Afroargentines
I told you that there are no blacks in Argentina. Didn’t see anyone in Patagonia. And when I got back to Buenos Aires I paid more attention. Well, of course, I saw a couple of people with black skin, but two out of tens of thousands is mighty pale. I came across an article oddly enough that discusses this issue. The article says there two million people in Argentina of African descent. I balked at this one immediately and asked where they are all hiding. It talks about the “myth of the invisible Afroargentines”. The woman who wrote the article says this is “deeprooted, as ignorant airport officials confirmed when they told (an activist) in 2002: ‘This can’t be your passport. There are no blacks in Argetina.'” There is a picture of the woman and, trust me, she is black. Well, it turns out that a lot of Africans did come to Argentina which makes sense since that is what happened in all of the Americas and slavery was practiced here until 1807 (the article was written since it is the 200th anniversary of Americas’ first abolition). History books claim they were wiped out in the 1870s during a war with Paraguay and the yellow fever epidemic, but these did not wipe out everyone.
And then the story finally tells me how this two million figure can jive with the myth and with my observation (or more like lack of observation). “If you are looking for traditional African people with very black skin, you won’t find it. African people in Argentina are of mixed heritage.” Of course! Everyone here is blended and why wouldn’t the same be true with blacks! It goes on to say “one of the biggest problems they face is from the people who do not want to admit to their genuine roots”.
It is amazing to me the prejudicism towards Africans. Africans told me all about it. They told me how blacks in America think they Africans are below them. Ones that had visited America told me they were treated better by whites who knew they were from Africa than blacks. When I bring up Africa in Latin America many people tell me what a horrible place it is. They, of course, have never been there, but are quite open to spreading their ignorant views. Africa is not liked. People are afraid of Africa. People are ignorant about Africa. People that should be proud that they are from Africa are not. A number of theories about this were provided by Africans. I do not know, but I know something is up in this area and this situation in Argentina seems to confirm it. Let’s face the fact, just about everyone in the New World and probably the Old World thinks Africa is a lowly, rotten place filled with a bunch of ignorant natives. After getting a little educated not in a classroom or book, I would have to say that Africa would be a world power today if it hadn’t been for the Old and New World folks screwing it up and Africa will be a power in the future if the Old and New Worlds leave it alone. Maybe then people of African descent outside of Africa will be proud of their roots and they’ll get a little respect from all of us regarding what they are all about.
Tags: argentina, south america, Travel
vagabondrick
You see, racism will always be a part of any society. All I can say is that Africa is definitely not a lowly, miserable place inhabited by ignorant black locals. It is a rich, beautiful, and promising country that features amazing tourism attractions to all travelers.
This very much reminds me of the Mexican peoples – a mixture of Spanish and Indian. Those in Spain probably don’t see them as Spanish and most “Latinos” I’ve met here do not consider themselves to be Indian. Oh, someday I hope to tell you how they have discovered Black Jews in Africa – yes fully african features from centuries of intermarriages yet original ancestors fully Arabian Jews.