After reading Chapter 1 of Alex Dawson’s Latin America since Independence, he talks a lot about bias and stereotypes about Latin America. The discussion question I came up with for this section was: What are our own bias and assumptions about Latin America, in regards to a) gender? b) politics? c) culture? d) religion?
It is important to acknowledge these bias’ and to try and keep them in mind for the duration of this course. I think it is important not only in a course, but also in life, to keep an open mind when discussing an area that you have little to no knowledge of. Collectively, we should recognize that the perspectives or depictions we are often exposed to in Canada about Latin America are dramatized, generalizations or simply incorrect. By forgetting what we’ve been told or what we think we know, we will be able to have a wider and more accurate understanding of Latin America.
your question is very interesting, and I would like to share with you that as a Latin american, often these assumptions come from true facts. Such as the majority of our societies are catholic, in terms of religion. However it is also important to acknowledge how this has been evolving throughout the past years. Latin america is still changing this implies a changing in its believes as well, religion being one of them.