Declaration for the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
Today, March 21, “International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination”, we reaffirm our struggle and commitment to the defense of social justice and Human Rights for all peoples and communities that suffer the harsh effects of social and ethnic-racial inequalities, especially the black and indigenous communities of Latin America and the Caribbean.
However, simply recognizing a date is not enough. The fight against racism and racial discrimination cannot be a one-day endeavor. It cannot be limited to a commemoration, but must become a critical stance, a space of re-existence from which to contribute, act, and resist daily in support of Black and Afro-descendant peoples and communities.
After more than five hundred years of exploitation, invisibility and exclusion, the black populations of the African continent and of the Afro-Latin American and Caribbean diaspora, today register the most unfavorable indicators and see their access to decent housing, quality education, health and social security services, as well as social and political participation, limited.
In the last two decades, the international community has demonstrated a strong commitment to highlighting, recognizing, and redefining the role of African heritage and Black contributions in the history and formation of nation-states. Policies and programs have also been developed, such as the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action (2001) and the UN declaration of the International Decade for People of African Descent (2015-2024), aimed at achieving recognition, justice, and development for these communities. While these advances are significant, they are not enough to dismantle centuries of prejudice, criminalization, invisibility, and racism.
That is why we call for continued confrontation of structural racism—institutional and epistemic—and the coloniality of power, knowledge, and gender. It is a call to unite, to build together in this struggle, where the commitment of everyone is increasingly necessary. We cannot give up or lower our guard while policies of social dismantling of rights and free-market policies that accelerate poverty and deepen inequalities and xenophobic practices are being implemented in the region. We will continue, as we did on this March 21st, to raise our voices to denounce inequalities, urging all peoples to resist and strengthen counter-hegemonic struggles for a more just, egalitarian, and democratic society.
Havana, March 21, 2020
CLACSO Working Group
Afro-descendants and counter-hegemonic proposals
Signatories
Nelson Mandela Chair (Cuba)
Association of Afro-Latin American and Caribbean Researchers – AINALC
Carioca Network of Black Ethnoeducators (Brazil)
Xangó Group (Argentina)
Afro-Latin American Studies Collective (Uruguay)
Afro-Mexican Museum Petra Morga (Mexico)
National Network of Afro-Mexican Youth (Mexico)
Afro-Mexican organization Mano Amiga de la Costa Chica AC (Mexico)
AfroStética Project (Cuba)
The Cimarron Project (Cuba)
Atinukés Collective about the thoughts of Black women (Brazil)
Afro-Latin American Women's Gathering -TEMA (Argentina)
Art and Action (Mexico)
Latin American Network of Studies on Teaching Work
National Common Network of Organized Dominican Citizens (Dominican Republic)
This statement expresses the position of the Working Group on Afro-descendants and counter-hegemonic proposals and not necessarily that of the centers and institutions that make up the CLACSO international network, its Steering Committee or its Executive Secretariat.
