Race and Identity in Latin American Revolutions and Today's World

On April 19th of 1810, a young officer in Caracas by the name of Simón Bolívar joined the conspiracy of the Juntas. He immediately expels the Spanish Governor of Venezuela. A little over a year later, Caracas declares independence for Venezuela. This was soon changed around when the Spanish regained control of the providence. Bolívar then created the Manifesto de Cartagena which later expelled the Spaniards. In 1813, Bolívar won six consecutive battles against the spanish which allowed him to ender Caracas as a liberator with power. Slowly, Bolívar loses his power and the Spanish gain control once again. In 1819, Bolívar and his small force cross the Orinoco and the Andes mountains. Their surprise attack on the Spanish army forced the Spanish to surrender In December of 1819, the Republica de Colombia is officially proclaimed and in 1830 it became a free republic. In 1830, Bolívar resigns and eventually dies of tuberculosis. Later that year, Ecuador and Venezuela secede formally from Gran Colombia. In this revolution, Bolívar tried to unite everyone no matter what the color of their skin was. He cared more about identity than anything else. Everyone he was working with was very different from each other but they all shared one thing. None of them were European which Bolívar believed that this was the most important thing.

Issues with race and identity are still happening in todays world. In Philadelphia, according to an article called “Racism and the underfunding of Philadelphia schools” by Betsey Piette on November 24, 2014, cuts are being made to the school system due to the high rate of African Americans and Latinos in the system. They make up about 72% of the system. Philadelphia took a hit when 25%  of Pennsylvania's education funding cuts were directed towards them.  The budget that one elementary school was given to provide books and materials to 400 students was $160. Thats about what a family spends at the grocery store every week, which is certainly not enough to cover the cost for 400 student’s materials. Teachers and students have been fighting to get their education system back where it needs to be. Some people say that striking would get the message across and it seems to be the most effective in the past. They are fighting to get education to be a priority in the eyes of Pennsylvania. This article reflects that racism against a minority in the education system of our country still exists. The racism in Philadelphia is causing the school system to lose money which prevents students from getting the materials they need to do their best work.  It is a problem not only in Philadelphia, but also in other public schools around the nation. Our nation needs to fight racism and give people equality, not just in schools.

Piette, Betsey. "Racism and the Underfunding of Philadelphia Schools." Workers World. N.p., 24 Nov. 2014. Web. 2 Dec. 2014. <http://www.workers.org/articles/2014/11/24/racism-underfunding-philadelphia-schools/>.