whats the history of racism of latin america compared to north america?

by cachapaconqueso

im from Venezuela and to be honest i have never heard of racism in the level that USA had.

while there are some stigmas related to race, its not in the level of usa history, yet usa and latin america had a similiar story; Bolivar fighting vs the spaniards, gaining independence, trying to unite the countrys, but latin america failed in the process of creating the gran Colombia.

things that i have never heard in Venezuela history or culture for example are nigger memorabilia, groups that lynched minorities (the kkk), black rights movement, segregation in schools and public places, etc.

maybe im ignorant and it wasnt in the curriculum, so this is why im asking.

isaacbonyuet

Colonial Venezuela has well documented racism as part of it's society, people were classified according their country of origin and the race of the person's parents: Blancos (Whites) divided into: Blancos peninsulares, Blancos criollos, Blancos de orilla. Pardos (Mixed) were divided into Mestizos, Mulatos, Zambos. There were also Indios, Negros, Cimarrones and Manumisos [Source].

When the Independence wars came into fruition, it's most prominent leader, Bolívar, mentioned at the Angostura Congress how slavery must be abolished:

La esclavitud es la hija de las tinieblas [Source]

This does not mean that all involved were interested in racial equality, there was the case of Boves rallying up the llaneros to kill the blancos, apparently half of the whites were killed [Source]. However, these racial conflicts were never official as the Constitution of 1811 established that all free men can participate in elections (Article 26). Later in the Constitution of 1857, slavery is officially abolished (Article 99).

In essence, during Venezuela's existence and formation of a Republic it has never established a distinction by racial makeup of the individual. Blame it on Bolívar and the founding fathers being inspired by the French Revolution: "Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité ou la Mort"

(This only addresses pre-20th century racial relations in Venezuela, however I am not familiar with contemporary racial clashes. Either they're non-existent or not documented.)