The multiple forms of racism and the challenges it poses to higher education systems

DANIEL MATO

Alternautas: (Re)Searching Development

Alternautas.net

Año: 2020

Racism is an ideology according to which human beings are classifiable into "races" and some of them are "superior" to others. In Latin America, this ideology dates back to the colonial period. It is constitutive of the establishment of postcolonial republican States, continues in force, and its consequences especially affect the people and communities of indigenous and Afro-descendant peoples. Although in many of the ?Latin American? countries (an expression that at least silences the existence of indigenous and Afro-descendant peoples)[iii], openly discriminatory behavior towards indigenous and Afro-descendant individuals and communities is less common than in the past, at no time has it ceased to exist, and in some countries has even flared up in recent years. This ideology permeates the hegemonic forms of common sense in all societies of the region and is permanently reproduced through various institutional norms, mechanisms, and practices. Educational systems and the mass media play key roles in these processes, although these are not the only social areas in which this occurs.