12:19 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Controversia| Peru| Spain| race · 1 Comment
28 Nov 2006
It seems that Spanish airline Iberia has some ’splaining to do…as to why two Peruvian parlamentarians were the target of what can only be regarded as racist and xenophobic comments on the part of Iberia staff at Lima’s airport.
Peruvian congresswomen Hilaria Supa and Maria Sumire, both members of the oppositional UPP-PNP alliance, complained they have been the target of discrimination by Spanish airline Iberia. The incident obviously happened on Saturday evening at Lima’s Jorge Chavez International Airport.According to Sumire’s version given to CPN Radio, both legislators arrived at Iberia’s check-in counter to board the 8:55 p.m. flight to Madrid.
However, they were told the airplane was full and there was no alternative for a later flight that night.
Sumire maintained that despite purchasing the tickets in advance, airline personnel made them wait unnecessarily while servicing other customers first. After the congresswomen started to complain about this disadvantage, an airline employee apparently answered something that roughly translates to “how can you be congresswomen if you don’t even know how to speak the language? Obviously you don’t speak Spanish very well, so complain all you want”.
Um, she said what?! Yet another reason not to fly Iberia. While Spain seems to be the most progressive country in Europe, it appears that some of the people hired by its national airline are not. Which begs the question: was the employee a Spaniard or a racist Peruvian?
Via / Living in Peru
Image via Perfil.com
12:21 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · GLBT| Labor| Women| mexico| race| society · 5 Comments
24 Oct 2006
As striking as it may be to anyone who hasn’t lived in Latin America, discrimination based on skin color, race, height, weight, gender and sexual orientation is the order of the day when it comes to looking for a job in some countries. In most Latin American countries (and in Spain) a photograph is required when submitting a resume for a job.
In Mexico, not only are employers looking at photos to make the typical judgement of “she’s probably going to have kids soon, no use to us” — which is bad enough — but they are also using carefully crafted job postings to make sure they weed out “undesirables”. The best part? “Diversity-friendly” American companies in Mexico are doing it too:
When Michigan-based automotive supplier Lear Corp. needed a secretary for its office in the central Mexican state of Guanajuato, it placed a classified ad seeking a “female … aged 20 to 28 … preferably single … with excellent presentation.”And to ensure that it got the right candidate, Lear asked applicants to include a recent photo with their resumes.
4:12 pm By Maegan La Mala · Immigration| Politics · 6 Comments
12 Dec 2005
Racist congressman Tom Tancredo of Colorado wants to change the U.S. Birthright Citizenship policy so that the children born of immigrants will not attain U.S. citizenship.
A group of 92 lawmakers in the House will attempt next week to force a vote on legislation that would revoke the principle of “birthright citizenship,” part of a broader effort to discourage illegal immigration.
Because of the length of time involved, some immigration experts say that birthright citizenship is not a major incentive for the vast majority of illegal entrants.
Not sure why Tancredo is such a xenophobe, especially when he is the son of Italian immigrants. I always wonder how crazy hypocrites like Tancredo get elected to public office.
“There is no support for the concept in the Senate,” said Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.). “There are certain things that we have done as a nation for a long time that I don’t think we’re going to change. Rolling back the clock is not going to solve the problem of immigration.”
Via / Los Angeles Times
VivirLatino is a daily publication published by 2 Mujeres Media, dedicated to featuring all the latest politics, culture, entertainment of interest to the diverse and influential Latino and Latina community in the U.S.
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