"Kinky Gazpacho" - being Black in Spain

[mount_oregano]

(From the MochaEnBocha.tv blog, a project by a friend of mine here in Madrid.)

"That's right, that’s the title of a new book by Lori Tharps, an African-American woman from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, who studied and lived in Spain and married into a Spanish family....

"Lori Tharps found herself to be a curiosity to be pointed to in the street. She realized that Spaniards have somehow 'forgotten' their intrinsic history with Africa, and still see the Black presence in their country as both odd and, sometimes, threatening. Unless, the person is African American, and then the matter changes....

Read the whole post here, where you can follow a link to Lori Tharps' interview on WNYC radio.

Comments

[alaneer.livejournal.com]

That's interesting. I didn't realize Spain had those views.

[mount-oregano.livejournal.com]

People occasionally get beaten up and even killed for being Black in Spain -- or for being other kinds of immigrants. It didn't used to be that way, but as more and more immigrants arrive, there is more anti-immigrant feeling. Still, Spain isn't as bad as some places in Europe.