Evidence of racism in Costa Rica: Speeches, images, terminologies and experiences

Abstract

Racist slurs experienced by Afro-Limonenses football players in 2019 during the game between Limon-San Carlos in the month of April, and the insults directed toward the 10 years old Maikel McDonald in a classic of the little leagues football team during the month of September of the same year highlight the existing racism towards this group in Costa Rica. This subtle systemic racism is unproblematized, making it difficult to eradicate, so often showing its ugly head in overt ways. This qualitative study gives evidence of this racism by analyzing primary sources gathered through oral history and XX century newspapers. Two sets of questionnaire were applied one filled by 75 university students, and another by 10 randomly selected Afro Costa Ricans from the provinces of San José, Heredia and the Port of Limon. Both questionnaires applied during the month of June 2019. It is the hope that the evidence provided by the research will help in changing hegemonic political and educational discourses.