... like being greeted on your morning bus by a guy in blackface.
Obviously, this requires a little explanation. We've been celebrating Carnavales around these parts (aka Mardi Gras). While technically yesterday was Carnaval, the Spanish need to have many days for their fiestas, so the festivities began on Thursday night. Carnaval involves dressing up and drinking. Imagine a 6 day Spanish Halloween, and you've got it about right.
So, here's the complication. The most popular costumes this year were ethnic stereotypes. Tons of costumes of Native Americans. Tons of people dressed up as Muslims, Arabs more generally speaking, Chinese, Mexicans ... and this is where the blackface comes in. There were tons ... tons ... tons ... of people wearing blackface. Kids, adults, broad daylight.
Issues of race are particularly fraught here. There's not a lot of diversity in Spain, so I think people don't realize what the issues are. But, it's really, really striking to see something that would be looked upon with disdain in the US. It was particularly strange to see men in drag AND blackface on the front page of the website for the newspaper in town (and they were dressed as Whitney Houston in a casket and mourners. Super classy).
I really don't know how I feel about all of this. I understand that there's very little diversity, but I also feel like when behavior like this is sanctioned (or at least not looked down upon), they're choosing to keep themselves sequestered in an environment that means that they will never achieve racial equality. It's particularly strange since gay marriage is legal here. It seems like a sort of mirror image of the issues in the US, where there are plenty of racial issues - but blackface is never okay, yet gay rights are more controversial in many ways.
I'm thinking more about it, so there may be more musings to come. In the meantime, stay tuned for a language skills update shortly.
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