This is What I Was Talking About

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote here that

Latinos have a history of racial discrimination and prejudice dating hundreds of years.  Both against Latinos of African descent and against indigenous communities in Central and South America.

Today's case-in-point comes courtesy of the Dominican Republic, where blacks are being discriminated against.

La Embajada de Estados Unidos en el país instruyó a todo su personal para que se abstenga de visitar la discoteca “Tonic”, en esta capital, bajo el alegato de que el establecimiento incurre en “discriminación racial”.

La misión diplomática estadounidense dio a conocer la información en un comunicado de prensa en el que asegura que la discoteca “Tonic”, prohibió “la entrada a empleados afro-americanos que laboran en la Embajada” el día 12 de enero.

Which translates to

The U.S. Embasy in [the Dominican Republic] instructed all its personnel to abstain from attending the club "Tonic," in the capital due to allegations that it engages in "racial discrimination.

The U.S. diplomatic mission provided this information in a press release that alleges that "Tonic" denied "entry to African-American employees who work at the embassy on January 12.

The press release (Spanish only) can be found here.

Isolated incident, you say?  Apparently not.

Se trata de la segunda denuncia de este tipo realizada por la misión diplomática estadounidense en el país. La primera se produjo el año pasado, cuando el 22 de julio del año pasado la discoteca Loft, localizada en la avenida Tiradentes, de esta capital, prohibió la entrada de empleados afro-americanos de la Embajada de Estados Unidos.

Which translates to

This is the second complaint of its kind made by the U.S. diplomatic mission.  The first was made last year when, on July 22nd, the club Loft, [also in the capital], barred enty to African-American employees of the U.S. Embassy.

Of course, the only reason we know about this is because it involved U.S. embassy employees.  Who knows how often this really happens. 

And just like I discussed in the previous entry . . .

Relaciones Exteriores aseguró, a través de Rosario Graciano De los Santos, subsecretaria encargada de Asuntos Consulares y Migratorios, que “parece increíble” que en el país ocurran hechos discriminatorios, ya que “el 70 % de la población es mulata y el 20% negra”.

Sin embargo, no hubo ninguna sanción contra la discoteca por parte de las autoridades judiciales o del Ministerio Público.

Which translates to

[Dominican Republic's] Foreign Relations Ministry stated, through Rosario Graciano De los Santos, subsecretary in charge of Consular and Migratory matters, that "it was incredible" that in the Dominican Republic such discriminatory acts occur because "70% of the population is mulatto and 20% is black."

However, neither the judiciary nor the Public Ministry impose a fine on the club.

Same ol' thing: "nobody's white."  So racial issues get swept under the rug.

UPDATE: When it rains, it pours.  I just came across this.

En México, aceptó el gobernador de Yucatán, Patricio Patrón Laviada, se explota y se discrimina a los inmigrantes centroamericanos.

“Con qué cara le decimos a Arnold Schwarzenegger ‘oye, no hagas tal cosa’, si nosotros, apenas podemos, repetimos la misma historia.”
 

“Es inaceptable lo que a veces hacemos con los centroamericanos”, 
 
Hay algo, agregó, que “si bien no lo justifico, sí lo puedo explicar, que un güero de ojos azules ve a un moreno y dice: ‘éste es diferente’; pero entre nosotros no hay ni siquiera esa situación, somos el mismo pueblo, la misma raza, ‘¿cómo podemos hacer algo así’?”

In Mexico, accepted Yucatan's governor Patricio Patron Laviada, Central American immigrants are exploited and discriminated against.

"How can we tell governor Arnold Schwarzenegger 'hey, don't do that,' when, as soon as we can, we do the same thing.

It is unacceptable what we sometimes do to Central American immigrants.

But this last paragraph is the money line.

There's one thing, he added, that, even though I cannot justify, I can understand; when a [white,] blue-eyed person looks at a dark-skinned person and says "he's different."  But among us, we're the same nation and the same race.  How can we do something like this?