How does it feel to be a victim of racism?

The following testimonials are from Peruvians who know firsthand how painful being a victim of racism can be. We hope that what they had to say calls us to reflect.

Sofia Carrillo

A journalist, activist, and radio and television host who was chosen by Forbes Peru magazine as one of the 50 most powerful women in the country this year, Sofia Carrillo is an Afro-Peruvian proud of her roots despite the obstacles she has had to face.

"It was not seen as possible, for example, for me to be a studious girl because I was of African descent, and black people were not seen as intelligent. And that was represented on television and generated a great sense of rebellion in me," she told IPS in Lima.

Faced with these messages she had only two options. "Either you believe it or you confront the situation and use it as a possibility to show that it is not true. I shouldn't have to prove myself more than other people, but in a country as racist and as sexist as this one, that was the challenge I took on and what motivated me throughout all the stages of my life," she said.

"It is not uncommon for people of African descent to even say that they do not feel affected by racism or discrimination because we have also been taught this in our families: that it will affect you if you identify it, but if you pretend it does not happen, then it is much easier to deal with," she said.

Her experience as a black woman has included receiving insults since she was a child and sexual harassment in public spaces, in transportation, and on the street, "to be looked at as a sexual object, to be dehumanized,” she said.

She has also had to deal with prejudices about her abilities in the workplace. And although she has never stopped raising her voice in protest, it has affected her.

"Now I can admit that it affected my mental health, it led to periods of deep depression. I did not understand why or what the reasons were because you also try to hide it, you try to bury it deep inside. But I understood that one way to heal was to talk about my own experiences," Carrillo said.

Enrique Anpay

Enrique Anpay Laupa, 24, studied psychology at a university in Lima, thanks to the government scholarship program Beca 18, which helps high-achieving students living in poverty or extreme poverty.

Originally from the rural community of Pomacocha, made up of some 90 native Quechua families in the central Andes highlands region of Apurimac, he still finds it difficult to talk about the racism he endured during his time in Lima until he graduated last year.

He spoke to IPS from the town of Andahuaylas, in Apurímac, where he now lives and practices as a psychologist. "In 2017, we were 200 scholarship holders entering the university, more than other years, and we noticed discomfort among the students from Lima," he said.

"They said that since we arrived the bathrooms were dirtier, things were getting lost, like laptops… I was quite shocked, it was a question of skin color," he said.

During a group project, a student from the capital even told him “Shut up, llama" when he made a comment.

"I kept silent and no one else said anything either," Anpay said. Although he preferred not to go into more details, the experience of what he went through kept him from encouraging his younger brother to apply for Beca 18 and to push him to study instead at the public university in Andahuaylas.

As we were able to realize, unfortunately, there are many cases of racism and discrimination in our country. However, even though there are different laws to defend people from this type of aggression, we have been struggling to change this situation for years, and new cases keep popping up. 

References:

Jara, M. (2022, September 1). Racism Hurts People and Democracy in Peru [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://www.globalissues.org/news/2022/09/01/31771