feature: “no más racismo” – racial tensions & black face in colombia

Racism is a long standing issue in Colombia, like in many South American countries and around the world; however racial tensions are currently at a peak. Photographer and journalist Alejandro Mosquera tells us, “Colombia is currently experiencing a racial crisis, which has led to the protests of several student organizations against discrimination and racist practices in the mass media – particularly the black face show on Colombian television (the prime time program “Happy Saturday”). It has unleashed a wave of racial violence against many of the activists throughout the country especially in the city of Cali (which is the second largest city in Latin America with a predominately Afro-latino population), to the point that people on social media networks have created groups of racial hatred and suggested the creation of organizations such as KKK to attack black people in Colombia. This has revealed the deep racism that is naturalized, blatant and explicit in this country. We invite all organizations to help us expose and fight this issue.” Take a look at the videos and images below.

By Alexander Aplerku, AFROPUNK Contributor

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(Photo credit: Alejandro Mosquera)

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