«It is shameful that Belgium speaks to Spain about Franco when they set up human zoos in 1958»

What outraged you so much as to upload that image?




Let a country come that has had a fascist past and that collaborated with the Nazis to give 
lessons to Spain. In 1958 Belgium still organized zoos in which they exposed children. 
All this, when they are generally calling us Spaniards of authoritarians and racists despite 
our past of miscegenation. 
Something absurd when we have, for example, the precedent of the Laws of Burgos of 1512

The laws of Burgos?


They were laws created in Spain that sought to abolish indigenous slavery. 
When they were established, the juridical nature of the indigenous was discussed, 
if he should be treated as a free man and be considered a subject more than
he would work favor the Crown. 
They were the precursors of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
These laws were devised no less than in 1512, and at a time when it was not yet clear how the world was constituted. 
Its importance was decisive. They assumed a before and after. 
That happened remember, four centuries before Belgium continued to bring aborigines to their zoos.





What were the human zoos?
It was a practice that consisted in exposing aborigines in zoos because they were unknown 
to Europe. It is something that has always happened in history unfortunately. 
The Medici in Italy, for example, already had small something similar to human zoos with 
dwarves, Africans, Turks ... These "circuses" proliferated in the 19th century. 
The problem is that this image of the Brussels zoo is from 1958, and you see how they feed 
the child as if it were a fair monkey. 
That was absurd in the twentieth century. 
This type of colonial exhibitions could make sense (an aberrant sense) a century before, 
when there was no television, movies or documentaries and people did not know the aborigines. 
But we must not forget that to put us in context, in 1958, NASA was already active, 
the European Economic Community had been founded, Sputnik had been put into orbit and
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights had already been signed ten years ago! 
In that context, there were people feeding a "negrito" in a zoo. Terrible! 



Was it a unique practice in Belgium?
No. Human zoos were a kind of circus, so to speak, that existed throughout Europe in the 19th century. In Barcelona, for example, wild blacks (as advertised) were exhibited, as well as Germany. And in Madrid too. Even the capital took Filipino natives who, dressed as Tagalogs and other ethnic groups, were exposed in the Retiro Park. They caused admiration. They were even taken to the Royal Palace and were received by the queen regent, Maria Cristina. In Paris, to give another example, at the Universal Exposition of 1889 a "stand" was erected in which Inuits were placed equipped with harpoons and sleds. It was like (with forgiveness) today's "Faunia".
But we must understand that this was the mentality of the nineteenth century. 
Then a biologist racism had spread based on the white race being superior. 
In addition, they have just begun the explorations in Africa and those "savages" were 
considered great attractions. 
The problem is that Belgium continued with these practices until the middle of the 20th century. 
That Brussels, in its Universal Exhibition, continued to replicate this is not a receipt. 
By then many currents had come up that charged against these practices and considered 
them aberrant.

Does Spain have a complex of authoritarian and racist? 
Yes. That complex we have with other countries supposedly much more civilized is absurd. 
All of them have a very hard colonial past. 
It must be taken into account that in some countries they did not consider the aborigines
or people. In Australia, for example, they did not have the right to vote until 1962. 
Basing the current alleged illegitimacy of Spain in that the regime of 78 was the 
heir of Francoism does not make sense. 
And that Belgium is an example when it also has criminalized the crimes of sedition
and rebellion is absurd. In the article 104 of its penal code, for example, 
it is affirmed that the attempt to change the form of government or to attempt against the law 
established by the parliament is punishable by a prison sentence that can go from 20 to 30 years.