Racial Amnesia:Debunking Ethnic Myths
Put forth on May 22, 2008 by XicanoPwr
Posted in Colonization, History/Historia, Indigenous/Indígena, Raza
Most people are not very aware of the presence of African slaves in colonial Mexico. In fact, some people believe that the influence of the African to Mexican culture is negligible at best. But the African laborer actually played an important role in the economic complexities of colonial Mexico. And, in some parts of Mexico, the African made cultural contributions.
We must keep in mind that the Spaniards also instituted slavery in every corner of their American empire, and Mexico is no exception. Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez, bestselling author of The Dirty Girls Social Club and Playing with Boys, reminds of that fact in her YouTube video endorsing Barack Obama. Throughout her video, Valdes-Rodriguez provides her viewers with tidbits of information about African roots in Latin America as she jams on her sax. She is on a mission to debunk the myth that Latinos won’t support a Black candidate that the mainstream media tends to force feed us.
She is correct, we do have more in common than most Americans think. It is important as Latina/os to know this fact. In the video Valdes-Rodriguez mentions that the song “La Bamba” originally came from African slaves. This is fact.
In the 17th Century, the majority of the slaves brought to Mexican shores came principally from Angola and the Congo. “La Bamba,” the famous Mexican folk song that was made popular by Ritchie Valens and Los Lobos, can be traced back to at least 1683. Historians show it was the creation of blacks in Veracruz who came from MBamba, a region in present day Angola.
However, African roots go beyond Latina/o pop culture. African roots can be found along side with our indigenous heritage. The long-established Siete Partidas laws of Spain granted slaves the right to select their spouses and during that time, the majority of slaves brought to Mexico were male. In “Recovering History, Reconstructing Race: The Indian, Black, and White Roots of Mexican Americans,” Martha Menchaca wrote, “this legislation was of monumental importance because it became the gateway for the children of slaves to gain their freedom. Due to the lobbying efforts of the Catholic Church the children of Black male slaves and Indian women were declared free and given the right to live with their mother.”
Mexicans with African heritage made a disproportionately high contribution during the revolution for independence, and continued in subsequent upheavals. This would explain why two of the three most celebrated Mexican independence heroes are AfroMexicans - José María Morelos y Pavón and Mexico’s second president, Vicente Guerrero. There are many notable figures in Latin American history with African heritage, such as Emiliano Zapata.
Yet, this fact continues to be ignored. Sadly, racial amnesia over African roots is common among us Latino/as. However, we are able to regain our memory by educating ourselves. Time to wake up people.
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This is the blog of Edmundo "XicanoPwr" Rocha, a social worker, an activist, freelance writer and founder and editor of The Sanctuary. My interests include: immigration reform, critical race theory and it's interaction with equality/inequality and freedom/oppression as they relate to the experiences of people of color in the Americas.
Para Justicia y Libertad is a Latino-centered political blog focusing on the humanistic perspective of politics, history, and society as they relate to the Latina/o community throughout Texas and the United States.
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This is excellent. I agree, we have more in common w/ African-Americans than many of us care to admit, and we do have a shared history. I have blogged about this before, but it doesn’t generate much discussion, leading me to believe that people don’t care to acknowledge this common history. Denial is easier for most than facing reality.
Thank you Alisa and XP for sharing this with us!
I don’t think Mexicans really deny the African roots, as much as overlook it. MEXICAN-AMERICANS make a bigger deal out of the thing than I see here. Friends from Veracruz always assume they’re part-black. Here on the Sinaloa coast, where African and Asian (mostly via the Philippines) ancestry is the rule, rather than the exception, “race” is something of a non-issue.
Some may disagree with me, but “race” is mostly a linguistic concept, rather than a genuine category. In the U.S. — and other English and German speaking nations, it does matter much more than in Romance-Language ones. In my pretentious moments, I blame Immanuel Kant (who came up with the idea of “categories of understanding” — and once you put things into categories, you rank them: “white” better than “brown” better than “black”, for example).
Just a side-note. I’m not sure of the African heritage of Emiliano Zapata (though it wouldn’t be remarkable), but Lazaro Cardenas certainly had African ancestry.
When his grandson, Lazaro Cardenas Batel, ran for Governor of Micoacan, the PAN candidate attacked Cardenas’ Batal for having an Afro-Cuban wife. U.S. reports talked about “racism”, but the attacks were predicated on the belief that Afro-Cubans practice voodoo, and are bad Catholics. Actually, she is a bad Catholic — a practicing Communist — but that’s another thing altogether. The point is WE — in the U.S. — whatever our “race” (or mixture of races) are trapped by our perceptions and language.
Thank you Adriana. I don’t think its that people don’t care, I feel has more to do with the idea of losing their uniqueness, which has more to do with our mestizoness/indigenous roots. This is the cornerstone of our identity. As long as continue to be unaware of our ancestral diversity, the divide and conquer will continue.
Richard - I don’t disagree with you that “race” is not a genuine category. The idea of race was just a way to opress the so-called heathens who happen to be the Asians, Africans, and Amerindians. In my mind, the concept of race began ever since the Catholic Church gave their Papal Bulls, “Romanus Pontifex” and “Inter Caetera.” These two papal dicta set the course where race (the “Other”) entered the conscience, where it was OK for people to judge a person based on the color of their skin and religion. If it wasn’t for those two papal dicta, which authorized the Portuguese and the Spanish the right “to subject to servitude all infidel peoples” in Africa, the Indies and the Americas in the name of God, race probably wouldn’t be an issue.
So whether we call it race or ethnicity, it still equates over 600 years that people who originate from the continents of Africa, Asia and the Americas (before conquest) are “infidel peoples.” And oddly enough, these are the people who have been designated the skin color of red, yellow, brown and black, hence judging a person by the color of their skin. The reason I say still, if you look at the people who continue to be discriminated today, they just happen to either originate or ancestrally come from the same areas where two papal dicta allowed the Portuguese and the Spanish the right conquer.
This probably explains why colorism is prevalent in those places. It is hard to deny that those with darker-skinned (where they are Black, Latino, or Indian) are discriminated more by those with lighter skin tones.
Unless we pass laws that specifically protect the targeted groups, it would take a miracle to break 600 years of being trapped by perceptions and language.
XP, I see the lack of interest or acknowledgment of anything African as more of a rejection of anything “dark.” Look at how many Latinos and Chicanos like to say that their great grandfather came from Spain, yet they don’t give a flip about their indigenous roots.
It just saddens me because socially, we have a lot in common w/ African-Americans.
This is a great conversation. I think the jury is still out on the that. It is true there are some Chicanos who say that their great grandfather came from Spain as there are some Chicanos who are interested in their indigenous roots.
Whether they do or don’t, doesn’t negate that there is a lack of interest or acknowledgment of anything African, which still leads to a divide and conquer tactic that still being used till this day.
I was not aware of the African connection in Mexico. How interesting… I was saddened to think about most people in this country that is not aware of the African influence in south america. I do wish more people were aware of this. I knew about Yoruba influence in Puerto Rican culture. I knew of the african influence in Brazil, Cuba, Panama, etc. but nNOT Mexico. Your post is so educational. Wish more will read it.
Keep up the good work.
DEE
Thanks Dee for the kind words and thank you for visiting my blog. I agree, it is very disappointing that too many people from this country are not aware of the African influence. I think it is because we are so disconnected from the world and really do think we are an island to ourselves.
All my life while growing up I always knew that some of my family were dark with kinky hair or light with curly hair and others with dark skin and straight hair. I have no doubt that Chicanos, Mejicanos have more African roots then they know about. We/I always assumed that this is the way Mexicans were… some dark & kinky hair or light, white and/or Indian but never gave it much thought. I think it should all come out and be known by all of us not just the ones who do a search. I believe it should be taught in schools and wen this happens some will deny it and others will embrace it but nonetheless it should be told. Emiliano Zapata was of Indian/African /Spanish heritage just as many of us are. The only problem I have is when Afro-Americans think because of our similarities we should know about the Afro-American experience. My girlfriend is Puertoriquena and a woman of Afro American Descent thought it odd that she knew nothing of Juneteeth day… Well I wouldn’t expect any Afro American to know about El Dia De San Juan Or Santeria from Cuba or La Bamba Being from a Afro Mejicano song about the Angolan tribe Bamba. Yes, we have an African slave common ground but we also have many different traditions as well as customs. I do not deny my African roots but they don’t have a whole lot to do with Afro American Traditions. We as well as Puerto Rico and Cuba know what tribe we basically belong to while unfortunately The Afro- Americans Tribe has been lost in the shuffle. We are all still brothers in a long history of slavery and prejudice but our Spanish/Latino Traditions are different…. Muchisima Gracia, Vidal Cortez
I have not had my first comment moderated and I have already began my second comment. As I read Adriana’s comment on how we have more in common with Afro-Americans than we care to admit, I think is about as correct as saying we have more in common with Germans than we care to admit simply because Hitler wore a mustache. I believe we have alot in common with Afro-Cubanos, Afro-Peruanos, Dominicanos as well as Brazilians. While slavery of Africans existed in Mexico as well as Cuba, Puerto Rico, Brazil and yes the U.S. African slavery is the only common bond we have with Afro-Americans. The ultimate traditions, customs, as well as Language is very much a part of every latino including Brazilians. When a Quincinieta becomes a part of the Afro-American tradition or the ability to say yes, A King of an African tribe of Angola, namely NYANGA, was responsible along with the Indians of the region, for the free town known as Yanga in Mexico, Where to this very day a Statue of Nyanga (Yanga) stands in Veracruz, Meico. As the Cubanos still to this day are able to speak several of their tribal words of the YORUBA from Nigeria and still worship the Yoruba orishas Obatala, ChanGO, Sarabanda, Yemaya & Lucumi. Sure African Slaves were in Cuba, Puerto Rico, Republica Dominicana as well as Mexico, but what the Afro-Americans call OBAMA the first black president of the USA, Mexico’s second president was a Afro-Mejicano and the Gov. of California before it became a part of the U.S. Again was Afro- MEJICANO…. So again Adriana, Slavery is the only commonality between Afro-Americans & Afro Latinos…. The things Afro -Latinos Celebrate as well as our Latino traditions are different, not better, just different so yes we have plenty in common with other Afro-latinos but not as much as you would like to believe with Afro-Americans…. Vidal
As I watched Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez on her video clip I thought to myself, this woman has no idea what it is like to walk down a street, Dark skinned, hair that a comb will not run through, in a upper class white neighborhood. Before clicking on her video I saw a still of her and thought she was a white woman that may have had comments on this site. Yes Alisa, many Latinos/as will vote for Obama & yes Latin America had a slavery problem and yes there are white latinos, black latinos, Indian latinos and the beautiful “Triqueno” or a mix of all three but not every latino is Black or indian, there are some that are undeniably SPANIARD and that does not make them bad, it just means they did not play well with others. Me and many family members are without doubt well mixed, from light to reddish brown to black from straight to curly to kinky hair yet we are all latino. You yourself may be light/white skinned with an occasional tan but yes you are Latina. My girlfriend and I are from different Latin roots, She is Puerto Rican. Her mother is a white puerto Rican and her father a Black Puerto Rican. She is a light brown in skin color with kinky or grifo hair. My Family comes from Mexico. My mothers family is dark with curly to grifo hair from the coast. No one is completely sure if our roots were always Mexican. The older ones claim our family originated in Cuba but nonetheless our skin colors range from light to very dark. I am dark and take after my grandfather pelo grifo, (kinky hair) but we are still latino. Latino is not a color, it is a feeling, traditions, celebration, this is why a person as white as you and a person as dark as me can all be called LATINO which has nothing to do with the USA… If it did then you can actually say you have alot in common with Britney Spears, The both of you are white but the difference being is that feeling, tradition, celebration. That would be like me having alot in common with O.J. Simpson. We are both black in color, are hair is of the same texture but our feelings, traditions, celebration is not the same, not better just not the same. In Africa the different tribes are very much different from one another, alot of the tribes don’t get along. We speak differently, we celebrate differently yet we look the same. I am Latino he is American, Spears is American and you are latina/American, the both of you are white but your traditions are not the same, and please don’t take offense when I say you are white, it’s just a color. If a all points bulletin was out for me I would be described as a black latin, if the bulletin read a latin male they would never find me. If there was an allpoint bullentin for you it would not read a black latina, it would more than likely read a Female Latina or white female but if it read female black latina they would never find you either…. It’s just color. What you my girlfriend and myself have in common is not color, it’s being LATIN>>>>>> Muchisima Gracia, Vidal
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