Theoretical Reference

 

 

Our general theoretical approach has two main influences: Postcolonial and Decolonial theories. Both theoretical trends are critical to our research. These approaches (postcolonial and decolonial) problematize colonization in different contexts. Postcolonial theories, mainly of Anglophone academic production, are the result of reflections of authors of Indian and African descent, such as Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, Edward Said and Frantz Fanon, among others. Their academic works are concentrated on the European colonization of India and Africa, and their views are relevant to our project because they are part of the enormous theoretical field which tries to explain the effects of imperial colonialism in the nineteenth century.

 

In order to recognize “The presence and importance of Afro-descendants in Argentina and Uruguay”, we will use theoretical reflections to focus on the colonial experiences of the communities who inhabited and inhabit the American continents. In the Americas, decolonial theory has arisen from reflections of Spanish and English speaking authors, including, but not limited to, Aníbal Quijano, Fausto Reinaga, Enrique Dussel, Walter Mignolo, Michel-Rolph Trouillot, María Lugones, Sylvia Wynter, Lea Geler, and George Reid Andrews. From the reflections of these authors we can approach our topic of interest with a critical perspective, and pay close attention to the silent demands of the Afro-descendant populations.

 

 

Race, Racism, and Discrimination from a Decolonial Perspective

 

One particular example of the openness to new conceptual horizons is Aníbal Quijano’s reflection on the concept of race. In his essay entitled “Coloniality of Power, Eurocentrism and Latin America,” he places the concept of race in discussions about the globalization process. For Quijano, race is “a mental construct that expresses the basic experience of colonial rule which then permeates the most important dimensions of global power” (Quijano 2000). This conceptualization of race, in the context of globalization, can be understood if we recognize the two genocides that began with the start of colonization. The first genocide was the extermination of peoples deemed to be too barbaric for civilizing. Since 1492, thousands of indigenous communities have been wiped out. Their languages, worldviews, religions, and forms of social and political organizing completely exterminated. The second genocide, executed almost simultaneously, was suffered by the millions of kidnapped and enslaved Africans, who for centuries were forced to work until they died on the American continent. The conceptualization of race that Quijano recognizes is the experience of domination which permeates from colonial times to present day, in every dimension of global power, including contemporary nation-states.

 

Race as a “mental construct” and product of the colonial experience, might be considered a theoretical abstraction that removes the relationship between racism and skin color. However, contrary to this, Quijano’s concept allows us to highlight the complex ways in which these categories operate in the global social order today. If we think about race, using the concept of de-linking and ignoring the importance of melanin to denaturalize the concepts and conceptual fields totalizing one reality, we can appreciate the conceptual change proposed by Walter Mignolo about racism (Mignolo 35). As stated by Mignolo, “Racism, as we sense it today, was the result of two conceptual inventions of imperial knowledge: that certain bodies were inferior to others, and that inferior bodies carried inferior intelligence” (Mignolo 2009).

 

For Quijano and Mignolo, racism as an imperial invention established a global socio-racial order that placed the people of Europe above the rest of humanity. As Rabasa states in Invention of America, the European delusion of being the center of human civilization was only possible due to the invasion of what later became known as the Americas. Therefore, since the invasion of these territories, the racial world order assigned to “white Europeans” and their descendants, has been at the top of the social hierarchy, while the rest of the population has been left to fill the lower levels. It should be emphasized that in this order, the populations of enslaved Africans were not considered as part of humanity. This classification was the basis of the “social-racial” organization of the Americas, which created conditions that limited the possibilities of the indigenous populations and closed off opportunities for people of African descent. This form of colonial racism has operated since the first invasion, and helps us explain our perception of how discrimination against people of African descent in Uruguay and Argentina operates today.

 

To explain the colonial structural racism in the nation-states of Argentina and Uruguay, we will not go into details of state laws, but rather use the structure of a simple contemporary building as a metaphor for the basic structure of a nation-state. This metaphor helps us give a concrete image of the structural racism faced by those whose nation-states disguise colonial racism in society through its abstract appearance. The nation-states, like buildings, are products of human interactions. To build both, architects define the parameters and organize function and structure. These parameters ensure accessibility to different parts of the building or the state. Please note that we are not comparing people with disabilities to those born into structural racism, but rather using it as an easily understood metaphor.

 

In basic buildings today there is often some regularity in the design and function of the doors, windows, chairs, tables, and public spaces. They are designed to ensure access to all people, especially taking into account handicap accessibility for those with special needs. Therefore it is common to see signs, ramps, elevators, and other special provisions for people in wheelchairs or with other physical disabilities. In nation-states, these accesses are designed in the forms of laws which seek to ensure equality amongst its citizens. Without these ramps and elevators, most parts of the building would be off-limits to people with disabilities, much like how a person of African descent is unable to reach higher parts of society without laws in place guaranteeing their equal rights. However, one should keep in mind that people with disabilities often come across elevators that are declared ‘out of order’ and thus must remain on the ground level anyway. The same is true for many Afro-descendants, as racism and discrimination from their fellow citizens can leave them stuck in the lowest classes, with few options for upward mobility in terms of educational, professional, and social opportunities.

Only in recent decades have the official histories of Argentina and Uruguay begun to include in their narratives the presence and importance of their African and Afro-descendant populations in the consolidation of these societies as nation-states.