In one interview, I was asking an older Guna man and his father about the rejection of persons with albinism and the practice of killing babies with albinism that was common just a few decades ago.
"I hear they kill black people in the United States. Why?"
No, children who are born black in the U.S. are not traditionally buried alive. At first I wanted to say, no you aren't killed for being black in the U.S. anymore and also, what the hell does that have to do with albinos who were killed here? Yes, there is discrimination, but you aren't killed for just being black; also people in the U.S. understand that black skin is just a genetically-based process of melanin production. The Guna's killed albino children because they did not understand what the condition was. But before I could say it, the words got caught in my throat. Guna's who had albinism were killed and rejected based upon widely-held false perceptions of what their physical appearance meant. U.S. citizens who have a higher rate of melanin production (blacks in particularly) are killed and rejected based upon widely-held false perceptions of what their physical appearance means...
When I asked the head of Nargana, Sailar Iguayoikiler, about the discriminatory words of one man in Guna Yala, he told me:
"Every culture has racists. Look at France"
Even if I find one man who thinks albinos should be "eliminated" I cannot let that completely overshadow the fact that for the most part, persons with albinism are well understood and accepted in the communities of Guna Yala. Evidence of one man's ignorance does not negate the fact that as a whole, the Guna are incredibly accepting people.
In an attempt to comfort a girl with albinism who is teased by her classmates, Dr. Gioconda explained, that in Panama, she is teased by people with dark skin because of her blond hair and light skin, but if they were to go to the U.S. or Norway she would be fine, because
In an attempt to comfort a girl with albinism who is teased by her classmates, Dr. Gioconda explained, that in Panama, she is teased by people with dark skin because of her blond hair and light skin, but if they were to go to the U.S. or Norway she would be fine, because
"[In the U.S., Holland and Norway] being dark-skinned is bad"
The truth of this hurt when the Doctor said it. It hurt that this might be a comforting thing for a child to hear. No doubt the 10 year old child could take comfort in the fact that there is somewhere where she would be accepted and her tormentors rejected. But how horrible is that reality?
These and other words of people have caused me to reflect upon the culture I come from and to analyze the mentality I had initially with regards to the Guna people. These and other humbling realizations have further broken down feelings of foreignness when it comes to learning about this other culture. I suppose we can all find common ground in even our least flattering of traits.
No comments:
Post a Comment