Afro-Ecuadorian Educational Movement: Racial Oppression, Its Origins and Oral Tradition

Introduction The meaning of race is changing in Ecuador. In 1998, due largely to the struggles of Indigenous and Afro-Ecuadorian groups, Ecuador for the first time acknowledged itself as a multi-racial and cultural nation through a constitutional referendum. Through this new constitution Afro-Ecuadorians and Indigenous groups also gained fifteen collective rights; three of which made reference to educational practices and processes. (1) In 2009 through another constitutional referendum, the rights and recognition gained in 1998 were expanded upon and made more specific. Furthermore, since the 1990's a body of literature has developed that examines racial discrimination and inequality in Ecuador that previously did not exist. However, these changes in the way the nation imagines itself are more rhetorical than substantive. (2) In Ecuador, the educational system has made and continues to make the contributions of people of African descent to the political, cultural and economic development of the nation, silent and or absent. Furthermore Afro-Ecuadorians continue to experience powerful forms of racial discrimination and inequality inside and outside of formal schooling. The present moment, nevertheless, represents a highpoint in the efforts of Afro-Ecuadorians to challenge their systematic exclusion from access to mainstream institutions and resources. This paper examines the Afro-Ecuadorian Etnoeducacion movement and claims that it is rooted in the experiences of colonialism and slavery and cannot be disconnected from the interrelated themes through which Afro-Ecuadorians have and continue organize and struggle, such as identity and ancestrality/collective knowledge of Afro-Ecuadorian communities. One of the most insightful ways Afro-Ecuadorian scholars and activists are conceptualizing their work is revealed in the terms 'casa adentro' and 'casa afuera.' 'Casa adentro' or 'in house' processes refer to addressing the impacts invisibility and absence has had on communities of Afro-Ecuadorians. 'Casa adentro' can be thought of as a reconstruction of Afro-Ecuadorian identity from the inside. 'Casa afuera' or 'out house' processes refer to efforts of formal inclusion and recognition of Afro-Ecuadorians and their contributions to the political, economic and cultural development of the nation. While analytically we can think of these two processes as separate, they, in various ways, cannot in practice be separate. (3) To date there are a number of programs and schools that have implemented AfroEcuadorian Education programs, which are primarily oriented towards addressing Casa Adentro issues, such as racial and cultural identity and ancestralidad. The term ancestralidad here refers to the lived philosophies and collective memories that constantly reconstruct historical, cultural, and spiritual ties and energies and rearticulate feelings of belonging within everyday life ..." (4) While Casa Adentro and Afuera confront difficult challenges, Casa Adentro has had more success in its implementation as it does not depend on collaboration with and resources from mainstream society to the same degree for its implementation. Hence, in this paper the focus is primarily on Casa Adentro practices and processes. Hence, in this work I aim to describe the socio-historical context of Afro-Ecuadorians generally and specifically related to education (there are important differences characterizing Afro-Ecuadorian populations with respect to history, geography, urban/rural, and gender that help elucidate the diversity and complexity of the Afro-Ecuadorian experience) and demonstrate how colonial and nation building practices and processes have attempted to silence and make absent the history and contributions of people of African descent have made to the political, economic, and cultural development of the nation, practices that continue into the present that has resulted in the reproduction of a racial hierarchy generally, and within education. …