“No one enters unless they are an official or an advisory council member. No more, because this is becoming a merienda de negros” [Note: in Spanish, the expression “merienda de negros” (which roughly translates to “black people's snack time”) is an expression with racist undertones which means that things are getting out of hand.] These were the words used by Bogotá councilman Jorge Durán Silva, from the Liberal Party [1], when he called to order during a debate in the council last May 16, 2012. The video of this comment began to spread through media and social networks on July 31 [2], immediately causing outrage among citizens.
On August 2, YouTube user kienykeVideo [3] [es] edited the video, adding a question at the end:
¿Cuál es el pronunciamiento del Concejo de Bogotá y el Partido Liberal ante este tipo de expresiones por parte de los dirigentes políticos?
The comment has revived [4] [es] a similar event starring the deputy to the Assembly of Antioquia, Rodrigo Mesa Cadavid. The Attorney General's Office opened a disciplinary process for Mesa after his comment referring to one of the departments with the largest population with African descent in Colombia: “The money that you will invest to the Choco is like spraying perfume on a bollo [human waste]”. Social organizations sued Mesa; however, he was finally disabled [5] [es] from his post on charges of falsifying a public document.
Enrique Jimmy Vargas (@Enriquejimmyvar [6]) [es], recalls Mesa's case and uses upper-case letters to suggest the following:
@Enriquejimmyvar [7]: @todelar [8] ASI COMO AL DIPUTADO MESA LO DESTITUYERON E INHABILITARON ESPERAMOS LO MISMO AL MAÑOSO Y RESABIADO CLIENTELISTA CONCEJAL DURAN OJAL
Similarly, Jaime Rodríguez (@jaime_concejal [9]) [es], a current candidate to Bogota's Council, writes:
@jaime_concejal [10]: El concejal Jorge Duran Silva debe ser sancionado por “RACISTA”
Moreover, German Rozo (@AmericanoGR [11]) [es] highlights how the Colombians of African descent have represented the country at the 2012 Olympic Games in London:
@AmericanoGR [12]: Mientras Jorge Durán Silva hace comentarios racistas, 2 de nuestros afrodescendientes dejan en alto nuestra bandera en los Juegos Olímpicos.
Oswaldo Loboa Aragón (@LoboaC521 [13]) [es] sends a message to the councilman:
@LoboaC521 [14]: CONCEJAL Jorge Duran silva ES UNA INCITACION A LA VIOLENCIA PRACTICAR EL RACISMO ………..EN COLOMBIA USTED ESTA RODEADO DE ELLOS UUUFFFFF
Durán, who apologized [15] [es], is being sued [16] [es] by lawyer Diego Ángulo with the alleged support of more than 30 organizations [17][es] that defend the rights of communities of African descent.