Racism and xenophobia in Argentina
Racism and xenophobia are two important problems because the discrimination they exercise are consequences of stereotypes and prejudices generated by society, and this ends up generating social exclusion and rejection that lead to those who suffer from it feel obliged to deny their originsTo be able to counteract this discrimination.
The word xenophobia comes from the Greek xenos;which means something alien and/or strange, that is, a foreigner;and phobos, which refers to fear or phobia. Based on this little translation you can have an idea of what is the meaning of the word "xenophobia".It is called "xenophobia" to rejection or discrimination that is belonging to a national group (that is, native people from the same country), towards a group of foreign people to that place. There is talk of a case where ethnocentrism stands out (attitude of the group, race or society that presupposes its superiority over others) and racism, but specifically refers to the action of discriminating a person by their origin, that is, aXenophobic person is one against people outside their national or ethnic group (foreigners).
Xenophobia was always present in the world, since this was also used as a very powerful propaganda tool. In all countries people are heard complaining about foreigners, making them be "invaders", since it is said that these immigrate to steal them from work, remove social aid, take place in hospitals, among others.
One of the forms of xenophobia that is most seen is that which refers to the race, and we call this as racism. All racism includes xenophobia, but this is not given upside down, since when someone who has another race (different from one), it reaches high economic levels, the racism that it suffered, disappears. Based on this, it can be said that the problem is not that people or groups immig.
How did xenophobia come?
Xenophobia in the world:
Xenophobia was present since our hominization, the organization of the first grouping of individuals resulted in clashes between neighboring groups. Xenophobic feeling and attitude is a feature that evolved. In this way it can be said that there was always the xenophobic feeling in people, the fear of the different, to what could be innate.
The first Xenophobic features began to appear in classical Greece, in the Platonic writings, the overvaluation of the "polis", xenophobia had manifested between civilizations and cultures that had come into contact, this is how anti Judaism and different types ofracism.
In the first half of the twentieth century, the extermination of millions of people, but thanks to the Nuremberg trial this period was an end, as a result of xenophobia and racism. But Nazis, neo -Nazis, racist and xenophobic movements persis. Currently, this continues to occur worldwide, since most countries receive a large number of immigrants annually.
Immigrants in Argentina:
Argentina was always a country receiving migrations from several countries, years ago this was accepted without any problem, but currently this is not so, since immigrants today are discriminated (specifically those that come from Latin American countries). In this country there were always some discrimination behaviors based on the ethnic and/or origins of people, but at the same time, racist discrimination usually is related to discrimination behaviors due to socio-economic and political causes.
Formerly Argentina received a cup of migrations mostly from central countries, which were developed and with a high cultural level. Currently, this situation is not so, since this was reversed, a large part of migrants come from underdeveloped countries forming part of an unwanted migration by the natives, and here is where discrimination begins to generate.
Today’s migrants:
At the end of the 20th century, Argentine society began to look at the "new" immigrants as a misfortune. In recent years, a negative vision of immigration in the country began to be formulated, since according to this perspective, foreigners migrated to the country were going to be responsible for unemployment, the lack of health services, and that even this was goingTo generate public insecurity. This was not so, since the only reason why they were seen derogatory was the fact that they are from Latin American countries.
Something important to highlight is the fact that according to studies carried out by the Obrera Union of Construction and the University of Buenos Aires, the degree of literacy with which the new immigrants arrive in value positively and even greater than the degree of literacy to the literacy to thethat the Spaniards and Italians had of the first migrations.
Limitrophic migrations and labor market:
As previously said to the current immigrants who reside in Argentina, they are seen as a threat, which are responsible for the lack of work in the country, but this is not so, since official studies show that these immigrants are not part,nor generate unemployment. These same studies show that the incidence of these groups in the employment indices provided by INDEC are minimal. On the other hand, the work they carry out is totally precarious and this makes them clearly helpless.
Immigrant communities in Argentina
Based on the previous chapter, it can be said that Argentina is a country receiving immigrants, and mainly receives foreigners from Paraguay, Bolivia, Peru, and Chile.
Bolivian immigration in Argentina:
The Bolivian population resides in Argentina is a total of 345.272 residents, this constitutes the second most important community in the country.
The reasons why they migrate is because of the economic abundance they can find in Argentina, that is, the favorable job opportunities that it has compared to their country, beyond health, education, totally free and universal services (totally free and universal services (Anyone can access these, whether native or not). In addition, several citizens from Bolivia were able to take advantage of the dual nationality that is allowed on both sides of the border.
Thousands of Bolivian immigrants have chosen to make their lives in Argentina, being part of different work areas such as construction or using services such as schools and universities, and hospitals.
Chilean immigration in Argentina:
Based on several statistics, Argentina is the country that has more Chilean immigrants.
The immigration process between the two countries has exists since the time of the colonies, but the migration of Chileans increased notoriously from the coup d’etat of 1973, carried out by Augusto Pinochet, as a consequence of this a great movement of Chilean immigrants began to be seen thatThey were looking for refuge. Over the years the rate of Chilean immigrants remained in force but with its ups and downs due to the political changes that were emerging in the country (such as the Beagle conflict and the Falklands War).
Currently Chilean immigration is still valid, especially you can see the increase of young people who escape the high costs offered.
Paraguayan immigration in Argentina:
The Paraguayan community is the most numerous and economically active of all the immigrants collectivities that the country receives, since these are in total 550.713 residents.
The moment where there were more immigrants was between 1947 and 1960, as a consequence of the Paraguayan Civil War that caused thousands of people to leave their country seeking refuge. According to official statistics, Paraguayan immigration grew significantly since the last decade of the 20th century. The migration of these is due to different reasons, including the work opportunities they find in Argentina, among other reasons thousands of Paraguayans have been integrated into the country, contributing in various areas such as construction, education, health, sports andmusic. It is important to highlight the fact that most migrants are from an age of 20 to 34 years, since they come to the country from young people to make their lives in this.
Peruvian immigration in Argentina:
Peruvian migration has a total of 157.514 is the fourth collective of foreigners who live in the country. The Peruvian settlement began to occur significantly from the 1980m, as a consequence of the economic instability that Peru suffered at that time, that is, that thanks to this there was a great migratory flow of Peruvians abroad, among thecountries in which they took refuge is Argentina
Why is xenophobia generated?
Xenophobia is a consequence of stereotypes imposed by society. Xenophobia, it can be defined as the rejection of foreigners, is based on the reproduction of stereotypes on social groups rejected as a consequence of its condition of different of the ‘native’ culture, beyond the homogeneity and relevance of which itIt can be covered in the different societies, that is, they are stereotypes generated by the natives of a certain country towards foreigners who migrate to this.
If this is analyzed from a psychological point of view, these stereotypes are the cognitive aspect of prejudice, this includes motivational, affective aspects and mainly discriminatory behaviors.
Why do these stereotypes exist?
Something important is to know why xenophobia is generated, which would be the main consequence of the stereotypes previously named, based on some studies, four types of explanations could be reached:
- There is a look that says that these stereotypes are generated because immigrants are poor, and in this way they cannot contribute anything to society, and if subtracting it. This generates what is known as "prejudice", because these people are judged and rejected by the simple fact of not having a good economic pass, taking for granted that the situation of the country will worsen (because the poverty rate would be increasing). Since this poverty is related to unemployment, it is believed that they are threatening individuals.
- There are also those who have a vision of immigrants as individuals in a poor cognitive style, that is, they have reduced cultural or intellectual sources, and that makes natives generate a position superior to that of foreigners, making them be in order.
- There are also those who relate this discrimination to individual factors of the perpetrators (in this case, the xenophobes), that is, it is believed that this discriminatory attitude is due to low self – esteem problems, and that due to this lack of acceptance of oneself, or even from the country sometimes, make foreigners blame.
- Another look is that which highlights the micro social factors that make up the daily interactions, that is, the tensions and conflicts that arise in the day to day in social groups, the relationship of this with foreigners and xenophobia is the fact thatThe natives usually blame them for the problems that arise daily in the APIs, leaving aside the problems that were always regardless of immigration.
Xenophobia and discrimination towards Latin American immigrants:
Currently in Argentina there is a wide level of racism against people from other Latin American countries, especially against Bolivians, Peruvians, Paraguayans and Venezuelans. Among the excuses that Argentines have to "attack or reject" immigrants can be listed:
- Immigrants come do not come to Argentina to work, but steal, kill, rape, or commit crimes.
- They come to Argentina to ask for houses, subsidies and land, that is, things that belong to Argentines are given to these immigrants.
- They are dirty, ugly, they smell bad and unpleasant
- They occupy the houses, the hospitals, and everything that belongs to the native Argentines, removing priority to the native population.
- They migrate to Argentina to look for work and thus remove it to the Argentines.
conclusion
If the previous points listed meet, it can be understood that the discriminatory attitude of the Argentines is due to "fear", that is, fear of being attacked, or mainly the fear of losing priority. This can be related to the issue of self – esteem, since no matter how much the native population they want to show themselves as individuals superior to immigrants, in reality, they fear that they take away their priorities. Unfortunately as a consequence of this, Argentines use as "defense method" discrimination against foreigners, excluding them, and using insults such as: balls, umbrella, greengrocers, blacks, among others.
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