10
Despite the undeniable cultural advances of our time, there are some aspects of Peruvian identity remaining to be solved. Some kind of “shyness” is noted when addressing the “topic” Racism, classism, male chauvinism and other –isms are the inheritance we received from a local unsolved history; they are not ghosts but facts living with us every day; they drive expensive cars, they use the “Metropolitano” bus system, the electric train or walk.
Indigenism was a milestone in the long and tortuous process of building a local speech to integrate our plurality. It tried to balance our ill-looking reality at the beginning of the last century, but it was insufficient because, among other matters, it did not represent our huge diversity. In the current stage of such process, it would be healthy to start talking about Peruvian identity, cleaning the term from obsolete and limiting concepts, because talking about Peruvian identity today means talking about integration and equality, a different paradigm to that used currently, which is more related to differences and hierarchical organizations. This fact is more restorative in the broadest sense of the word.
I believe that this was JCS’ interest and pursuit. Many journalists of his time attributed him the title of Peruvianist. In his home town Trujillo he was never considered an Indigenist. Raul Rosales, son of the Bolivian painter by the same name based in Lima, used to say: “Peru will be a better place when we all became Peruvian and we no longer are cholos, indios, mestizos, mulatos, chunchos and serranos”, tags divide and claim for followers. We have been in this situation for almost five centuries, maybe it is time to agree with Peruvian journalist Javier Lizarzaburu (Lima Milenaria) and others who suggest changing our paradigms regarding this topic and changing the roadmap towards our integration, choosing to leave behind Independence, which carries us directly into the vicious circle of our past, contaminated by injustice, shame, lament and racial segregation to celebrate this two hundredth anniversary, 200 years of Republic and look forward, accepting, acknowledging, appreciating and understanding our past and the process which has brought us here today to think about the future.