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About 5% of Honduras's population is black, or Afro-Honduran, and mainly reside on the country's Caribbean or Atlantic coast. The black population is mostly of ] (Antillean) origin, the descendants of indentured laborers brought mostly from ], ], and other Caribbean Islands. The ] (people of mixed Amerindian and African ancestry) live along the north coast and islands, where there are also many Afro-Hondurans. This ethnic group, estimated at more than |
About 5% of Honduras's population is black, or Afro-Honduran, and mainly reside on the country's Caribbean or Atlantic coast. The black population is mostly of ] (Antillean) origin, the descendants of indentured laborers brought mostly from ], ], and other Caribbean Islands. The ] (people of mixed Amerindian and African ancestry) live along the north coast and islands, where there are also many Afro-Hondurans. This ethnic group, estimated at more than 800,000 people, has it origin in the expulsion of black people who refused to be slaves, by the British authorities, from the island of ] during the eighteenth century after the Carib Wars. Garífunas are part of Honduran identity through theatrical presentations such as Louvavagu. | ||
There is a strong presence of Afro-Hondurans on the north coast and to a lesser extent in ]. There are several ]s in the ]. | There is a strong presence of Afro-Hondurans on the north coast and to a lesser extent in ]. There are several ]s in the ]. | ||
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{{NIC}} | {{NIC}} | ||
About 9% of Nicaragua's population is black, or Afro-Nicaragüense, and mainly reside on the country's sparsely populated Caribbean or Atlantic coast. The black population is mostly of ] (Antillean) origin, the ]s of indentured laborers brought mostly from ], and other Caribbean Islands when the region was a ]. There is also a smaller number of ], a people of mixed ], ], ] and ] descent. The Garífuna live along the Caribbean coast and islands. This ethnic group has it origin in the expulsion of black people who refused to be slaves, by the British authorities, from the island of ] during the eighteenth century after the Carib Wars. Nicaragua has the largest population of blacks in ]. | About 9% of Nicaragua's population is black, or Afro-Nicaragüense, and mainly reside on the country's sparsely populated Caribbean or Atlantic coast. The black population is mostly of ] (Antillean) origin, the ]s of indentured laborers brought mostly from ], and other Caribbean Islands when the region was a ]. There is also a smaller number of ], a people of mixed ], ], ] and ] descent. The Garífuna live along the Caribbean coast and islands. This ethnic group has it origin in the expulsion of black people who refused to be slaves, by the British authorities, from the island of ] during the eighteenth century after the Carib Wars. Nicaragua has the second largest population of blacks in ]. | ||
Afro-Nicaraguans are mainly found on the autonomous regions of ] and ] on the Caribbean Coast of the country. | Afro-Nicaraguans are mainly found on the autonomous regions of ] and ] on the Caribbean Coast of the country. |
Revision as of 22:51, 13 February 2008
Ethnic group
Notable Afro-Latin Americans Ronaldinho · Pelé · Arturo Alfonso Schomburg | |
Total population | |
---|---|
Sub Saharan African >128,000,000 Latin Americans
| |
Regions with significant populations | |
Brazil | 92.6 million |
Colombia | 9.2 million |
Haiti | 8.0 million |
Dominican Republic | 3.5 million |
Cuba | 3.8 million |
Venezuela | 2.5 million |
Peru | 1.1 million |
Mexico | 2.8 million |
Ecuador | 0.4 million |
Honduras | 0.3 million |
Puerto Rico | 0.8 million |
Nicaragua | 0.5 million |
Costa Rica | 0.1 million |
Panama | 0.4 million |
Paraguay | N/A |
Guatemala | N/A |
Uruguay | 0.2 million |
El Salvador | N/A |
Languages | |
Portuguese, Spanish, and several creoles | |
Religion | |
Predominantly Christian (mainly Roman Catholic); minorities practicing Judaism, Islam, or no religion | |
Related ethnic groups | |
sub-Saharan |
An Afro-Latin American (also Afro-Latino) is a Latin American person of at least partial sub-Saharan African ancestry; the term may also refer to historical or cultural elements in Latin America thought to emanate from this community. The term can refer to the mixing of African and other cultural elements found in Latin American society such as religion, music, language, the arts, and social class.
The term African Latin American, as used in this article refers specifically to black African ancestry, not, for example, to European colonial or Arab African ancestry, such as Arab Moroccan or white South African ancestry. The term is not widely used within Latin America outside of academic circles. Normally Afro Latin Americans are called black (in Spanish negro, in Portuguese negro or preto). More commonly, when referring to cultural aspects of African origin within specific countries of Latin America, terms carry an Afro- prefix followed by the relevant nationality. Notable examples include Afro-Cuban (Spanish:Afro Cubano) and Afro-Brazilian, however, usage varies considerably from nation to nation.
The accuracy of statistics reporting on African Latin Americans has been questioned, especially where they are derived from census reports in which the subjects choose their own designation, due to the fact that in all countries the concept of black ancestry is viewed with differing attitudes.
In the United States of America African Latinos make up the Hispanic population along with: whites, Amerindians (including mestizo and Asian).
Of a total population of 549,549,000, an estimated 100 million are Afro Latin-American .Approximately 5% of the Latin American population identify themselves or are classified by census takers as being primarily of black ancestry. A further 16% of the population is mulatto, while Zambos are a small minority. By combining all three, another definition of Afro-Latin American is arrived at, one that in Latin America would be widely considered overly broad. (In fact, it would more resemble the one drop rule commonly accepted in the United States). By such a definition, about one-fourth of Latin America's population would be African Latin American. Another fairly large minority probably has at least some black African ancestry.
History
People of Sub-Saharan African origin probably first arrived in the Americas with the Spanish and Portuguese in the 15th and 16th centuries. For example, a Black man was a navigator in the 1492 Columbus expedition. Those who were directly from Africa mostly arrived in Latin America as part of the Atlantic slave trade, as agricultural, domestic and menial laborers, and as mineworkers. They were also employed in mapping and exploration (for example, Estevanico) and were even involved in conquest (for example, Juan Valiente). They were mostly brought from West Africa and Central Africa in what are now the nations of Nigeria, Benin, Angola, and Congo, There are two major groups: the Yoruba and the Bantu. Most of the slaves were sent to Brazil, Peru and the Caribbean, but lesser numbers went to Colombia, and Venezuela. Countries with significant black, mulatto, or zambo populations today include Brazil (75 million), Haiti (8.5 million), Colombia (11 million), Cuba (3.9 million), Dominican Republic (3.2 million) and Puerto Rico(20%-46%). Recent genetic research in UPR Mayaguez has brought to light that 26.4% of Puerto Ricans have African heritage on the x chromosome and 20% on the y chromosome, thus between 20%-46% of the Puerto Rican population has African heritage. For more on this: Demographics of Puerto Rico). Traditional terms for Afro-Latin Americans with their own developed culture include Garífuna (in Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala and Belize), cafuzo or mameluco (in Brazil), and zambo in the Andes and Central America. Marabou is a term of Haitian origin denoting a Haitian of multiracial ethnicity. The term describes the offspring of a Black African/European or mulatto and an Amerindian, specifically the native Taíno, born in Haiti (formerly Saint-Domingue). The heavy population of Africans on the island established by the French and Spanish diluted the generations of so-called "marabous" over the decades and virtually all Haitians today of supposed Amerindian descent are assumed to also possess African ancestry. Several other terms exist for the "marabou" racial mixture in other countries.
The mix of these African cultures with the Spanish, Portuguese, French and indigenous cultures of Latin America has produced many unique forms of language (e.g., Palenquero, Garífuna and Creole), religions (e.g., Candomblé, Abakuá, Santería, Lucumi and Vodou), music (e.g., salsa, bachata, cumbia, Palo de Mayo, plena), samba, martial arts (capoeira) and dance (rumba, merengue). Many of these cultural expressions have become pervasive in Latin America.
Contentious issues
Several issues arise from the theme of African Latin American. One is based on the selection of countries which is normally included in the definition of Latin America which, being based on the language spoken, excludes all countries in the same geographical area, such as Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica, where the people do not speak a Latin-based language. As a result several countries which have significant Black heritage are excluded from study.
From a strictly statistical point of view, it is perfectly valid to collect data concerning a group defined by one criterion (Blackness) within another group defined by other factors (Language), however, if you change the definition of either group, then the results obtained will also be subject to change.
Another issue is the validity of the numbers of people who are classified as Black. In many countries, the people who are counted as "black" or some mixture is based on choices made by individuals in responding to census questionnaires who may, or may not, define themselves as black based on their own ideas or specific cultural biases concerning blackness. In the late 1990s it has become possible to determine racial origin by studying certain DNA factors in individuals, however, this practice is not widely used, to date.
A further issue is that of the validity of racial identity. In some countries, it is believed that there has been an almost universal homogenization of the races and there have been attempts in other countries, such as Colombia, to eliminate racial differences by encouraging inter-racial marriages. Depending on one's viewpoint this may be seen as a positive, or a negative objective.
Racial and ethnic distinctions
Terms used within Latin America which pertain to black heritage include mulato (black - white mixture), and zambo (indigenous - black mixture) and moreno. Mestizo refers to an indigenous - white mixture. The term mestizaje refers to the intermixing or fusing of races, whether by mere custom or deliberate policy. In Latin America this happened extensively between all the racial groups and cultures, but usually involved European men and indigenous and African women. Unions of white females and non-white males were almost taboo.
These distinctive terms were used in part to distinguish between different social strata in which the Europeans and criollos (people of pure European heritage born in the Americas) who generally were the ruling and administrative parties were at the top and the African and Indian races who were the laboring class were at the bottom. The offspring of mixed marriages generally occupied a stratus closer to that of the father's, thereby putting children with a black or Indian father at a disadvantage.
South America
Argentina
Main article: Afro-ArgentinesLost and officially unaccounted for are a few thousand blacks, descendants of slaves who by some accounts made up nearly 50 percent of the rural population in the late 1700s. Due to high mortality rates, migration (many to Uruguay, where the black population was larger and the climate more attractive), the decline of the slave trade after 1806, and a successful campaign aimed at encouraging European immigration, the black Argentine population receded to its present state of near invisibility. However, reminance of African influence can still be seen today with African influence of the national Tango dance.
Bolivia
Blacks in Bolivia account for about 3% of the population. They were brought in during the Spanish colonial times and the majority live in the Yungas
Brazil
Main article: Afro-BrazilianAround 46% of Brazil's 188 million people are Afro-Brazilians (39% either African and European ancestry and African, European and Amerindian ancestry, 7% African ancestry). Around 80% of the northeast state of Bahia is of African descent.
Brazil experienced a long internal struggle over abolition of slavery and was the last Latin American country to adopt it. In 1850 it finally banned the importation of new slaves from overseas, after two decades since the first official attempts to outlaw the human traffic (in spite of illegal parties of African slaves that kept arriving till 1855). In 1864 Brazil emancipated the slaves and in September 28th 1871 the Brazilian Congress approved the Rio Branco Law of Free Birth, which conditionally freed the children of slaves born from that day to then. In 1887 army officers refused to order their troops to hunt runaway slaves, and in 1888 the Senate passed a law establishing immediate, unqualified emancipation. This law, known as "Lei Aurea" ("Golden Law") was sanctioned by the regent Isabel, Princess Imperial of Brazil, daughter of the emperor Pedro II in May, 13th, 1888
One of the most famous Afro-Latin Americans is the Brazilian footballer Pelé.
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. |
Chile
Chile imported about 6,000 blacks, about one-third of whom arrived before 1615; most were utilized in agriculture around Santiago. Today there are very few Afro-Chileans, at the most, fewer than 1% can be estimated from the 2006 population.
Mario Rojas, a Chilean musician dedicated to reviving the traditional cueca in Chile believes that this traditional dance has its roots in Africa in part for the 6/8 rhythm which passed from Arabia through to Nigeria, and also its syncopated lyrics.
Colombia
Main article: Afro-ColombianAvailable estimates range from 4.4 to 10.5 million Afro-Colombians. Afro-Colombians make up approximately 4% (9,154,537) of the population according to a projection of the National Administration Department of Statistics (DANE), most of whom are concentrated on the northwest Caribbean coast and the Pacific coast in such departments as Chocó, although considerable numbers are also in Cali, Cartagena, and Barranquilla. Colombia is considered to have the third largest Black/African-descent population in the western hemisphere, following Brazil and the USA.
It has been estimated that some 4.4 million Afro-Colombians actively recognize their own black ancestry, while many other Afro-Colombians do not, as a result of inter-racial relations with white and indigenous Colombians. Afro-Colombians may often encounter a noticeable degree of racial discrimination and prejudice, as a socio-cultural leftover from colonial times. They have been historically absent from high level government positions. Many of their long-established settlements around the Pacific coast have remained underdeveloped. In Colombia's ongoing internal conflict, Afro-Colombians are both victims of violence or displacement and members of armed factions, such as the FARC and the AUC. Afro-Colombians have played a role in contributing to the development of certain aspects of Colombian culture. For example, several of Colombia's musical genres, such as Cumbia, have African origins or influences. Some Afro-Colombians have also been successful in sports such as Faustino Asprilla.
San Basilio de Palenque is a village in Colombia that is noted for maintaining many African traditions. It was declared a Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 2005.The residents of palenque still speak a Spanish/African creole
Ecuador
Main article: Afro-Ecuadorian peopleIn 2006 Ecuador had a population of 13,547,510 with 8%, or 1,083,801 descendant from Spanish and African people. The Afro-Ecuadorian culture is found in the northwest coastal region of Ecuador and make up the majority (70%) in the province of Esmeraldas and the Valle de Chota in the Imbabura Province. They can be also found in Guayaquil. The best known cultural influence known outside of Ecuador is a distinctive kind of marimba music. Bao is a fusion of native rhythms and Caribbean rhythms including candombe, salsa, merengue, reggae and calypso.
Paraguay
Peru
Main article: Afro-PeruvianAfro-Peruvians make up about 3-4% of the population (1.1 million people).
Afro-Peruvian music was little known even in Peru until the 1950s, when it was popularized by the performer Nicomedes Santa Cruz.
Uruguay
African slaves and their descendants figured prominently in the founding of Uruguay. In the late 1700s, Montevideo became a major arrival port for slaves, most brought from Portuguese colonies of Africa and bound for Spanish colonies of the New World: the mines of Peru and Bolivia and the fields and Uruguay.
In the 19th century, when Uruguay joined other colonies in fighting for independence from Spain, Uruguayan national hero Jose Artigas led an elite division of black troops against the colonists. One of his top advisors was Joaquin Lezina, known as Ansina, a freed slave who composed musical odes about his commander's exploits and is regarded by Afro Uruguayans as an unheralded father of the nation.
Venezuela
Black Venezuelans are descendants from African slaves brought to Venezuela from the 17th to the 19th century for the coffee and cocoa crops. Most of the very African-Venezuelans live in the North-central Region: coastal towns in the area called Barlovento (Miranda State), Northern Yaracuy, Carabobo and Aragua States, and Eastern Vargas State; but there are areas in South Lake Maracaibo (Zulia State) and Northern Merida State in the Andes, among others with several towns and villages. They have kept their traditions and culture alive especially through music. Venezuela is a highly mixed nation. A 2001 research on genetic diversity by the Venezuelan Institute of Scientific Research (Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Científicas, IVIC) in which the population was compared to the historical patterns of the colonial castes, adding to this new information about genetic diseases and characteristics associated to the people from Süb-Saharian Africa, Europe, and Native Americans; reveals that approximately 5% of the population is of African descent and 29% of the Venezuelans are mulattos (mixed African and European), but no further data about the amount of pardos (mixed black and Amerindian) is provided. However, this information reveals that at least 32% of the Venezuelan of population is, to some extent, of afro-Venezuelan descent. Despite this, very few afro-Venezuelans achieved high economical, political or military positions before Chavez's Administration, he is a mulatto. A former Ministry of Education Aristóbulo istúriz, also a former Congress Deputy, ís afro-Venezuelan.
Nevertheless, afro-Venezuelans have stood out as sportsmen, many of them in the Major League Baseball and other sports, however, most of them don't describe themselves as so, but Latinos or Hispanics or simply Venezuelans. Afro-Venezuelans have also stood out in arts, especially music. In 2006 both Miss Universe Venezuela and Miss World Venezuela were mulatto, but generally black people are rarely seen in the local media.
Central America
The Afro-Latin Americans of Central America mostly live in or near Caribbean coast. The blacks of Guatemala, Belize, Honduras and Nicaragua, are both of Garífuna, Afro-Caribbean, Mestizo, and/or Miskito heritage whereas those of Costa Rica and Panama are mostly of African-Caribbean heritage. Many Afro-Caribbean islanders came to Panamá to help build the Panama Canal and to Honduras to get work in the banana plantations.
Costa Rica
3% of the population is of black African descent who are called Afro-Costa Ricans and are English-speaking descendants of nineteenth century black Jamaican immigrant workers.
As of today, the indigenous population numbers around 1%, 41,338 individuals. In Guanacaste Province, a significant portion of the population descends from a mix of local Amerindians, Africans and Spaniards.
Most afro-Costa Ricans are found on the Caribbean coast.
El Salvador
El Salvador is the only Central American country that has no visible African population. However, Salvadorans with African heritage are present, most notably in San Salvador, the capital. In addition, General Maximiliano Hernandez Martinez instituted race laws in 1930 that prohibited blacks from entering the country, this changed during the 1980s and the law was removed.
Guatemala
Guatemalan culture is a mix of European, Mayan Indian, and African, but only 2% of the population is considered black or mulatto. The main community of African descent are the Garifuna, concentrated in Livingston and Puerto Barrios. The rest of the community is of Afro-Caribbean stock and mulattos. Izabal, on the Caribbean coast is the center of African culture in Guatemala, with its population being of mixed African, Mayan Indian, and European.
Honduras
About 5% of Honduras's population is black, or Afro-Honduran, and mainly reside on the country's Caribbean or Atlantic coast. The black population is mostly of West Indian (Antillean) origin, the descendants of indentured laborers brought mostly from Jamaica, Haiti, and other Caribbean Islands. The Garifuna (people of mixed Amerindian and African ancestry) live along the north coast and islands, where there are also many Afro-Hondurans. This ethnic group, estimated at more than 800,000 people, has it origin in the expulsion of black people who refused to be slaves, by the British authorities, from the island of St. Vincent during the eighteenth century after the Carib Wars. Garífunas are part of Honduran identity through theatrical presentations such as Louvavagu.
There is a strong presence of Afro-Hondurans on the north coast and to a lesser extent in San Pedro Sula. There are several Garífunas in the National Congress of Honduras.
Nicaragua
About 9% of Nicaragua's population is black, or Afro-Nicaragüense, and mainly reside on the country's sparsely populated Caribbean or Atlantic coast. The black population is mostly of West Indian (Antillean) origin, the descendants of indentured laborers brought mostly from Jamaica, and other Caribbean Islands when the region was a British protectorate. There is also a smaller number of Garífuna, a people of mixed Carib, Angolan, Congolese and Arawak descent. The Garífuna live along the Caribbean coast and islands. This ethnic group has it origin in the expulsion of black people who refused to be slaves, by the British authorities, from the island of St. Vincent during the eighteenth century after the Carib Wars. Nicaragua has the second largest population of blacks in Central America.
Afro-Nicaraguans are mainly found on the autonomous regions of RAAN and RAAS on the Caribbean Coast of the country.
Panama
Black laborers from the British West Indies, mainly Jamaica, came to Panama by the tens of thousands in the first half of the twentieth century. While most were involved in the effort to build the canal, many also came to work on Panama's banana plantations. By 1910, the Panama Canal Company had employed more than 50,000 workers, three-quarters of whom were Antillean blacks. They formed the nucleus of a community separated from the larger society by race, language, religion, and culture.
Caribbean
Cuba
Main article: Afro-CubanAccording to a 2001 national census which surveyed 11.2 million Cubans, 1.1 million Cubans described themselves as Black, while 2.8 million considered themselves to be "mulatto" or "mestizo". Many Cubans still locate their origins in specific African ethnic groups or regions, particularly Yoruba, Igbo and Congo, but also Arará, Carabalí, Mandingo, Fula and others.
There is also a significant presence of black Haitian immigrants in the country. Creole language and culture first entered Cuba with the arrival of Haitian immigrants at the start of the nineteenth century. Haiti was a French colony, and the final years of the 1791-1804 Haitian Revolution brought a wave of French settlers fleeing with their Haitian slaves to Cuba. They came mainly to the east, and especially Guantanamo, where the French later introduced sugar cultivation, constructed sugar refineries and developed coffee plantations. By 1804, some 30,000 French were living in Baracoa and Maisi, the furthest eastern municipalities of the province. Later, Haitians continued to come to Cuba to work as brazeros (hand workers, from the Spanish word brazo, meaning "arm") in the fields cutting cane. Their living and working conditions were not much better than slavery. Although they planned to return to Haiti, most stayed on in Cuba. For years, many Haitians and their descendants in Cuba did not identify themselves as such or speak Creole. In the eastern part of the island, many Haitians suffered discrimination. But since 1959, the Castro regime claims that discrimination against Cubans of Haitian descent has stopped. After Spanish, Creole is the second most-spoken language in Cuba. Over 400,000 Cubans either speak it fluently, understand it but speak with difficulty, or have at least some familiarity with the language. It is mainly in those communities, where Haitians and their descendants live, that Creole is most spoken. In addition to the eastern provinces, there are also communities in Ciego de Avila and Camaguey provinces where the population still maintains Creole, their mother tongue. Classes in Creole are offered in Guantanamo, Matanzas and the City of Havana. There is a Creole-language radio program.
Dominican Republic
Main article: Afro-Dominican73% are Mixed, 11% are Black, and 16% are White, with no fewer than nine ethnic mixes including: mestizos, mulattoes, sambos, grifos, quadroon Indians, quadroon mulattoes, puchelas, saltaras, and cabras.
There is also a significant presence of black Haitian immigrants in the country up to a million Haitians live in the Dominican Republic. There are also immigrants from other Latin American countries including Cuba, Venezuela, and Colombia.
Dominican culture is a mixture of Taino Amerindian, African, and European origins. While Taino influences are present in many Dominican traditions, the European and African influences are the most noticeable.
Haiti
Main article: Demographics of Haiti95% of Haitians are predominantly of African descent. A moderate number of Haitians are believed to possess African as well as Taino/Arawak heritage due to the history of the island, however the number of native-descended Haitians is not known. The remaining 5% of the country is white, mulatto, and Mestizo.
Marabou is a term of Haitian origin denoting a Haitian of multiracial ethnicity. The term describes the offspring of a Black African/European or mulatto and an Amerindian, specifically the native Taíno, born in Haiti (formerly Saint-Domingue). The heavy population of Africans on the island established by the French and Spanish diluted the generations of so-called "marabous" over the decades and virtually all Haitians today of supposed Amerindian descent are assumed to also possess African ancestry. Several other terms exist for the marabou racial mixture in other countries (see Cafuzo, Zambo).
Haiti is a Afro-Latin nation with strong African contributions to the culture as well as its language, music and religion. To a lesser degree French, Spaniard, and in rare occasions (food, art, and folk religion) Taino and Arab customs are present in society.
Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago Afro-Trinidadians account for 39.5% of the population of Trinidad and Tobago and the majority were descended from immigrants from other islands of the Caribbean, especially Grenada, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Barbados. Other Afro-Trinidadians trace their ancestry to American slaves recruited to fight for the British in the War of 1812 or from indentured labourers from West Africa.
Jamaica
The population consists mainly of people of West-African descent, comprising about 90.9% of the demographics. Other populations on the island are as follows: East Indian 1.3%, White 0.2%, Chinese 0.2%, Lebanese 0.1%, Multiracial 7.3%.
Jamaica's black population consists of freed slaves from the original Spanish colonialists and the subsequent British rulers. The history of slave rebellions still remains a source of national pride. The popularity of Reggae and the Rastafarian religion have African roots in Jamaican culture.
Puerto Rico
Main article: African immigration to Puerto RicoAccording to the 2000 U.S. Census taken in Puerto Rico, 80.5% of Puerto Ricans identified as White, 8% of the population as Black and 10.9% as of mixed or other race. An island-wide mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) study conducted by the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez revealed that 61% of Puerto Ricans have maternal Native American ancestry, 26.4% have maternal West or Central African ancestry, and 12.6% have maternal European ancestry. On the other hand, the Y chromosome evidence showed Puerto Ricans' patrilineage to be approximately 75% European, 20% African, and less than 5% indigenous. The combined results reveal a mostly mestizo(Taino and European) population with important European and African elements (Demographics of Puerto Rico)
Certain critics consider census figures to be skewed since they are based on self-definition and acute physical observation of census-takers. These critics maintain that a majority of Puerto Ricans are racially mixed, but that they do not feel the need to identify as such. They argue, furthermore, that Puerto Ricans tend to assume that they are of African, American Indian, and European ancestry, and only identify themselves as mixed if having parents "appearing" to be of separate "races". It should also be noted that Puerto Rico underwent a "whitening" process while under U.S. rule. The census-takers at the turn of the 20th Century recorded a huge disparity in the number of "black" and "white" Puerto Ricans between the 1910 and 1920 censuses. "Black" suddenly began to disappear from one census to another (within 10 years' time), possibly due to redefinition of the term. It also appears that the "black" element within the culture was simply disappearing possibly due to the popular idea that in the U.S. one could only advance economically and socially if one were to pass for "white".
Misinformation of ethnic populations within Puerto Rico also existed under Spanish rule when the Native Amerindian (Taino) populations were recorded as being "extinct". Biological science has now rewritten their history books. In all, about 31 African tribes have been recorded in Puerto Rico . These tribes were not voluntary travellers, but have since blended into the mainstream Puerto Rican population (as all the others have been) with Taino ancestry being the common thread that binds.
Many so-called "pure" blacks in Puerto Rico are found in the coastal areas, areas traditionally associated with sugar cane plantations (especially in the towns Loiza, Guayama, Ponce, and Carolina). Although, due to the DNA evidence that is being presented by UPR at Mayaguez, many African bloodlines have been recorded in the central mountains of the island, though not written in the Spanish history books of the time. Consequently, Taino bloodlines have begun appearing in the coastal towns. All this suggesting that escaped Africans ran off to the mountains to escape the slaveowners, while some Tainos remained close to their main staple food, fish.
The Puerto Rican musical genres of bomba and plena are of African and Caribbean origin respectively and danced to during parties and African-derived festivals. Many Boricuas who claim West/Central African ancestry are descendants of enslaved Congo, Igbo and Yoruba tribes from Africa. After the abolition of slavery in 1873 and the invasion of the United States, a number of African Americans have also migrated and settled in Puerto Rico.
Mexico
Main article: Afro-MexicanThe vast majority of Afro-Mexicans inhabit the southern region of Mexico and very few have migrated to the north making their existence in the country less evident than other groups. Some Afro-Mexican facts:
- Race is not considered for any official purpose, including census.
- Gaspar Yanga founded the first free African township in the Americas in 1609.
- the city of Cibola was founded by a Black man named Esteban el Negro (Steven the Black), a Moor from Spain.
- the song 'La Bamba', a traditional folk song and dance, was originally a song sung by African slaves in Veracruz as they worked. Bamba is the name of an African tribe in Angola.
- Veracruz, Campeche, Pánuco and Acapulco were the main ports for the entrance of African slaves.
- In the past, offspring of African/AmerIndian mixtures were called jarocho (wild pig), chino or lobo (wolf). Today jarocho refers to all inhabitants of the state of Veracruz, without regard to ancestry.
See also
References
- The American Heritage® Book of English Usage. Latino discussed.
- Names and Labels
See also for discussion which describes the application of "Afro" to a term. - AfroCuba.org
- Museu AfroBrasil
- https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2075.html CIA - The World Factbook - Field Listing - Ethnic groups
- Latin America#Racial Origins
- http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/QTTable?_bm=y&-geo_id=04000US72&-qr_name=DEC_2000_SF1_U_DP1&-ds_name=DEC_2000_SF1_U
- ^ Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2007 Cite error: The named reference "encarta" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
- ^ Cruz,Shamil.African Americans in the Caribbean and Latin America Cite error: The named reference "cruz" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
- 'La cueca es un arte de elite' 9/18/2001 Interview in Spanish with Mario Rojas
- ^ BBC Mundo: ¿Colombia hacia la integración racial?
- "The Cultural Space". UNESCO. Retrieved 2007-09-27.
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(help) - A Language, Not Quite Spanish, With African Echoes
- Nicomedes Santa Cruz
- ^ Montgomery, Tommie Sue (1995). Revolution in El Salvador: from civil strife to civil peace. Boulder, Colo: Westview Press. ISBN 0-8133-0071-1.
- Cuba census 2001
- https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/rq.html
- http://www.kacike.org/MartinezEnglish.pdf
- http://www.ssc.wisc.edu/cde/demsem/loveman-muniz.pdf#search='race%20classification%20Puerto%20Rico'
External links
- Oro Negro: about the black population in Chile
- Africans in the Caribbean and Latin America
- Black Latin America
- Afro Mexico or Bobby Vaughn's The Black Mexico website
- Latin American Network Information Center's African Diaspora webpage with links to various websites (LANIC is affiliated with the University of Texas at Austin)
- Cowater International Inc of Ottawa's preliminary report (1996) for the Inter-American Development Bank titled: "Poverty Alleviation Program for Minority Communities in Latin America--Communities of African Ancestry in Latin America: History, Population, Contributions, & Social Attitudes (Social and Economic Conditions with Partial Bibliography)" This report is 188 pages and contains history of Spain and Latin America, the African contributions to Latin America and pages 46 to 61 in Acrobat (or pages 31 to 46 in the document) is titled "Analysis of Social Attitudes Towards Afro-Latin Americans".
- Clare Ribando's (Analyst in Latin American Affairs for the Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division of the Congressional Research Service) brief report titled: CRS Report for Congress--Afro-Latinos in Latin America and Considerations for U.S. Policy (January 4, 2005)
- The Inter-Agency Consultation on Race in Latin America (IAC)
- English version of Judith Morrison's Presentation to the Inter-American Dialogue's Working Group session (held on September 23, 2005) in Microsoft Word format. Morrison is the Executive Director or the Inter-Agency Consultation on Race in Latin America.
- Judith Morrison's Powerpoint Presentation titled: "The High Cost of Discrimination in Latin America" (2005)
- Jere R. Behrman, Alejandro Gaviria, & Miguel Székely's "Social Exclusion in Latin America: Introduction and Overview" report for the Inter-American Development Bank
- The World Bank Group's website titled "Afro-Latin Americans" from 2001 and not updated
- The World Bank's Latin American and Caribbean Social Development Unit's newsletter "La Ventana" Webpage contains links to three editions to newsletters detailing World Bank activities toward the social inclusion of Afro Latin American and indigenous peoples.
- The World Bank's Publications on Afro Latin Americans (see column on right side for Acrobat documents available for download)
- David de Ferranti's (former Regional Vice President of the World Bank, Latin America & the Caribbean) remarks of June 18, 2002 to the Annual Meeting of the Inter-Agency Consultation on Race in Latin America titled: "Advancing Public Policy for Afro-Descendents in Latin America: Social and Economic Development, Legal Issues and Human Rights"
- Powerpoint Presentation by Josefina Stubbs, a Senior Social Development Specialist in the World Bank titled "Afro-descendants in Latin America: Poverty, Inequality and Discrimination"
- Tanya K. Hernández' (Professor of Law & Justice, Frederick Hall Scholar, Rutgers University School of Law) speech given November 28, 2005 Washington, DC titled: "Discrimination and Education in Latin-America" The speech was given at the Special Meeting to Examine and Discuss the Nature of a Future Inter-American Convention Against Racism and All Forms of Discrimination and Intolerance.
- The World Bank's website titled: "The World Bank and Afro-Latins - Overview"
- World Bank webpage announcing their report titled: "Inequality in Latin America & the Caribbean: Breaking with History?" The webpage includes links to specific report chapters, including Chapter 3, which considers racial factors involved in inequality.
- The multiple author publication "Race and Poverty: Interagency Consultation on Afro–Latin Americans (LCR Sustainable Development Working Paper No. 9)" published November 2000 by the Inter-American Dialogue, Inter-American Development Bank, and the World Bank of their roundtable's proceedings held June 19, 2000 in Washington, D.C.
- Ivan Briscoe's short piece on the Open Democracy website titled "The time of the underdog: rage and race in Latin America"
- Inter-American Development Bank's informational website for their book "Social Inclusion and Economic Development in Latin America" (2004) by various authors and with considerable parts dealing with Afro Latin Americans
- Peggy A. Lovell's article "Gender, Race, and the Struggle for Social Justice in Brazil" November 2000, pages 85-103, Latin American PerspectivesTry clicking here for link to journal article
- Omar Arias, Gustavo Yamada, & Luis Tejerina's journal article from the International Journal of Manpower (Volume 25 Number 3/4 2004 pages 355-374) "Education, family background and racial earnings inequality in Brazil" Try clicking here for link to journal article
- Maria do Carmo Leal; Silvana Granado Nogueira da Gama; and Cynthia Braga da Cunha's article "Racial, sociodemographic, and prenatal and childbirth care inequalities in Brazil, 1999-2001" from Revista de Saúde Pública (vol.39 no.1 São Paulo Feb. 2005)Try clicking here for link to journal article
- CNN video of Afro-Colombian community
- Colombian 2005 Census Television Commercial Orgullosamente Afrocolombiano
- The World Bank's Sector Report "The Gap Matters: poverty and well-being of Afro-Colombians and indigenous peoples" Click here for the report