Some ideas about how to give voice to racism in Peru.
Last year I participated in a panel about racism for an international organization. In our panel was me, a mixed-race black and Asian woman, an indigenous Australian, and a Malaysian woman. While we spoke about our experiences with racism, I noticed the comments section light up. Especially women from Latin America denied what we said. They said, “There’s no racism, only classism,” and “Why are we separating ourselves this way?” I have noticed a dismissal and even annoyance towards broaching topics of racism when I lived in Peru. After living there for nearly six years, I have started to see why. Due to notions of social class and mobility, and white infatuation and supremacy, the social movements in Peru have left race discussions aside.
Racism in history
This is not a Peruvian phenomenon, because anywhere one goes, if you talk about race, you hear the pin drops crash like thunder. I have an example, though. I told some friends about my visit to a former hacienda, or plantation on the coast of Lima. We had toured the dark, cold catacombs where enslaved people were held and tortured.
The tour guide not only explained the torture techniques in great detail, how the enslaved people were brought from the catacombs into the light of day…
