A Divide

~While this will be a fairly shot entry, I wanted to introduce the idea of racism and bigotry- at least here in Sevilla. (On that note, I also feel inclined to establish that I cannot say with full confidence that the things I write in this blog apply to all of Spain. I named it 'Andalucia' because, of course, that is the community in which I live and have primarily traveled through. Nevertheless, I have beliefs that the people of other parts of Spain behave similarly). I don't want this to be a negative reflection of my experience or of Spain- I simply want to share what I've witnessed. Every country, person, and thing can have a course side.~

Fair skinned, tall, and living comfortably. That's how I can describe many of the Spaniards I see walking through the streets either dressed casually or for business. From the garage beneath our apartment complex emerges a Mercedes Benz. On some Saturdays you can see groups of people gathered around a church or street corner, all weaning nice evening gowns and pinstriped suits. Oh, to be living in high-class Spain.

Now, I'm dark skinned and I feel at liberty to divulge that I have felt judged by those who I described in the preceding paragraph. I recently started working in a hotel restaurant where people constantly ask me if I was from South America. While I don't take offense to this at all, I think it's an important indicator of how many Spaniards can automatically place one outside of their country based on appearance (also because of my dialect). I told one of the cooks that I lived near La Macarena and instantly knew where I was talking about. Without letting me finish, he outlined for me the area where he thought I lived- near the Peruvian and Colombian bar. "Near the hospital," he said. He thought I had a wife and family and even possibly that this was the best job that I could get my hands on- a part time job as a bus boy. Again, I'm embellishing this a bit, but then again, this is my blog.

Example 2:

I overheard a true story where my host mom's sister didn't like her son's girlfriend at first because she is from Peru. The thought that her son was in a relationship with a woman from another country, and that country being Peru, did not settle with her well at first. Now, however, things are better and everyone seems happy.

Example 3:

I work at a bookstore as well, and it's managed by an aging but active couple. There, I picked up a lot of the Sevillano culture all thanks to the manager's wife. She and her husband have been incredibly good to me. She also once told me frankly that she was racist. She told me she didn't like people from other countries, namely those from South America. She didn't say this maliciously nor did she intend for me to be offended.

The scene:

-After talking about something I can't remember quite well, she asked me, "You know whose racist?".

-I shook my head.

-She replied pointing to her chest, "Me."

-I raised my eyebrows.

This surprised me. Yet after opening my eyes a bit wider, it was easier to see the divide. Just like any other place, Seville has it's designated areas where a concentration of lower-class families live. All of a sudden I no longer felt that I was being stared at for being an American but maybe for being labeled as a South American.

Much like the dirty jobs no one wants to do back home in the U.S. (custodian, garbage man, crop picker, and other low wage earning positions) many of them here in Seville are taken by immigrants. The business below our apartment complex had a small facelift a while back and I specifically remember the workers who were applying new plaster and painting the walls as being of darker skin color.

While I haven't eloquently described my examples very well nor articulated why I wrote this, again, my only intention was to briefly surface this idea.