The readings for this week portrayed a follow on from last week, as it looked at how the change to a ‘liberal’ government effected the marginalised people in Latin America. From the reading, it is clear from the reading that the major problem in the new independent society have, was defining who was a free citizen. In my response, I will focus mainly on the treatment of African people. A major part of the marginalisation is because of the scientific ‘evidence’ that had begun to get more credibility. This scientific research focused on the cleanliness of blood in order to determine the acceptability an individual had of becoming a citizen.

There is a constant comparing of North America and Latin American in the reading, as it talks about the different lives Africans had in these two environments. On page 85, Table 3.2 compares the amount of emancipated blacks in North America and Latin American countries. What particularly amazed me was the number of free people of colour in Brazil compared to in USA. This is because of the facade that the US conveyed of being a progressive country in their ideals; that independence was equal to liberation. This table clearly shows that Brazil, who was one of the last countries to abolish slavery is actually a better environment for slaves to become free than in USA. That being said, the table clearly does not show what kind of environment any of the countries had towards the free and enslaved blacks.

The primary text that I found most interesting amongst the sources, was the Political program of the Partido Independiente de Color, 1908. This manifest of the demands of rights was particularly significant because it was in Cuba, which was one of the most oppressive countries of former African slaves. The demands that they make are very progressive and a lot of them are not in place in modern society. This manifest reminded me of the manifests that I have read by the Civil Rights Movement and also Black Power. This counters the idea of Latin America being a conservative and oppressive country that has historically been the notion that I have been taught.