{"id":1652,"date":"2020-07-20T12:14:24","date_gmt":"2020-07-20T12:14:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digitalfeministcollective.net\/?p=1652"},"modified":"2020-07-20T12:44:52","modified_gmt":"2020-07-20T12:44:52","slug":"on-racism-in-panama","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/digitalfeministcollective.net\/index.php\/2020\/07\/20\/on-racism-in-panama\/","title":{"rendered":"On Racism in Panama"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

by Alina Torrero<\/a>, 20 July 2020 <\/span><\/p>\n

Spanish version<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

I begin this short text with a very pertinent commentary at a moment in which the pandemic of Covid-19 is turning our attention towards diverse societies: <\/span><\/p>\n

“\u2026one of the factors that has exacerbated ethno-racial conflicts in recent years has been the imposition of economic policies based on a globalization that subordinates the national economies of the region and impoverishes their peoples dramatically. In this sense, we can observe that the recognition of cultural pluralism tends to emerge, paradoxically, at times in which economic mechanisms of exclusion of traditionally subordinated racial and ethnic sectors, that is to say, of the Amerindian peoples and African Americans, are strengthening.” (Paris Pombo, 2002: 309)<\/span><\/p>\n

In Panama, the idea of the country as “melting pot” has crystallized through the ages. The assumption behind it is that it is no longer possible for us to easily differentiate between ourselves using the hierarchical markers that were once effective: exclusive neighborhoods, private schools, marriages between persons of the same skin tone, type of music and dance, cultural manifestations, types of work, and the like. This supposed equal access to economic, social, and cultural assets, as well as to affective interpersonal relationships, amicable and quotidian, between everyone generated a consensus that there are no differences. Therefore, discrimination and even racism is frequently questioned. <\/span><\/p>\n

This perception that has been created about the panamanian population functions like a mythology of a diverse social formation in which difference does not impact coexistence and that all possibilities are open to all human groups in the country. Except, it is argued, when people with complexes seek to blame their personal dilemmas on the socio-political structures in the country. <\/span><\/p>\n

An anthropologist colleague, Francisco Herrera, argues that, in the process of building a participatory democracy, which is an ideal, we do not realize that that goal is shaped by intersecting power discourses, discourses that build ideal models. And these we accept as reality. And we learn to assume the truth of power as if it were ours and as if we were in power among other reasons, because we are also aware that we depend on that power to live (Herrera, Francisco, 2020). <\/span><\/p>\n

It is essential then, to reflect on how the social and cultural construction of race in Panama has developed a series of underlying racial labels that obscure the discrimination, oppression, and racism that afropanamanian people have suffered throughout national history, only to remain positioned within the poorest social sectors, to reside in the worst neighborhoods, to put up with the lowest paid jobs and to suffer the greatest inattention in all aspects of social life. <\/span><\/p>\n

For example, at the present time, the neighborhoods most affected by covid-19 in the capital city are the poorest neighborhoods, which a large number of afropanamanian, indigenous and poor migrant people inhabit. The socio-economic reality in which they have lived and live starkly exacerbates the inability of these populations to cope with health problems such as the current one. This shortcoming is very easy to attribute to their culture, or alternately, to the “resistance that they have,” according to which they can contaminate other people while they remain immune. <\/span><\/p>\n

Analysis of the presuppositions about the afropanamenian population reveals the biologicalization and racism in the everyday and pseudo-erudite arguments that frame their cultures, ways of life and practices of resistance. Is there actually a disconnect between anti-racist positions and representations and the existing racism that it rejects?<\/span><\/p>\n

Racism is present in Panama and its reproduction depends not only on the actions of pernicious people. It is not enough to point out the racist. It is necessary to become aware of the imperceptible acts that give space to racism. <\/span><\/p>\n

In official communications on the health situation there is no attention paid to the poor neighborhoods and the extreme poverty in which overcrowding is not a choice. The lack of water and electricity is recurrent, causing adaptive strategies to make the scant presence of governmental services more bearable. In most of these neighborhoods one lives through the informal economy, which means going out to work on a daily basis without the possibility of physical distancing on buses or in the subway, without counting upon safe passage permits to walk freely through the city, sometimes with borrowed masks, and, of course, it means being exposed to the virus. However, for these people, stay at home is not an option. It is necessary to go out in order not to die. <\/span><\/p>\n

In my perhaps daring opinion, and returning to Paris Pombo’s commentary, this intensification of the existing racist paradigms has two objectives. On the one hand, to sustain difference from a putatively democratic perspective, it has created an anodyne foundation of “political correctness” coupled with a discourse of equal rights. From there, there has been a mass recognition of differences through conventions, declarations, agreements, international regulations, etc., which in some cases are not binding, and that countries cannot sign. But this recognition and respect for diversity is not accompanied by the changes that are necessary for equal rights, Why? Because the fundamental paradigm that sustains that diversity both legitimates and is the reason for the condition of the groups\u2014that is to say, the racist paradigm that insists on diversity takes the superiority or inferiority of these different groups as axiomatic. <\/span><\/p>\n

To give only one example, afropanamanian organizations in Panama have worked very hard to get variables of self-identification for the black population included in the national census. This political and strategic objective is based on this population’s need to have public policies established that attend to their specific needs. <\/span><\/p>\n

The current critical global discourse on race favors that this task\u2014nothing outrageous\u2014be realized at some moment in Panama and hopes that it will bring about an improvement. Nevertheless, this historical exclusion in the census also requires reflection; is it so necessary to count the black population in order to enforce their rights? The experience of indigenous populations in the country has been that being counted in the census has not meant overcoming the extreme poverty that affects them. <\/span><\/p>\n

On the other hand, this global discourse deepens the distance between the afro population and other existing groups that are also exploited and discriminated against, commonalities that would enable coordinated struggles and mutual aid to confront these oppressions. Such is the case in the current pandemic and the implications that deeply affect these populations, conditions in which oppressed groups are working together to survive.<\/span><\/p>\n

 _________ <\/span><\/p>\n

Notes: <\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Herrera, Francisco (2020). “The conscious: us,” unpublished text. Panama, 21 June. <\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Paris Pombo, Maria Dolores (2002). Studies on racism in Latin America. Politics and Culture, UAM-X, No. 17 Spring, Mexico, pp.289-310.  <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Translated by Jennifer Ruth Hosek<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    En torno al racismo en Panam\u00e1<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    Inicio este breve texto, con una afirmaci\u00f3n muy pertinente en un momento donde la pandemia del Covid-19 afecta la mirada hacia las diversas sociedades: \u201c\u2026uno de los factores que ha agudizado los conflictos etnorraciales durante los \u00faltimos a\u00f1os ha sido la imposici\u00f3n de pol\u00edticas econ\u00f3micas basadas en una mundializaci\u00f3n que subordina las econom\u00edas nacionales de la regi\u00f3n y empobrece dram\u00e1ticamente a sus pueblos. En este sentido, podemos observar que el reconocimiento de la pluralidad cultural suele producirse, parad\u00f3jicamente, al tiempo que se fortalecen los mecanismos econ\u00f3micos de exclusi\u00f3n de los sectores \u00e9tnicos y raciales tradicionalmente subordinados, es decir, de los pueblos amerindios y afroamericanos<\/em>\u201d (Par\u00eds Pombo, 2002:309). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    En Panam\u00e1, a trav\u00e9s de los tiempos, se ha cristalizado la idea de ser un pa\u00eds \u201ccrisol de razas\u201d. El supuesto que subyace es que ya no es posible diferenciar f\u00e1cilmente a unos de otros, en la correspondiente jerarqu\u00eda mediante los signos que otrora eran eficaces: barrios exclusivos, colegios privados, matrimonios entre personas del mismo tono de piel, tipo de m\u00fasica y baile, manifestaciones culturales, tipos de trabajo, etc.  Este supuesto de acceso igualitario a los bienes econ\u00f3micos, sociales y culturales, como a las relaciones interpersonales afectivas, amicales y cotidianas entre todos y todas deviene en un gran consenso respecto de que no hay diferencias y por tanto la discriminaci\u00f3n y m\u00e1s a\u00fan, el racismo aparece cuestionado frecuentemente. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    La percepci\u00f3n que se ha ido moldeando sobre la poblaci\u00f3n paname\u00f1a se acerca a la idea de una formaci\u00f3n social diversa en que la convivencia no se altera por ello y con posibilidades abiertas para el conjunto de los grupos humanos existentes en el pa\u00eds. Excepto, se argumenta, cuando personas acomplejadas pretenden adjudicar sus dilemas personales a las estructuras sociopol\u00edticas del pa\u00eds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Un colega antrop\u00f3logo, Francisco Herrera, sostiene que, en el proceso de construir una democracia participativa, que es un ideal, no nos damos cuenta que ese objetivo esta cruzado por l\u00edneas de poder que construyen modelos ideales. Y que asumimos como la realidad. Y aprendemos a asumir la verdad del poder como si fuera nuestra y como si fu\u00e9ramos el poder. Entre otras razones, porque tambi\u00e9n somos conscientes de que dependemos de ese poder para vivir (Herrera, Francisco. 2020).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Se hace imprescindible entonces, reflexionar c\u00f3mo la construcci\u00f3n social y cultural de la raza en Panam\u00e1 ha elaborado una serie de etiquetas raciales subyacentes que obnubilan la situaci\u00f3n de discriminaci\u00f3n, opresi\u00f3n y racismo que han padecido las personas afropaname\u00f1as a lo largo de la historia nacional para quedar ubicadas dentro de los sectores sociales m\u00e1s pobres, residir en los peores barrios, sobrellevar los empleos con m\u00e1s baja remuneraci\u00f3n y sufrir las mayores desatenciones en todos los aspectos de su vida social. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Por ejemplo, en los actuales momentos, los barrios m\u00e1s afectados por el covid-19 en la ciudad capital, son los barrios m\u00e1s pobres y de pobreza extrema, en los que habitan una gran cantidad de personas afropaname\u00f1as, ind\u00edgenas y migrantes pobres. La realidad socioecon\u00f3mica en que han vivido devela con fuerza la incapacidad de estas poblaciones para hacerle frente a problemas de salud como el actual.  Dicha carencia es muy f\u00e1cil adjudicarla a su cultura, o bien, a la \u201cresistencia que tienen\u201d, de tal manera que pueden contaminar a otras personas mientras que, ellos permanecen inmunes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    La inmersi\u00f3n en los presupuestos sobre la poblaci\u00f3n afropaname\u00f1a, advierte de la biologizaci\u00f3n y el racismo en las argumentaciones cotidianas y seudo eruditas para enmarcar sus culturas, modos de vida y pr\u00e1cticas de resistencia. \u00bfEn realidad, existe un completo desfase de las posiciones y representaciones antirracistas y el racismo existente que se rechaza?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    El racismo est\u00e1 presente en Panam\u00e1 y su reproducci\u00f3n no depende solamente de las acciones de personas perniciosas, no basta con se\u00f1alar al\/la racista, es necesario tomar conciencia de los actos imperceptibles que le dan espacio al racismo. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    En las comunicaciones oficiales sobre la situaci\u00f3n de salud, no se sit\u00faa a los barrios pobres y de extrema pobreza donde el hacinamiento no es una elecci\u00f3n; la falta de servicios de agua y luz es recurrente provocando estrategias adaptativas para hacer m\u00e1s llevaderas la poca o nula presencia de las instituciones de gobierno; en la mayor\u00eda de estos barrios se vive de la informalidad, lo que significa que salir a trabajar diariamente sin la posibilidad de distanciamiento f\u00edsico en los buses o en el metro, sin contar con salvoconductos para andar por la ciudad, a veces con mascarillas otras no y por supuesto, expuestos al virus en gran manera, pero para estas personas quedarse en casa no es una opci\u00f3n, se trata de salir para no morir. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    A mi juicio, -bastante arriesgado, por cierto- y retomando la cita inicial, la profundizaci\u00f3n del esquema racista existente responde a dos objetivos. Por un lado, se ha creado un sustrato \u201cpol\u00edticamente correcto\u201d con el agregado de la igualdad de derechos, para sustentar las diferencias desde una perspectiva democr\u00e1tica. De all\u00ed el reconocimiento masivo de las diferencias a trav\u00e9s de convenios, declaraciones, acuerdos, normativas internacionales, etc., que en algunos casos no son vinculantes, y que los pa\u00edses pueden decidir si los signan o no. Pero el reconocimiento y respeto a la diversidad, no est\u00e1 acompa\u00f1ado de los cambios imprescindibles para la igualdad de derechos, sin embargo, s\u00ed sustenta que en la diversidad est\u00e1 la raz\u00f3n de la condici\u00f3n de los grupos -es decir su superioridad o inferioridad-. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Como un se\u00f1alamiento tan solo, en Panam\u00e1, las organizaciones afropaname\u00f1as han trabajado arduamente en la inclusi\u00f3n en el censo nacional de la variable de autoidentificaci\u00f3n para la poblaci\u00f3n negra. El objetivo pol\u00edtico y estrat\u00e9gico se fundamenta en la necesidad de contar a dicha poblaci\u00f3n para el establecimiento de pol\u00edticas p\u00fablicas a su favor. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    El discurso global favorece que esta tarea, nada deleznable, se concrete en alg\u00fan momento en el pa\u00eds y se aspire a una mejora con ello. Aunque esta exclusi\u00f3n hist\u00f3rica en el Censo, tambi\u00e9n lleva a reflexionar si resulta tan necesario contar a la poblaci\u00f3n negra para que se cumplan los derechos que le asisten, ya que la experiencia de las poblaciones ind\u00edgenas en el pa\u00eds -que s\u00ed han sido contadas en el Censo- no les ha significado trascender la extrema pobreza que les afecta. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Por otro lado, profundiza las distancias de la poblaci\u00f3n afro respecto a otros grupos existentes tambi\u00e9n explotados y discriminados que posibilitar\u00edan luchas en conjunto, y la ayuda mutua para hacerle frente. Tal es el caso de la pandemia actual y las implicaciones que de manera profunda les afecta.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     _________ 

    Notas:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    1. Herrera, Francisco (2020). \u201cLos acomplejados: nosotros\u201d, texto in\u00e9dito. Panam\u00e1, 21 de junio.<\/li>
    2. Par\u00eds Pombo, Mar\u00eda Dolores (2002). Estudios sobre el racismo en Am\u00e9rica    Latina. Pol\u00edtica y Cultura, UAM-X, n\u00fam. 17 primavera, M\u00e9xico, pp.289-310.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

      Alina Torrero<\/p>\n

      Licenciatura en Antropolog\u00eda Social. Especializaci\u00f3n en Etnolog\u00eda, en la Universidad Aut\u00f3noma Metropolitana (UAM)-Unidad Iztapalapa, M\u00e9xico, D. F. Estudios de maestr\u00eda en Dise\u00f1o Industrial Materiales y Procesos. en la Universidad Nacional Aut\u00f3noma de M\u00e9xico (UNAM), Facultad de Arquitectura. M\u00e9xico. D. F. Diplomado en Herramientas de animaci\u00f3n sociocultural para el trabajo con j\u00f3venes en la Universidad Tecnol\u00f3gica de Panam\u00e1-Programa Alcance Positivo de la USAID-FOIDM.<\/p>\n

      M\u00e1s de 20 a\u00f1os en el ejercicio de la docencia en las universidades en Panam\u00e1 a nivel de diplomados, licenciatura y maestr\u00eda en temas de antropolog\u00eda social y cultural. Conocimiento e investigaci\u00f3n en temas antropol\u00f3gicos (grupos \u00e9tnicos, g\u00e9nero, familias, infancias, trabajo infantil, trabajo infantil dom\u00e9stico, las adolescencias, violencias relacionadas con la juventud, la ciudad, los p\u00fablicos, espacios y significados, educaci\u00f3n), as\u00ed como dise\u00f1o de diferentes planes de trabajo para gobiernos locales y organizaciones sociales. Experiencia en trabajos de investigaci\u00f3n y elaboraci\u00f3n de documentos, coordinando diferentes grupos poblacionales e instituciones de gobierno, en el marco de consultor\u00edas de agencias de cooperaci\u00f3n, entre ellas, UNICEF, UNESCO, SICA, PNUD, UNFPA, AECID, ASDI, OIT, USAID, FAO y la Uni\u00f3n Europea.<\/p>\n

      Responsable del primer Diagn\u00f3stico nacional sobre la situaci\u00f3n de la mujer afropaname\u00f1a, para el Instituto Nacional de la Mujer (INAMU) y el PNUD, en el a\u00f1o 2019.<\/p>\n ","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      by Alina Torrero, 20 July 2020  Spanish version I begin this short text with a very pertinent commentary at a moment in which the pandemic of Covid-19 is turning our attention towards diverse societies:  “\u2026one of the factors that has exacerbated ethno-racial conflicts in recent years has been the imposition of economic policies based on … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[75,69,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1652","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-covid-19","category-just-futures-2","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitalfeministcollective.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1652","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitalfeministcollective.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitalfeministcollective.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitalfeministcollective.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitalfeministcollective.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1652"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/digitalfeministcollective.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1652\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1673,"href":"https:\/\/digitalfeministcollective.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1652\/revisions\/1673"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitalfeministcollective.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1652"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitalfeministcollective.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1652"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitalfeministcollective.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1652"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}