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Quiara Quinones
Dennis Stromback
Race and Poverty
March 9, 2015
Exam 1
In Guatemala the racial and class separation has to do primarily with the indigenous population and the Ladinos. The indigenous population focuses on the pure Mayan way of life, by speaking the Mayan language and following the traditional religion and village customs. The
Indigenous population suffered from discrimination and poverty, while being geographically isolated. Violence and repression not only affected the biological continuities of the indigenous lives but also the cultural. There were policies that had a sole purpose of destroying Mayan communities both physically and emotionally. The government tried to suppress their culture
and
In 1989, 60 percent of Indians had no formal education, compared with 26 percent of Ladinos. Indians with thirteen or more years of education earned about one­third less than did Ladinos with a comparable level of education.
Racism is still prevalent and will always be prevalent not only in Guatemala but all over the world. It is an issue that remains silent but deadly because no matter how many steps we take forward, there will always be the one situation that brings us ten steps backward. For the indigenous there is an increasing presence in church groups that is “leading to the slow emergence of anti­racist discourses” (Caumartin 42). Which is the one step forward that they need. Eduardo Bonilla­Silva says that race “as other social categories such as class and gender, is constructed but insists that it has a social reality” (p.9). Bonilla explains that the way people see race is the same as any other social category and it is made that way on purpose. The racial structure of Guatemala causes an issue for the indigenous because it “benefits the dominant race”
(p.9).
The indigenous have suffered and still continue to suffer through poverty. Violence and racial structure creates a gap that keeps them from overcoming obstacles in order to become

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successful. The class system in both Guatemala and America are similar because it is most beneficial for the Elite, while