PRELIMINARY CONSIDERATIONS 4
The State ’ s patent history of slavery has primarily been included and mapped in the study , albeit not solely , by means of its material vestiges ( monuments , statues , etc .) and the small number of recognition initiatives . Nevertheless , specific discrimination cases ( descendants , claims , etc .) could not be pinpointed taking the State ’ s territorial limits as a reference point . At this stage we must ask ourselves , looking to the future , how the demands for reparations and recognition that occur in the different countries that have had to or should handle such claims and that somehow involve Spain should be included . In fact , Jamaica was one of the first countries to demand material compensation from Great Britain and the recognition of accountability for years of slavery , and Spain is expected to receive similar requests soon . We believe that comprehensive and coherent mapping should be executed in conjunction with groups located in these countries to come up with cross-findings and to broaden the project ’ s scope . In fact , this dialogue is imperative .
Moreover , and in line with the approach outlined , Spain has also been a country of a colonialist nature . This is a paramount issue that , in turn , differs from the American case ( which was a colony and then a State ). It allows us to pinpoint the second significant difference with regard to the mapping ’ s scope . On the one hand , because starting in the 1950s , the first migrations to the peninsula began from the small number of Spanish colonies in Africa ( Morocco , Sahara and Guinea ), giving way to the first organised Afro-descendant groups in the contemporary State . Beginning in the 1980s , once the Franco dictatorship came to an end and Spain joined the EU , new migratory processes originating mainly , although not exclusively , from former colonies in America and Africa would be added to them . This political issue has been and is at the forefront of the fight against racism , the laws that discriminate against them and the cities ’ colonial and slave legacy . On the other hand , the colonial focal point is what best encapsulates the debates on recognition and reparations today . We refer to the requests for public apology by a number of Latin American countries ( such as Mexico ) or to the requests for the return of plundered artefacts ( Colombia , etc .). Obviously , again , this reality forces us to consider the project ’ s necessary transnational perspective and to alert us to the bias of the findings presented herein .
2 . Chronologies : The different historical contexts have led to the adaptation of the chronologies and the historical periods of reference . The historical eras used in the United States were : Slavery 1609-1865 ; Reconstruction 1865-1877 ; Jim Crow 1877- 1950 ; Civil Rights Era 1950-mid 1960s ; Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Beyond . In the case of Spain , the periods employed were : Slavery & American Colonialism 1492-1872 ; Modern Colonialism 1872-1950 ; Civil Rights – Decolonisation 1950-1975 ; Civil Rights 1975-Present . Like any periodisation , this chronology plays an instrumental role that facilitates classification , and we are aware that there are many possibilities .
T R A N S - A T L A N T I C R A C I A L R E D R E S S N E T W O R K : S P A N I S H C A S E
FINAL FINDINGS REPORT