'Racist' Lima restaurant closed. Your thoughts?
By Aussies2007
@Aussies2007 (5336)
Australia
July 8, 2007 2:31am CST
A popular restaurant in Lima has been temporarily closed down after several complaints that people with darker skin were refused entry.
The Café del Mar in Miraflores, a wealthy district of the Peruvian capital, is the first restaurant to be shut for alleged discrimination.
It will be closed for 60 days and was fined about $70,000.
Campaigners hope this is a first step in tackling Peru's deep divisions along racial and economic lines.
For centuries the white elite in Peru has held onto wealth and power despite the majority of the population being of indigenous or mixed descent.
2 people like this
3 responses
@anonymili (3138)
•
8 Jul 07
Good God! This is 2007 and things like this are still happening? How pathetic to hear - I went to a nightclub recently after a gap of about 10 years. When I first visited there 20 years ago they would turn away black or Asian people with a simple "members only" policy, I know it wasn't a members only club as I knew someone who worked in there and said management wanted to keep it white. Only thing was the club is in an area where it very ethnically diverse and soon they noticed that they weren't getting many customers because lots of white people have black and Asian friends they want to go out with and if you can't go to a specific club together, they'll just go to another club. Anyway when I went there recently, I noticed that more than 80% of the customers there were Asians - what a difference a few decades (and erm new management too) makes!
By the way to ensure there's no confusion - in the UK we refer to Asians as people of Indian or Pakistani origin. Chinese and Japanese people are referred to as Chinese or Japanese... People of African or Jamaican or similar descent are referred to as black. This is standard terminology used in the UK and is not deemed offensive here - whilst it might be deemed otherwise by others... Oh and I am a British Indian myself and I myself have to tick the box which says "British Asian" when I fill out official documents:)
@Aussies2007 (5336)
• Australia
8 Jul 07
Very often... what people call "Racism" is simply a difference of culture that people cannot relate to. It has nothing to do with the colour of your skin.
You choose to leave India to go and live in a foreign country. When you get there... you scream "racism" because the people don't understand the culture from where you are coming from... and you reckon it is up to them to make the effort to understand you after they invited you in their country.
When you say that 80% of the customers in the club were Asians... that does not mean that you have been accepted. It simply means that the Asians took the club over and chased the White people away from it.
As a guess... I would think that the total population of immigrants in the UK would be around 10% of the total population. Under a perfect system of integration... no public place should have more than 10% of ethnic people. As soon as you get 20% or more... you are starting to form your own cultural community within the UK... and that is where racism starts.
@laridbz (1280)
• China
2 Aug 07
I've seen cases like that here in Brazil too. I'm not sure the establishments were closed or got a nice fine (actually I don't think so), but I had some friends who had trouble with getting accepted at some places. As the excuse usually doesn't work fine (like "you're not dressed well enough"), the only explanation is about their race.
When I was in Spain, I'm pretty sure we weren't allowed to get into a nightclub because we were Brazilians. Might sound a little weird, but there is no other explanation. The security guard heard us talking to each other in Portuguese, and we were very well dressed for the occasion. They said our clothes were not appropriate, but they'd let in people wearing shorts and flip flops, and not us?
Just for the record, all of the people in my group were white Brazilians, and we were not making a mess or anything, we were just talking.
@Perspectives (7131)
• Canada
21 Jul 07
Thank you for this post. One of the many reasons I enjoy Mylot is how it creates opportunites to keep informed about news pieces that are not making the 'big news' even though what you posted is a big story. When I read this it is yet another reminder that we are not as far along in stopping the polarizing effects of racism as we like to tell ourselves.
It is unfortunate to hear that that it is still occuring...but reasurring to know that campaigners are willing to hold the white elite accountable. There is so much discussion about empeaching Bush...and the constant right/wrong/patriot/non-patriot diatribes that human rights stories like the one you posted are frequently overshadowed.
It is a great reminder there is power within the people...and the campaigners in your country showed their willingness to stand up for what they believe...and I find that both admirable..and honorable.
Good post..thanks for helping me remember what is sometimes easy to forget in the daily distractions of life.
