Introduction
"My Formative Years"
in England and Peru
Click here
to view my experiences and views on Racism, Poverty
& Equality of Opportunity
Racism:
The discriminatory or abusive behaviour towards members of another race
It is a complex subject.
In its narrowest sense, the definition is simple and un-ambiguous.
However, I believe that it is also manifests itself with people of a different economic status, whether or not their colour of skin is also different.
You may refer to this as being "classist". However, being "classist" somehow seems acceptable; in my view, it is not.
The result is the same - discrimination by one person against another.
"WOG"
Definition:
offensive slang. 1925-30, from 'Golliwogg': a 19th century blackface doll; or alternately, an acronym of '(W)orthy (O)riental (G)entleman' }
British English:
1. *racist* a black African or dark-skinned South
Asian (usually Indian or Pakistani)
2. *Anglocentric* a non-Briton or non-Englishman:
"The wogs start at Calais" (across the English
Channel in France) -- British proverb
Shinning Path (Sendero Luminoso)
The Shining Path was founded in the late 1960s by former university professor Abimael Guzmán.
It first established a foothold in San Cristóbal of Huamanga University, in Ayacucho, where Guzmán taught philosophy.
Between 1973 and 1975, the Shining Path gained control of the student councils in the Universities of Huancayo and La Cantuta, and developed a significant presence in the National University of Engineering in Lima and the National University of San Marcos, the oldest university in the Americas.
It wasn't until the 1980s that it started its armed struggle - a vicious guerrilla war.
The Shining Path has been largely dormant since 2000. The once 10,000-strong Maoist rebel group nearly brought Peru's government to its knees during the 1980s with car bombings, assassinations and attacks on police and military outposts.
see more on Wikipedia
I guess I owe some of my values to my mother.
She was born in Lima and we lived in the expensive part of town; in San Isidro.
We were taught to treat our maids as human beings and as an extension to our family.
(They lived with us).
My mother also helped them with their problems where possible and their education.
One of our maids now lives in the USA having found good employment and a husband.
EDUCATION!
PERU - My First Impressions of Peru in 2008
These are mine.
As such, they are very subjective and from the view point of someone who was born in Lima, lived there until the age of 11, a couple of school summer holidays and for a year when I was 19.
Please remember, this was a fact finding trip; there aren't many places I will not go and I did manage to see a fair bit in the 3 months.
Before reading "What did I like?" and "What didn't I like?", you may wish to look at "My Formative Years" (see right) which may go some way in explaining my views on Racism, Poverty and Equality of Opportunity and thus my keen interest in this Project.
It is against this background that my first impressions on my return trip to Peru were formed.
"What did I like?"
I have been fortunate enough to have tasted the best that life has to offer.
But, I have always been grateful for "what I had achieved".
I don't know where my "social values" came from; I can only assume that they came from my experiences as I have never done much reading and I didn't go to University - I prefered to learn on the job.
I hate all forms of racism.
My son-in-law is black, and my gorgeous two little girls (grand-children) are of mixed race.
Newham, where I presently live with my daughter in the East End of London, is a great multi-cultural borough.
There is one thing, a close second to racism, that really disturbs me; treating someone differently based on their economic status in life. I am sure you have seen or experienced it. The person of lower economic status is either completely ignored, he/she doesn't exist, or is patronised.
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"My Formative Years" (Racism contd)
I was called a "WOG" when I went to my first (primary) school in England at the age of 11.
WHY?
I was different, a foreigner. I spoke with a "distorted" American
accent and came from Peru.
I remember some two years later thinking "It will be so nice to get back to my country" when I returned to Lima for the first time for my summer holidays.
When I got there, all I got was abuse for being a "Gringo".
(Obviously this was not every day and not from friends!)
Uhm, so much for home!
None of these events scarred me for life, but they did give me an insight into Racism.
Another example is of a well-to-do English woman whom I had met in England when I was 18/19.
I had visited her "mansion" near Gloucester (I fancied one of her daughters).
I happened to be in her car the following year in Lima.
We stopped to get some petrol and she shouted abuse at the pump-attendant; he had done nothing wrong - she just wanted him to hurry up!
I remember being shocked.
How could this educated woman, who lived in a beautiful mansion in England, behave so badly?
She would certainly not have behaved that way with other whites in England, so why was she doing so now?
"My Formative Years" (Poverty)
I was impressed by poverty at an early age.
I remember when I was 17 years old (1965) taking blankets etc. to the poor in the slums of Lima with my mother.
As we left, I "peeped my horn" for the boys who were playing football on the dusty road to make way for us.
My mother shouted at me. "Do you want to get us both killed " she said (she was always a bit over dramatic!)
I looked into the angry eyes of the young boys as they made way for us to leave and remember thinking:
"There will be trouble when they find a leader".
This was in 1965, before the creation of the Shinning Path (Sendero Luminoso) Maoist terrorist movement.
"My Formative Years" (Equality)
I also formed the opinion that we should all be treated equally.
Actually, I didn't at the time.
It is only with hind-sight that I know that my feelings and re-actions to events in my teens were those of a person who felt that we should all be treated equally, regardless of race or economic level.
Obviously some of us are more equal than others; what a dull world it would be if we were all equal.
However, we should strive for equal opportunity - especially when it comes to education.
