Afro-Argentines: The Reality Behind the Myth - Essay Example

Corey Aguayo Greg Landau History 18 25 April Afro-Argentines: The Reality Behind the Myth. Today, Argentina is termed as the “whitest” Latin American country, with an approximately ninety-seven percent of so-called white or ethnically European population. However, just how a country surrounded by others with such large Afro/black populations, and a country having a history of African slavery, have such a low population of non-whites is a question that many in Argentina have either ignored or made excuses for. Latin America has a large population that comprises of people from African ancestry, yet Argentina, a Latin American country, does not have such a population, and offers little or no reason for this phenomenon. For those of African ancestry, in particular those in Argentina, it is important to find out just why their history and perhaps their very existence have been so whitewashed. These questions are just as important to a historian, or any person who is interested in the matter, and need to be answered. Argentina was not a plantation oriented country; therefore, the slave trade did not flourish as much as in other parts of Latin America. However, this does not mean that there were no slaves in Argentina in general and Buenos Aires in particular. Buenos Aires was, in fact, one of the major ports where the slave ships were docked (Molina). From these slave ships, a lot of slaves were smuggled into Buenos Aires, of course with the tacit consent of the authorities. Most of the African slaves that were obtained in Buenos Aires were either for household help purposes (cooks, handmaids etc.) or were artisans who were rented out by their masters to those in need of their services (Quintana). Moreover, the tasks that were considered to be below the dignity of the “white” population, such as cleaning the sewers, were also relegated to them (Quintana). Some estimates state that about one-fourth to one-third of the population of Buenos Aires, in the early nineteenth century, comprised of Afro-Argentines (Gudmundson). However, by the late nineteenth century, in the 1887 census to be exact, they comprised of about 1.8% of the population (Reel 1), after which a new category was introduced in their stead, that of “trigueno” or “wheatish” (Mundra 1), which of course included such white Europeans as the Italians and Sicilians who were darker than the others. So the question that begs to be asked is: where did all these Afro-Argentines disappear? And if it is to be accepted that there is no longer any Afro-Argentine or black population in Buenos Aires, then how does one account for people who claim to be Afro-Argentines, people like Miriam Gomes, an Afro-Argentine described by Reel in her report (1)? Some hypothesis have been forwarded before in this regard: some state that it was due to some sort of epidemic that swept the black population in mid nineteenth century, and other put the blame on many of the blacks dying on the front lines in wars (Reel 1). However, these views have been challenged now. George Reid Andrews is a major proponent of the theory that it was not so much as blacks dying in war that the population of Afro-Argentines has decreased, but that there are other reasons thereof. Andrews clearly shows that though there were segregated units in the Argentine army, however, integration was much more the norm, with Afro-Argentines being promoted to officer ranks as well, even though the whites were much more likely to be promoted to senior ranks (Andrews 69, 70 & 76). Andrews also points out that many historians have tried to wash over this fact in order to promote their theory of the blacks being “cannon fodder” to the whites (71), which Andrews asserts was never the case with Argentina (63-64), even though such a policy was adopted in the rest of Latin America. Moreover, Andrews also states that not only did the Afro-Argentines not die at a faster rate in the army than their white counterparts, but they also had a sense of self-preservation and did not fight without any consideration for their own protection (65 & 68). This clearly shows that despite what the historians claim, the scourge of war and the fate of becoming cannon fodder was not what eliminated or decreased the Afro-Argentine population so drastically. The question about what happened to the Afro-Argentines, therefore, remains unanswered, because the assertions made before are now found to be incorrect. Gudmundson points out that it was not merely due to the ever popular causes of fever or war that the population of Afro-Argentines was decreased, but that the living standard of those days was such that not only was the infant mortality rate higher among the Afro-Argentines, but that the marrying age of Afro-Argentine women was much higher than those of their white counterparts, which resulted in lesser pregnancies. Also, most of the Afro-Argentine slaves in cities were women (Gudmundson states that women almost outnumbered men 2 to 1 in cities), which made it increasingly hard for them to find Afro-Argentine men to marry them, as such men were mostly either living at the country side or conscripted with the army. In such a scenario, Gudmundson points out, the slave women usually were concubines to white men, whether their masters or not, and in some cases were even married by them, thereby changing their status. Their children, later on, took on the ancestry of their white father and proclaimed themselves to be white. This also caused a great decrease in the Afro-Argentine population as a lot of them were hesitant to call themselves anything but white. An interesting point in this regard is the fact that though most of the Argentines do consider themselves to be white, they are not considered so in North America or Europe, where they are called Latino or Hispanic (Aido). This shows that the term “white” is very relative. Moreover, when Miriam Gomes, with funding from World Bank, started a project of limited census to see how many of the so-called white populace of Buenos Aires was in fact white (Reel 1). The census helpers observed that in some cases those who were apparently black, or those who present black characteristics, refused to take part in the census, denying their Afro-Argentine roots (Reel 2). Andrews also points at this trend by illustrating the case of Captain Gregorio Sanfine, an Afro-Argentine, who was later classified as white in the census and through his personal papers, and his children and grandchildren were also so transformed (71). So an Afro-Argentine magically gave birth to white children and grandchildren. The fact that these Afro-Argentines were, in essence, moving up in the racially prejudiced society is also to blame for this tampering in the records This bias has not changed so far, and perhaps that is why the response of Afro-Argentines to the census is also understandable, as the racial prejudice in Argentine society is great and being non-white or Afro-Argentine automatically results in one being termed as inferior or an oddity. As Molina pointed out in his essay, some of his own compatriots ask him which country he comes from, or treat him like a pet or an oddity, touching his hair because they say it brings luck. The census takers, knowing of all these sensitivities and peculiarities of the Argentine culture, also took DNA samples, the results of which clearly showed that about 10 percent of those who claimed to be white were actually part descendants of Afro-Argentines (Reel 2; Mundra 2). The attitude of the blacks during this census clearly shows that what an anthropologist stated about Afro-Argentines themselves keeping their identity secret is true (Mundra 2). Though one has to respect that fact, keeping in mind that though the time may have changed in respect to the epoch, yet the Afro-Argentines feel that it is the same when it comes to racial prejudice, thereby making it necessary for them to hide. This trend, however, is changing now, with organizations like Africa Vive, Grupo Cultural Afro, and, much recently, Associacion Misibamba coming out to proclaim their Afro-Argentine roots, and celebrate their ethnic diversity. As these groups rightly point out, Afro-Argentines have shaped much of the white Argentine culture as well, and should be respected in this regard. Moreover, they need to be given their due in historical records as well; in the words of Andrews, “The Afro-Argentines lived in a white man’s society; the alternatives were either to fight his wars or to suffer the consequences of refusing to do so. While fight those wars they served not only as followers but also as leaders, and as soldiers and officers they compiled a record of achievement that has been too easily relegated to history’s back drawers. Let the record stand corrected” (Andrews 77). Works Cited Aidi, Hisham. “Blacks in Argentina: Disappearing Acts.” The Global African Presence. Runoko Rashidi. 14 June 2002. Web. 26 Apr. 2010. Andrews, George Reid. “The Black Legions of Buenos Aires, Argentina, 1800-1900.” Slavery and Beyond: The African Impact on Latin America and the Caribbean. Ed. Darién J. Davis. Lanham, MD: SR Books, 1995. 55-80. Print. Gudmundson, Lowell. “Black into White in Nineteenth Century Spanish America: Afro-American Assimilation in Argentina and Costa Rica.” Slavery and Abolition 5.1 (1984): 34-49. Web. 26 Apr. 2010. Molina, Lucía Dominga. “The Black in a Supposedly White Society. (El Negro en una Sociedad Pretendidamente Blanca)” Agencia Latinoamericana de Información. América Latina en Movimiento. 10 Jan. 1995. Web. 25 Apr. 2010. Mundra, Anil. “The Reawakening of Afro-Argentine Culture.” Global Post – International News. 30 Aug. 2009. Web. 25 Apr. 2010. Quintana, Antonio. “The New World.” Zevallos TV & Networking Friends. Zevallos TV. n.d. Web. 26 Apr. 2010. Reel, Monte. “In Buenos Aires, Researchers Exhume Long-Unclaimed African Roots.” The Washington Post: The Washington Post Company. 5 May 2005. Web. 25 Apr. 2010. Read More