DiscussWorldIssues - Socio-Economic Religion and Political Uncensored Debate - View Single Post - Why Race Became Such an Issue in the United States

**ZwHRoTTn** · 03-20-2012, 10:26 AM

Race is as big of an issue in Latin America as it is in the United States. It's probably even a bigger issue. They had slavery too, and people over there discriminate against people because of the way they look and the color of their skin. actually, the discrimination over there is way worse than anything that goes on in America.

Just so I'm clear, I'm not trying to demonize the United States. As I stated, the other European colonies in the western hemisphere had slavery as well. However, slavery is not synonymous with racism. Slavery existed for quite a long time without the need for racial theories to justify it. According to people who have lived in many Latin American countries, including relatives of mine, most Latin American countries don't have the same view of race that developed in the United States. It's not that people were color blind, but they were less concerned with race than they were with culture, language and patriotism. Many Puerto Ricans even claim that race consciousness increased after the United States took over due to the influence of U.S. culture.

Also, discrimination isn't synonymous with racism in my view. The fact that people prefer to associated with people who look, think and behave the way they do isn't inherently hateful, contemptuous or wrong.

03-20-2012, 10:26 AM	#6
ZwHRoTTn Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 419 Senior Member	Race is as big of an issue in Latin America as it is in the United States. It's probably even a bigger issue. They had slavery too, and people over there discriminate against people because of the way they look and the color of their skin. actually, the discrimination over there is way worse than anything that goes on in America. Just so I'm clear, I'm not trying to demonize the United States. As I stated, the other European colonies in the western hemisphere had slavery as well. However, slavery is not synonymous with racism. Slavery existed for quite a long time without the need for racial theories to justify it. According to people who have lived in many Latin American countries, including relatives of mine, most Latin American countries don't have the same view of race that developed in the United States. It's not that people were color blind, but they were less concerned with race than they were with culture, language and patriotism. Many Puerto Ricans even claim that race consciousness increased after the United States took over due to the influence of U.S. culture. Also, discrimination isn't synonymous with racism in my view. The fact that people prefer to associated with people who look, think and behave the way they do isn't inherently hateful, contemptuous or wrong.
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