In 2001 Argentina Ms. Lamadrid was denied entry to Panama because the customs officials said there were no blacks in Argentina and demanded to see a real passport. 2001?
The commercial below - called Soy Afro-Argentino/a (translated "I am an Afro-Argentinian") - was put together by the 2010 Census in Argentina encouraging Afro-Argentinians to stand up and be counted. Take a look...
Looks like the African population in Argentina was on the verge of being forgotten historically and is almost non-existent by some people's standards. On October 27, 2010, for the first time in well over a century, Argentina finally reflected African racial ancestry in its census count (hence, the commercial). #wow
It's interesting to note that during the 18th and 19th centuries, the black population resulting from the slave trade made up 50% of the population in some places and had a deep impact on the national culture. [Wiki] One argument for the decline in the black population is the warfare which left Afro-Argentinian woman alone and without mates which ultimately produced mixed race offspring from the mixing of Afro-Argentinian women and either Europen immigrants or white Argentians.
Afroargentine upper middle class women
Photo Source: Wiki
Wiki has some pretty encouraging info though: Today in Argentina, the Afro-Argentine Community is beginning to emerge from the shadows. There have been black organizations....that have help[ed] to rekindle interest into the African heritage of Argentina. There are also Afro-Uruguayan and Afro-Brazilian migrants who have helped to expand the African culture. The Afro-Uruguayan migrants have brought their candombe to Argentina, while the Afro-Brazilians teach capoeira, orisha, and other African derived secular dances.
The question that remains now is “how many people in Argentina can claim African ancestry?” However, the exact number is actually quite difficult to calculate. ....[M]any blacks....used to “pass” for mulatto or white, so for this reason, people may or may not be aware that they had a black great grandparent. In fact, many researchers believe that possibly as many as 10% of Buenos Aires residents have African ancestry, but are unaware of it.
I'm a culture fanatic, so I realize that there's more to Argentina than tango and black Argentinians, but I'm thinking - after doing a little digging - that hey, maybe Argentina is looking like a place to go and blog about after all. (And I thought the highlight would be tango. Ha!) #givingitsomethought
Posted By: Marta Fernandez
Tuesday, August 2nd 2011 at 4:33PM
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