When Conflicting Racisms Converge: Race, Nation and Segregation in the Panama Canal Zone

Rebecca Herman

November 6, 2017 | Part of Fall 2017 Bay Area Latin America Series

Event Description

During World War II, workers from across Latin America and the Caribbean traveled to the Panama Canal Zone to work on defense construction projects for the U.S. government. When they arrived, they encountered a binary system of segregation that did not accord with the racial constructs and identities they brought with them. This talk will consider how race, nation and segregation divided Allies engaged in a purported war for democracy.

Speaker

Rebecca Herman is Assistant Professor of History at the University of California, Berkeley. Her research and writing examine Latin American history in a global context.