chile and about 9% of the total Chilean population. The Mapuche are concentrated in the Araucanía region. Many have migrated from rural areas to the cities of Santiago and Buenos Aires for economic opportunities, more than 92% of the Mapuches are from Chile.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roto</span> Term used to refer to the Chilean people

Roto, f. rota, is a term used to refer to Chilean people and in particular to the common Chilean. In Chile, from the start of the 20th century, it was applied with a negative classist connotation to poor city-dwellers. It is also used contemptuously in other Spanish-speaking countries, especially Bolivia and Peru, to refer to Chileans in a derogatory manner. Otherwise, despite its defects, the roto is also considered a figure of national identity and pride in Chile.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chango people</span>

The Changos, also known as Camanchacos or Camanchangos, are an Indigenous people or group of peoples who inhabited a long stretch of the Pacific coast from southern Peru to north-central Chile, including the coast of the Atacama desert. Although much of the customs and culture of the Chango people have disappeared and in many cases they have been considered extinct, in Chile they are legally recognized as an original indigenous people since 2020, and about 4,725 people self-declare that they belong to this ethnic group.

Ona, also known as Selk'nam (Shelknam), is a language spoken by the Selk'nam people in Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego in southernmost South America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Languages of Chile</span>

Spanish is the de facto official and administrative language of Chile. It is spoken by 99.3% of the population in the form of Chilean Spanish, as well as Andean Spanish. Spanish in Chile is also referred to as "castellano". Although an officially recognized Hispanic language does not exist at the governmental level, the Constitution itself, as well as all official documents, are written in this language.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Occupation of Araucanía</span> Incorporation of Araucanía into Chile

The Occupation of Araucanía or Pacification of Araucanía (1861–1883) was a series of military campaigns, agreements and penetrations by the Chilean army and settlers into Mapuche territory which led to the incorporation of Araucanía into Chilean national territory. Pacification of Araucanía was the expression used by the Chilean authorities for this process. The conflict was concurrent with Argentine campaigns against the Mapuche (1878–1885) and Chile's wars with Spain (1865–1866) and with Peru and Bolivia (1879–1883).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chileans</span> Ethnic group native to Chile; people identified with the country of Chile

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Conquest of Chile</span> Period of Chilean history, 1541-1600, period of Spanish conquest

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anti-Chilean sentiment</span> Racism and discrimination against Chile, its people, and culture

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Selk'nam genocide</span> 1850–1930 genocide of indigenous people in Tierra del Fuego

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As an archaeological culture, the Mapuche people of southern Chile and Argentina have a long history which dates back to 600–500 BC. The Mapuche society underwent great transformations after Spanish contact in the mid–16th century. These changes included the adoption of Old World crops and animals and the onset of a rich Spanish–Mapuche trade in La Frontera and Valdivia. Despite these contacts Mapuche were never completely subjugated by the Spanish Empire. Between the 18th and 19th century Mapuche culture and people spread eastwards into the Pampas and the Patagonian plains. This vast new territory allowed Mapuche groups to control a substantial part of the salt and cattle trade in the Southern Cone.

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References

  1. 1 2 3 Ericka Beckman. "Imperial Impersonations: Chilean Racism and the War of the Pacific". Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  2. ↑ "Genocide In Chile: A Monument Is Not Enough". intercontinentalcry.org. 2 September 2007. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  3. ↑ Cruz-Coke, R.; Moreno, R. S. (September 1994). "Genetic epidemiology of single gene defects in Chile" (PDF). Journal of Medical Genetics. 31 (9): 702–706. doi:10.1136/jmg.31.9.702. PMC   1050080 . PMID   7815439 . Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  4. ↑ Aguirre, Camila Toro (5 February 2019). "Condenados a la pobreza: estudio revela que la inversión pública es tres veces menor en el mundo indígena" (in Spanish). El Mostrador. Retrieved 15 June 2020.
  5. ↑ "Las realidades de los pueblos indígenas de Chile". www.diarioconcepcion.cl (in Spanish). Diario Concepción. 2 May 2019. Retrieved 15 June 2020.
  6. ↑ Tricot, Tito (25 September 2017). "La racista y violenta represión contra el pueblo mapuche". eldesconcierto.cl (in Spanish). Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  7. 1 2 "Racism against Indigenous groups, immigration at issue as Chile debates new constitution". NBC News. 9 September 2020. Retrieved 9 September 2021.
  8. ↑ Gallego, José Andrés (2005). La esclavitud en la América española (in Spanish). Encuentro. p. 19. ISBN   978-84-7490-765-0.
  9. ↑ "Racism in Santiago, Chile - "Morena, morena! Rica! Que rica!" — Machetes y Miel". machetesymiel.com. 28 September 2013. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  10. ↑ Blanco Abarca, Benjamín (13 February 2011). "Así vive la "petit Haití" de Santiago" (in Spanish). La Tercera. Archived from the original on 4 August 2017. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  11. ↑ Socorro, Julián (2003). "El movimiento neonazi en Chile entre 1990 y 2003" (PDF) (in Spanish). Santiago de Chile: Universidad Diego Portales. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 October 2010. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  12. 1 2 "Anti-Semitism in Chile: Jews Accused of Plotting to Take Over Patagonia". gatestoneinstitute.org. 23 January 2012. Archived from the original on 21 January 2016. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  13. ↑ Radio Biobío (31 March 2012). "Comité de refugiados peruanos denuncia expulsiones masivas en Chile ante la CIDH" (SHTML). www.biobiochile.cl. Retrieved 31 March 2012.
  14. ↑ "Video del recuerdo: La goleada Perú 6-0 Chile". www.larepublica.pe. La República on-line. 11 July 2011. Archived from the original on 18 July 2011. Retrieved 7 November 2012.
  15. 1 2 Ericka Beckman (26 February 2013). "Imperial Impersonations: Chilean Racism and the War of the Pacific". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016.
  16. ↑ Chile.com: Andrés Soto Guillén. "Chile es racista" . Retrieved 3 March 2013.
  17. ↑ Palacios, Nicolás. Raza chilena: libro escrito por un chileno y para los chilenos.
  18. ↑ Con Nuestro Perú (22 July 2013). "Racismo en Chile" . Retrieved 21 August 2013.
  19. ↑ El Mostrador: Rafael Luis Gumucio Rivas (5 March 2013). ""Amo demasiado a mi país para ser nacionalista" (Albert Camus)" . Retrieved 6 March 2013.
  20. ↑ Villafañe, Lorena (9 January 2013). "Sociología: Fondecyt financia novedosa investigación sobre racismo en Chile". www.fen.uchile.cl/. Retrieved 21 August 2013.
  21. ↑ Waldman Mitnick, Gilda (2004). "Chile: indígenas y mestizos negados". Política y cultura (21). México: 97–110.
  22. ↑ El País (6 April 2012). "Joven taxista caleño fue asesinado en Chile por presunto caso de racismo". Archived from the original on 28 April 2014. Retrieved 26 February 2013.
  23. ↑ Semana (22 November 2014). "El fenómeno del anticolombianismo" . Retrieved 27 November 2014.
  24. ↑ "Ataque a joven de El Congo revela racismo en Chile". teletrece.canal13.cl. 30 May 2005. Archived from the original on 31 August 2007.
  25. ↑ "Racismo sionista en Chile". www.elciudadano.cl. 28 July 2009. Retrieved 17 January 2012.
  26. ↑ "El crudo análisis del diario inglés The Guardian sobre la situación de los inmigrantes en Chile". www.t13.cl. 29 June 2017. Retrieved 29 June 2017.
  27. ↑ Socorro, Julián (2003). "El movimiento neonazi en Chile entre 1990 y 2003" (PDF). www.archivochile.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 October 2010. Retrieved 16 February 2016.
  28. ↑ CHW. "Foros: Actualidad". Archived from the original on 27 July 2013. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
  29. ↑ "Mapuches exigen impedir el ingreso de personas que no sean de esta etnia a la zona". www.radioagricultura.cl. 12 January 2019. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
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