Amamda Todd of the Liberation reported, "Peruvian government apology for racism leaves out slavery," on 4 December 2009: The government of Peru has issued an apology to citizens of African descent for the first time. A public ceremony will be held for African Peruvians, who are 5 to 10 percent of the population.
Peruvian type: During the course of the slave trade, an estimated 95,000 slaves were brought into Peru from Africa. The last group arrived in 1850 and slavery was abolished in 1856.(Photographed by E. Maunoury of Lima.)
The statement admits that discrimination still exists, but makes no reference to slavery, referring instead only to the "abuse, exclusion and discrimination" of African Peruvians. The first Africans in Peru were the slaves of the Spanish conquistadors. More were brought over to work the land until slavery was abolished in 1854.
Not surprisingly, the apology did not mention what will or should be done to fix the racism and discrimination still present in society. Of course not. Racism is an institution that is part and parcel of capitalist society. Racism is a handy wedge to divide workers and keep them from banding together to fight for their common interest. It has been one of the most effective weapons against working-class struggle available to the rich. (source: The Liberation)
I'm finishing up a documentary about Afro-Peruvian music and dance, and wonder how I can obtain use of the two illustrations you have above. Some of the music and dance, as you probably know, tells stories from the days of slavery and as a whole and in our documentary, this part of Afro-Peruvian history is further elaborated upon in the interview. You can reach me at PaloPro2004@yahoo.com and can learn more about the documentary on its web site http://www.AZestforLifeDVD.com. Messages sent to me from the web site don't always reach me so please use the yahoo address.
ReplyDeleteI don't own these images. This site is for educational purposes, therefore any images on this site are just to help to visually illustrate the various people, landscapes, housing units, etc. who were enslaved across the planet.
ReplyDeleteOnly 5% of the enslaved Africans were shipped to the USA, so the other 95% were sent to the isles of the Caribbean Sea or in South and Central America. It is amazing how many original images that you can find of the African diaspora on the internet. What an fantastic time to be alive!