SERGIO ARBOLEDA UNIVERSITY
Geopolitics and Security
Geopolitics and ethnicity, the afro-
descendant case
Daniela Perez Hinestroza
Geopolitics is a discipline that integrates
different aspects, such as: political, geographical,
territorial, economic, but also cultural elements.
Geopolitics has defined the direction of society
from all domestic and international levels. And
undoubtedly the geopolitical dynamics in the
world have determined both the history and the
destiny of different ethnic and cultural groups.
Although globalization has brought enormous
cultural integration, while it has partially
removed borders by bringing people closer
together, ethnic differences are still very marked
all over the world. This is the case of the black
population, as an example of this dynamic.
Today, the gaps of inequality that existed in terms
of people's abilities because of their skin color
should be reevaluated. However, we can still
show that there are many discrimination gaps that
are reflected in the living conditions of black
people and, above all, in the opportunities and
obstacles they must go through.
All this is a response to geopolitical dynamics not
so recent, some States in defense of their
interests, instrumentalized complete ethnic
groups for their benefit. Despite the passage of
time and the development of society, the
consequences of this piece of history are still
evident for certain ethnic communities. The
culture that is inherent to the communities can
adapt and even mix through the generations,
which is a very common dynamic in the most
recent history of the world. However, black
communities tend to retain many cultural traits
over time as a rooted construction of their
identity.
Possibly this is one of the reasons that greatly
differentiate some ethnic groups from others and
determine their living conditions and
development, in a globalized world and
considering the racial mixture that exists for
example in countries like Colombia. Countries in
which, even though black people represent a
significant portion of the total population, their
living conditions and opportunities in almost all
areas of development are unequal. From my point
of view, this should be considered a sociocultural
but also geopolitical discussion, seen as a
consequence of a geopolitical process. For
example, in Colombia even in 2019, most Afro-
descendants live in concentrated areas, in certain
departments and even there is still a Palenque.
Generally, these places where black communities
settle, have a lower level of economic
development, levels of unsatisfied basic needs
are higher, educational opportunities are not the
best and even in some places exist a condition of
misery.
Another example of this phenomenon is given by
language, recently the Spanish newspaper El País
(2018) published the article "This map reveals
that white Europeans associate black faces with
negative concepts", in which he claimed that for
European whites It was easier to associate the
traits of black people with negative concepts such
as bad or evil. This can easily be identified as a
social construction resulting from ancient
geopolitical processes in history.
The defense of some States, subtracted rights and
humanity from other ethnic groups, in this case
the black communities, and despite the passage
of time, contemporary societies are still going
through the consequences of this dynamic. From
my point of view, this cultural, political, and
social reality that has economic effects on the
population, concerns to a large extent a
geopolitical discussion as such.