MSc International Development Studies 2017-2018
Title:
“NEGRITA PERO BONITA”:
Identity, Discrimination, and Activism within
the Afromexican Population in the Costa Chica
Name: Olivia Bwalya
Email: oj.bwalya@gmail.com
Date: 5
thJanuary 2018
UVA ID: 11427345
Word count: 22,412
Course: Research Project IDS – Field Work and Thesis
Supervisors:
Rosanne Tromp – University of Amsterdam
Enrique Gomez Llata Cazarez – Universidad de las Américas Puebla
Second reader:
“NEGRITA PERO BONITA”:
Identity, Discrimination, and Activism within
the Afromexican Population in the Costa Chica
Photograph By Cécile Smetana Baudier in Costa Chica, Oaxaca
Historically, the Afromexican population has suffered from a lack of visibility: they are socio-politically unrecognised and affected by economic marginalisation as well. However, the last few years have seen a lot of changes towards constitutional recognition for the Afromexican population: 2011 was named the International Year for People of African Descent by the UN, and in 2015 there was an intercensal survey which, for the first time, included the question of whether one identifies as Afromexican. The increased visibilisation of the Afromexican population has meant that their experiences of discrimination and racism have evolved, reflected by their mobilisation and activism. This thesis aims to fill the research gap on the contemporary experiences of the Afromexican population in relation to their identity, their experiences of discrimination, and the increasing forms of resistance. The objective is to explore how Afromexicans relate to their identity when they suffer a lack of national recognition, and in what ways they are trying to respond to this. Results were obtained through semi-structured interviews with members of governmental institutions, members of Afromexican civil organisations, and residents from the Costa Chica. The findings conclude that although Afromexican individuals relate to their identity in various ways, their experiences of discrimination and their consequent mobilisation is related to the expression of their racial identity. Furthermore, the contemporary forms of resistance and activism are providing new ways for this marginalised group to gain increased visibility and, through this, recognition, particularly through Afromexican women’s organisations. Moving forward, the Afromexican population needs to gain constitutional recognition to be recognised as full citizens of Mexico, which would in turn influence their experiences of discrimination and marginalisation, and the way they identify racially.
Keywords
Afromexican, identity, discrimination, recognition, activism, Costa Chica.
I would first like to thank my supervisor Rosanne Tromp for her support during the process of writing this thesis. Her detailed feedback, enthusiasm, patience, and understanding were incredibly valuable to me and for the development of my thesis. I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to have worked with her. Secondly, I would also like to thank Enrique Gomez Llata for the supervision in the first part of the thesis writing process; I am very grateful for your help and support in the formulation of my research, both prior to my journey to Mexico and during the fieldwork period.
Furthermore, I would like to thank Kaf Adjogatse for being an essential part in the approval of this thesis topic. To Guillem Ramírez Chico, Sam Maat, and my parents: thank you for your indispensable support throughout.
I would also like to say thank you to Gabriela Iturralde Nieto for her time to help me navigate the Costa Chica and connecting me with my gatekeeper. I want to especially thank Rosa Maria Castro Salinas for her dedication to both her own work and mine during my time in the Costa Chica. Her time, kindness, and commitment were essential to this research and I consider myself extremely fortunate to have spent time with her and her family.
Finally, I would also like to say a very special thank-you to the residents of the Costa Chica with whom I had the pleasure of interacting with: for sharing your stories and for welcoming me into your homes, I will forever be grateful.
ABSTRACT 3
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 4
PART I - RESEARCH
CHAPTER 1: Introduction 7
1.1 “There’s black people in Mexico?” 7
1.2 Theoretical Debates 9
1.3 Research Questions 10
1.4 Thesis Outline
CHAPTER 2: Theoretical Framework 11
2.1 Identity 11 2.2 Race 13 2.3 Activism 16 CHAPTER 3: Methodology 20 3.1 Research Parameters 20 3.2 Respondents 22 3.3 Data Collection 23 3.4 Data Analysis 24 3.5 Positionality 25 3.6 Limitations 26 CHAPTER 4: History 27
4.1 African Arrival in Mexico 27
4.2 Mexican Revolution, Mestizaje, and the Erasure of Blackness 27 4.3 2011 International Year of People of African Descent and 2015 Intercensal Survey 29
PART II – FINDINGS
CHAPTER 5: Afromexican Identity in the Costa Chica 32
5.1 Identity: Nationality versus Race 32
5.2 Identity and Location/Space 34
5.3 Conclusion: changing Identity 36
CHAPTER 6: Afromexican Experiences of Discrimination 38
6.1 Stigma due to Appearance 38
6.2 Intersectional Experiences of Discrimination 39
6.3 Beauty Ideals and “Improving the race” 40
6.4 Recognition and Access to Services 41
6.5 Conclusion 45
CHAPTER 7: Afromexican Resistance and Activism 47
7.1 Afromexican Movement 47
7.2 Afromexican Women’s Movement 49
7.3 Conclusion: Where are we now? 53
CHAPTER 8: Conclusion 55
8.1 Answers to Research Questions 55
8.2 Theoretical Reflections 55
8.3 Limitations 57
8.4 Implications for Policy and Recommendations 57
BIBLIOGRAPHY 59
PART I - RESEARCH
1.1 “There’s black people in Mexico?”
I grew up in Veracruz as a child, and, with the exception of my own father, I don’t remember seeing many black people. So in 2015 when I became aware about the intercensal survey that for the first time included a question about whether one identified as negro, Afromexicano, or afrodescendiente, which for the first time allowed for a statistical account of the black population in Mexico, I was fascinated. Having already had a vivid interest in identity and experiences of the African diaspora in my previous studies, thus began my research into this topic: the more I found out about the Afromexican case in Mexico, the more I became aware of its complexity and yet the more intrigued I was. Even though I did not seek to make my research a comparative study, I was aware the Mexican case was different from other Latin American cases. For example, in other Latin American cases, there has been more visibility and recognition of the afrodescendant populations: as Meri Jones explains, although a common framework of mestizaje and whitening practices is visible in Latin America, the struggle of the Afromexican population to be included and listened to are years behind Afro-Latinos in other countries, making the Mexican case quite different from the majority of Latin America (2013, p.1577). So why is there such invisibility of the black population in Mexico? Why are they not politically recognised? How do Afromexicans relate to their identity because of this invisibility? Are there ways that they are resisting this? These are some of the questions that I sought to find out through my research. This study took me on a journey to the Costa Chica in Oaxaca and Guerrero, where I saw met with various people part of the Afromexican population in Mexico.
1.2 Theoretical Debates
In order to analyse the debates around black identity in Mexico and the Costa Chica, the theories considered in this thesis revolve around the concepts of identity, race, and activism. Brubaker and Cooper define identity as a concept utilised by individuals to understand themselves and how they are different from others (2000, p.4). Additionally, Hall (2003) views identity as a process that is constantly being negotiated, as opposed to being static. This research is carried out in this fundamental understanding: that identity is used by individuals to make sense of themselves, and that an individual’s definition of identity is in constant process. Furthermore, Fraser informs the importance for individual’s identity to be recognised: she argues that the politics of recognition gives marginalised individuals the space to reject their inferior social status and allow for them to consider themselves full members of society, and, in so doing, overcome subordination (2000, p.113). Appreciating the importance of recognition for a marginalised group is fundamental to the argument I engage with in this thesis: understanding that – in this case,
predominantly political – recognition relates to the expressions of identity of the marginalised Afromexican individuals.
Analysing the concept of race, this thesis uses Critical Race Theory to inform how this research engages with the Afromexican population: in the understanding that racially oppressed individuals are often omitted from general discourse, Critical Race Theory provides a framework to allow the marginalised group to provide counter-stories and give voice to their own experiences shaped by experiences of discrimination (2012, pp.24-67). This thesis rests on the conviction to provide a space to those that are neglected in society.
There is also a valuable debate on how to consider the issue of race and racism in Mexico: there is disagreement of whether the issue of race needs to, instead, be seen as an issue of ethnicity. Saldívar argues for the need to talk about race, instead of ethnicity, due to an often-persistent refusal to acknowledge the racism inherent in ethnic ideology that focuses on difference (2014, p.93). Although Saldívar focuses on the indigenous population and thus cannot be fully extrapolated to the Afromexican population, this debate is still relevant for the group because it illustrates how race and racism is regarded in Mexico: racism is often dismissed as an isolated incident (ibid, p.92). Focusing on ethnicity results in a fixation on cultural difference and assimilation, which is problematic because it doesn’t consider how racism plays a part in society and the experiences of marginalised groups; as well as dismissing the fact that marginalised individuals can be neglected due to the way they look, and not necessarily due to ‘cultural differences’ (ibid, pp.92-103). Proponents of considering ethnicity over race, however, argue that using ethnicity allows for more visibility and provides a better foundation for emancipation (Hoffmann and Rinaudo, 2014, p.147). The research conducted in this thesis regards the Afromexican case an issue of race, – not ethnicity – primarily because it involves the exploration of discrimination and racism experienced by Afromexicans in the Costa Chica, meaning that I see it as necessary to engage with the concept of race, and not the understanding that Afromexicans experiences discrimination based on ethnicity and therefore cultural differences.
Finally, this thesis also focuses on the concept of activism, and its relationship to identity and race. Sudbury considers blackness “an inclusive political category” (2001, p.30) that provides a collective identity on which mobilisation can be based upon (ibid). Furthermore, she emphasises that rendering a collective identity based on blackness does not reduce the identity of a group to a singular experience and expression, but, in fact, it is oppositional and supplies space for discussion (ibid, p.46). Sudbury’s interpretation of blackness as a collective identity providing a foundation for activism allows this thesis to explore the nuances of basing a movement on a collective identity of afrodescendance, yet not essentialising the movement nor the Afromexican population of the Costa Chica. The concept of activism is also regarded through feminist and social collective theory, allowing for an interpretation of activism to move beyond just the political sphere; feminist discourse emphasises that activism can take place as daily
actions which promote new social dynamics and can foreshadow political actions that can reconstruct communities (Martin, Hanson et al, 2007, p.79). This perspective is used in this thesis most prominently to consider how Afromexican women are mobilising and using activism for their development.
This thesis uses these theories to support the understanding that in the Afromexican case in the Costa Chica, racial identity and experiences of discrimination are related to and inform actions of activism. I see this understanding as crucial to gain a better understanding of how marginalised groups internalise their inferior – and in this case, unrecognised – status in society, and how it affects both their personal identity and their sense of their social status. This understanding is also crucial to consider how those marginalised can utilise activism as a tool to reclaim a sense of agency and reconstruct an identity and sense of self based on more positive associations.
Explanation of term: Afromexican
As will be explored in chapter five, the terms used by the afrodescendant population in the Costa Chica to identify themselves vary. Indeed, as this research developed, I debated on the best term to use to talk about this population, as literature varies on this; how Afromexicans in the Costa Chica self-identify is in itself complex and interesting enough to have dedicated a whole chapter on it. Nevertheless, the term Afromexican is used throughout this thesis to denote the afrodescendant population, the reason for this will become clear as this study goes on, but the main reason is that the term Afromexicans was agreed upon by numerous organisations in the Costa Chica in 2011 as the term they are preferably identified by, to be identified as a collective group.
1.3 Research Questions
The central research question this study aims to answer is the following: Research Question:
What are the implications of identifying as Afromexican in the Costa Chica, how does it affect their daily experiences as a marginalised group?
The research was driven by these sub-questions:
Sub-Questions:
2. In what ways do Afromexicans experience discrimination in relation to their racial identity? 3. In what ways are the lack of access and representation being resisted by Afromexicans? 1.4 Thesis Outline
This thesis starts with the theoretical framework that provides the foundation for this study, primarily concentrated around the concepts of identity, race and activism. Then, it delves into the methodology used for the research, including my positionality and the limitations the reader must consider. Following this is a chapter on the history of the afrodescendant in Mexico, starting from the arrival of enslaved Africans to Mexican shores and ending with the 2015 intercensal survey. The second part of this study is focused on the findings of the research in the Costa Chica: chapter five delves into the concept of identity and how Afromexican identity is shaped there. Chapter six looks into the ways the Afromexican population experience discrimination and a lack of access to education and health services; chapter seven explores the ways in which the Afromexican population has mobilised with the aim of constitutional recognition and an improvement of quality of life. The final chapter concludes the findings in the previous three chapters and provides recommendations for future research into this marginalised group.
The theoretical framework of this study provides a foundation of how to look at the concepts of identity, race, and activism. The aim was to explore how racial identity and collective identity in particular play a part in how an individual identifies and how this can manifest itself. The aim of this study is to argue that, particularly in the Afromexican case in the Costa Chica, racial identity is related to the experiences of discrimination and marginalisation, and to mobilisation. It is not the aim of this study to argue for a causational relation, although this study argues that these concepts do interrelate; therefore, it is necessary to look into the core concepts in order to understand why and how they can influence one another. In the first section, I will explore the concept of identity, regarding it as a fluid and contextual concept. Then, I will look into the importance of being recognised in society through Fraser’s theory on recognition. In the second section focusing on the concept of race, I utilise Critical Race Theory (CRT) as a tool to research racial identity and the experiences of the Afromexican population. I then delve into the debate of ethnicity versus race, positioning this study as a focus on race. In the final section I explore the concept of activism, particularly classifying non-political activities as also being a form of activism.
Essentially, Fraser argues that the politics of recognition not only results in the distortion of the identity of a marginalised individual due to their status in society, but furthermore also prevents the individual from feeling like a full member of society (2000). Having established that the identity of a marginalised individual is subject to their unrecognised status in society, the CRT framework complements Fraser’s argument by providing space for the marginalised to speak about their experiences and to allow an exploration of identity and experiences in society from the marginalised perspective. The recognition of an individual therefore also involves including their social status, which is particularly important when looking into the role of activism. In this way, Fraser’s argument and CRT provide a foundation for the theoretical consideration of the role of activism; allowing the marginalised group to be able to reconsider their identity and reposition their social status with the goal of constitutional recognition.
2.1 Identity Identity
Firstly, I will use Brubaker and Cooper’s definition of identity as a starting point to provide context to this research study:
...[“identity”] is used by "lay" actors in some (not all!) everyday settings to make sense of themselves, of their activities, of what they share with, and how they differ from, others. It is also used by political entrepreneurs to persuade people to understand themselves,
their interests, and their predicaments in a certain way, to persuade certain people that they are (for certain purposes) "identical" with one another and at the same time different from others, and to organize and justify collective action along certain lines (2000, p.4-5).
Before delving into the concept of identity and the discussion within it, a disclaimer about identity must be acknowledged: Brubaker and Cooper indicate two common misunderstandings about identity. Firstly, that identity is not something all individuals or groups have, need to have nor are in search of, as not everyone asks themselves the question of “who am I?” (2000, p.10). Secondly, although some groups have a strong sense of collective identity, one must not assume that all individuals within that group are the same or there is homogeneity, nor can differences between the group and an individual who has fallen outside the group be implied (ibid).
Nevertheless, Hall proposes for identity to be viewed as one that is not a static fact; instead, identity is defined as a “production, which is never complete, always in process, and always constituted within, not outside, representation (2003, p.222). Similarly, Gilroy states: we need to “dispose of the idea that identity is absolute and to find the courage necessary to argue that identity formation – even body-coded ethnic and gender identity – is a chaotic process that can have no end” (1996, p.238). The formulation of identity is thus a “process of becoming rather than being” (Hall, 1996, p.4).
Importance of Recognition – Nancy Fraser
The politics of recognition usually focuses on what Fraser calls the “identity model” (2000, p.109), arguing that those that are marginalised by the dominant culture suffer from “a distortion in one’s relation to one’s self” (ibid). Consequently, marginalised individuals internalise negative self-images and are thus unable to cultivate a healthy cultural identity by themselves (ibid). The politics of recognition intends to fix this by challenging the degrading image the dominant culture has on the marginalised individuals (ibid). It suggests that the marginalised reject and discard the negative images by creating new self-representations of themselves, and “collectively produce a self-affirming culture of their own – which, publicly asserted, will gain the respect and esteem of society at large” (ibid). Ultimately aiming to result in “’recognition’: an undistorted relation to oneself” (ibid, p.110).
Fraser goes further than this, however, by arguing that the recognition of identity politics falls short, and must therefore also include the problem of displacement and reification (ibid). She suggests “treating recognition as a question of social status” (ibid, p.113), meaning that we must not regard recognition as an identity specific to groups but as “the status of individual group members as full partners in social interaction” (ibid.). In this way, a lack of recognition is not seen as the contortion of group identity, but as “social subordination – in this sense of being prevented from participating as a peer in social life” (ibid). This means that the injustice not only requires that attention be put on identity, but also on “a politics
aimed at overcoming subordination by establishing the misrecognized party as a full member of society, capable of participating on a par with the rest.” (ibid.) This is especially useful when considering that the denial of blackness in Mexico and of the Afromexican individual as possessing Mexican national identity negates the individual as a full member of society. Additionally, this view also addresses the fact that many individuals of the Afromexican community relate in different ways to their racial identity, allowing for these individuals to not only be collectively homogenised as Afromexican, but to acknowledge the different ways individuals may self-identify and relate to their cultural and racial identity. “To be misrecognized, accordingly, is not simply to be thought ill of, looked down upon or devalued in others’ attitudes, beliefs or representations. It is rather to be denied the status of a full partner in social interaction, as a consequence of institutionalized patterns of cultural value that constitute one as comparatively unworthy of respect or esteem.” (ibid, pp.113-114) As will be particularly looked into in the final chapters of this study, constitutional recognition is one of the main goals of the Afromexican movement. Therefore, it is important to consider how recognition or a lack thereof can affect marginalised individuals in how they express their (racial) identity and experience discrimination.
2.2 Race
As the Afromexican case involves not just identity in general but racial identity in particular, the marginalised expression of identity suffering from a lack of recognition is linked to the concept of race.
Critical Race Theory
As race is a central theme of this study, Critical Race Theory (CRT) is useful when looking at how race plays into society and social studies. CRT’s assertion that “power processes systematically disenfranchise racially oppressed people” (2012, p.24) is applicable here. As often race, class, gender and intersections of these are left out of social and political developments in knowledge and dominant paradigms, the tools used by CRT of ‘voicing’, storytelling and counter-storytelling have become increasingly prominent. Although it is acknowledged by critical race theorists that stories or discourses have been usually voiced by those who have been “historically influential in knowledge generation and research”, counter-stories provide those views and opinions which have been historically marginalised or lacking in social research (ibid, p.27). Concurring, Rollock states that “Critical Race Theory offers a framework that explicitly recognises and encourages people of colour to name, speak and theorise about their experiences as shaped by racism.” (2012, p.67) This is why, for this study, I chose to research identity and the experiences within that through interviewing. The aim is to hear the Afromexican’s own perspectives of how they relate to their racial identity, as well as exploring themes that manifested themselves during the interviews, such as experiences of discrimination and collective movement. This means that I have also incorporated research of the social structures that shape identity and experiences, such as statistical data
on Afromexican levels of education and health, and the socio-economic status of the population. Moreover, this thesis features a large number of participant quotes to more effectively allow the voice of the Afromexican population to be represented.
It must be noted, however, that a shortcoming of storytelling is that the stories can serve as limited interpretations of reality for subjugated individuals and their daily experiences, which can leave social structures to remain unchallenged (ibid). Ladson-Billings and Donnor believe that racialised others are positioned in a “liminal space of alterity” (2008, p.373), meaning they construct their identities and experiences from a position at the margins of society. This marginality is also maintained through acts and constant reminders of the dominant groups that they are bound to “the power dynamic and hierarchical racial structures” (ibid, p.372) that preserve the unequal order in society, no matter what achievements, qualifications or status they might achieve (Rollock, 2012, p.66)
Critical Race Theory further interrelates with feminist theory; CRT uses Intersectionality to highlight that although race and racism are the starting points, “there is no intention to lose sight of the complexities of the intersection of ‘race’ with the constructed and identity related nature of other forms of oppression.” (ibid, p.29)
Ethnicity versus Race
Although Saldívar focuses on the experiences of the indigenous people in Mexico, the discussion about the experiences of discrimination tied to skin colour are important to consider also for the Afromexican population, predominantly to understand the context of how race and ethnicity, and therefore discrimination based on race, are considered in Mexico. Saldívar stresses that there’s a difference between ethnicity and race within the Mexico context: he urges the need to talk about race instead of ethnicity, as failing to do so erases the systematic racism inherent in ethnic ideology of “difference and otherness” (2014, p.93). “[R]acial practices are often dismissed as isolated events and/or irrelevant to social justice. Politically, the constant dismissal of racism has been central to the naturalization of the systematic mistreatment, assimilation, incorporation, and displacement of indigenous people.” (2014, p.92) He furthermore believes that there has been a “preoccupation of difference” (ibid, p.90), rather than engaging with the concept of race and racism, which has encouraged the belief that “racial hierarchies are due to people’s inability to engage positively across cultures and overshadows a crucial aspect of racism: domination, inequality, and privilege. It implies that a group’s cultural difference is the source of the problem, either because of its inability to assimilate or its inability to accept the ‘other.’” (2014, p.90) Hooker makes a similar argument, stating: “one of the potentially negative consequences of basing group rights on the assertion of cultural difference is that it might lead indigenous groups and Afro-Latinos to privilege issues of cultural recognition over questions of racial discrimination as bases for political mobilisation in the era of multicultural politics.” (2005, p.285)
As Saldívar focuses on the indigenous population when making this argument, this fixation on “cultural difference” is not fully applicable to the Afromexican case: the cultural differences for the Afromexican population does not include a difference in language and traditional clothing (except perhaps outside of cultural dances). Therefore, it can be deducted that the most dominant difference between the Afromexican population and the non-marginalised Mexican population is their skin colour: Saldívar also stresses that the physical features of the indigenous population is a prominent source of the racism they experience (2014, p.90). It is therefore necessary, according to Saldívar, to recognise race as the underlying reason for inequality. As he puts it: “What happens then, when the ‘other’ does not belong to some ‘other’ culture? Or when the ‘other’ is and has always been part of Mexico’s reality?” (2014, p.93) Saldívar believes the racial politics in Mexico intertwine “ethnicity, national identity, belonging, and ‘looks’” (2014, p.90) Furthermore, in order to comprehend how race manifests itself in Mexico, “a critical revision of the uses of concepts such as ethnicity, difference, diversity, and recognition is needed. These concepts have been and continue to be central in the national project of mestizaje and pluriculturalidad and its denial of the existence of racism and racial hierarchies.” (2014, p.103) Due to the understanding of concepts of mestizaje and ethnicity, racism is portrayed as “a slippery subject in Mexico” (ibid), which has resulted in a political narrative that “has used assimilation and recognition to blur the harsh lines of exclusion, inequality, privilege, and racial hierarchies.” (ibid) Racial politics is thus based on “the racialization of the bodies and cultures of indigenous people; their ethnic, cultural, and physical qualities (real or perceived) have been defined as inherently different from the national identity.” (ibid)
Racism and the process of racialization need to be seen as “fundamental social forms of domination in Mexico” (ibid, p.104), and theoretical tools must be formed that take this into account in order to “build an antiracist agenda” (ibid). He further states that ideas about race must be identified in order to understand how race affects social relations and how race has become a powerful organising force (ibid). In order to explore this, we must focus on race and “acknowledge the importance of bodily markers such as skin color and phenotype in social interactions and social mobility” (ibid), in order to “question the myth of racial democracy and to understand how racial ‘ambiguities’ and cultural ‘differences’ constitute Mexico’s racial politics.” (ibid).
Hoffmann and Rinaudo, however, disagree, believing instead that focusing on ethnicity incorporates race but goes further than this to nurture a collective identity: “Ethnicization is explicitly devised as an instrument to generate visibility and consciousness, as well as a political mechanism for the emancipation of the populations claiming it. It opposes the former racialization that emphasized the particularism of ‘Black’ individuals and groups to make them feel inferior, stripped of all civic, political, or even cultural value. In contrast, ethnicization claims to replace racialization, and even surpass it, without ignoring it.” (Hoffmann and Rinaudo, 2014, p.147)
Hooker also highlights that it is those marginalised groups within Latin America that have claimed a difference based on ethnicity that have been more successful in gaining collective rights than those who
have made it based on racial difference, claiming that the marginalised groups that have gained collective rights has not been because they suffered from racial discrimination, but because “they were thought to possess and could prove their status as a distinct cultural group within the larger society.”(2005, p.300) This means that “Latin America’s multicultural model is more compatible with demands made on the grounds of cultural difference or ‘ethnic’ identity than racial difference.” (ibid) Therefore, what must be understood in order to understand why many indigenous groups have gained collective rights and many Afro-Latin groups haven’t, “is not why blacks have not mobilised as such in favour of collective rights, but what conditions have facilitated the greater politicisation of ethnicity than race under multi-cultural citizenship regimes.” (ibid)
This discussion on using race or ethnicity in order to both appropriately deal with why and how individuals experience racism in Mexico, as well as exploring which one would provide a more successful basis for recognition and rights, is necessary and worth having if the future of what it means to be Afromexican in Mexico is considered. However, it was past the scope of this study to engage fully into why certain marginalised groups in Latin America have gained collective rights and recognition and some have not: for this study, I take Saldívar’s stance on using the concept of race over ethnicity, particularly as I wished to research how it relates to social relations and has been used as a mobilising force.
2.3 Activism
Having examined how the concept of race plays into the concept of identity, this study now looks into the concept of activism to see how they interrelate.
Collective Identity
The Afromexican movement can be regarded as what Sudbury describes as an “emergence of social movements which utilize identity as a basis for mobilization in search of access to political power, material resources and the control of representations” (2001, p.30). Therefore, this research focuses on identity, particularly racial identity, which acts as a foundation to access recognition and services. Furthermore, examining the concept of blackness, Sudbury argues: “a collective identity approach can assist our understanding of the meanings and distinctive politics of ‘blackness’” (ibid). In this way, “the construction of blackness as an inclusive political category” (ibid) is emphasized. The formation of identity is in this sense is directly tied to collective action, as Rupp and Taylor present: “Our analysis relies on recent sociological research on social movement identity construction, especially the insight that people do not bring ready-made identities – gendered, racial, sexual, or national, for instance – to collective action.” (1999, p.365) In this way, the collective identities that people use to publicly make demands are regarded as the “accomplishment of an organization or a wider movement” (ibid).
Interestingly, some analysts have focused on the internal differentiation within movements and “the tension between the need to create a unified collectivity and the simultaneous tendency to destabilize these identities from within” (ibid, p.32), which offer a discussion on the conflicting motivations and dilemmas associated with the formation of identity (ibid). This discussion is also touched upon by Velazquez and Iturralde: they state that the Afromexican movement suffers from disagreements that are fractioning the movement (2016, pp.238-239). The question of whether this destabilises identity would be one to explore in further research.
Sudbury provides a case study of the black women’s organisations, exploring the way a ‘black unity’ can be constructed as a strategic method: “the process of dismantling boundaries between black women and debunking dominant representations of ‘the Other’ is a model for heterogeneous groups seeking to build alliances. … As such, it enables women (and men) with diverse histories, cultures and experiences to emphasize their commonalities and build a united movement against interlocking systems of oppression. … this research… [argues] that far from fostering divisive fragmentation, explicit explorations of identity may be a prerequisite for the mass mobilization of diverse groups into a sustainable movement.” (2001, p.44) Sudbury thus argues that in order to foster action and mobilisation around a cause, in our case the inclusion of Afromexican as part of Mexican identity, identity needs to be fully explored first. Furthermore, there is a particular need to explore black identity in order to create mobilization through this. Sudbury states that once a collective identity has been identified by emphasizing a common aspect, it provides a basis for collective action: “Political blackness was never a description of how the majority of people viewed themselves; it was and continues to be oppositional and flies in the face of hegemonic constructions.” (ibid, p.46) She further stresses: “using black as a term to convey a common struggle against racism does not necessarily imply an essentialising process, nor does it reduce group identity to a homogeneous response to colour-racism. Rather, it is its very oppositionality, its insistence on discussion and explanation, which makes ‘black’ a useful sign.” (ibid) This perspective is useful when looking at the Afromexican case in the Costa Chica because it allows for the explanation of how identity has involved race and is related to the Afromexican movement.
Feminist And Social Collective Theory
Another aspect that will be included in this research study is the viewpoint that activism does not necessarily have to be within the political arena: feminist scholarship has discussed the concepts of political action and activism as encompassing the public sphere as well as the political sphere (Mansbridge, 1990; Naples, 1992; Staeheli and Clarke, 2003). As Abrahams stated, various activities can be political, including those that don’t “directly target change in the political economy” (1992, p.342) and belong to “every arena of social life” (ibid.). Regarding a self-identification as black and Afromexican in a national space that discourages this, and produces everyday consequences, can thus be seen as activism in itself, even if it does not directly lead to political change.
Within feminist discourse Martin, Hanson et al see activism as a category that includes activities that “normally are considered too insignificant to count as activism and yet do create progressive change in the lives of women, their families, and their communities.” (2007, p.79) They further define activism “as everyday actions by individuals that foster new social networks or power dynamics”, thus viewing it “as a precursor to political action that transforms a community, develops a formal organization, or extends in scale to reach social networks beyond the initial embeddedness of the instigating activist.” (ibid). The emphasis on non-political areas of activism is important when assessing how identity can play a role as activism: in a country where blackness is seen unfavourably and even non-existent, it is clear that proclaiming pride in a black identity in any public space can be seen as activism. This form of everyday activism can furthermore also be seen as a possible precursor to more formal movements.
Martin, Hanson et al argue: “attention to embedded activism has important links to broader theories about social movements and contentious politics, which focus on coordinated and sustained collective behaviour with the agenda of social change… operating outside the state and frequently in opposition to it” (2007, p.81). Within feminist scholarship, the connection between everyday lives and larger processes of social change lies in the attention on power relations, which, through resistance, can result in social change (ibid). Martin, Hanson et al go further than this, however, by specifying that activism “is less about resistance than about building relationships among people that foster change in a community.” (ibid). This is because of two things: a) the main aim of people initiating change in their community is not always to resist power, and b) the outcomes of activism cannot be fully occupied by the concept of resistance (ibid). “Reworking social networks can reconfigure existing power relations and thereby transform everyday life, even where such actions do not challenge the over political-economic structure.” (ibid) In this sense, individual activism is not only examined in relation to traditional political engagement, but as a reconstruction of how change is created through new social networks and connections to their community (ibid). This is especially useful when looking at how some Afromexican women’s organisations are focusing on women’s rights and domestic violence in particular. It also could be argued that, although the political aim of the Afromexican movement is to gain political recognition, there is also the social aspect of providing more visibility for the Afromexican population and improving their community and social status as black Mexican citizens.
This research therefore focuses on identity as a basis, which particularly explores how racial identity by the Afromexican population in the Costa Chica is expressed today and how it has allowed for mobilisation in order to access political power and basic services such as healthcare and education.
The ideological basis of this research sees identity as fluid and continuously constructed, both as a personal and as a collective identity. Furthermore recognition of individuals as part of society is important for individuals to feel as full members of society. The focus and exploration on racial identity in particular allows for me to explore how Afromexicans in the Costa Chica express their collective identity and
experience discrimination, and how they have used it as a basis for mobilisation. The themes of identity, discrimination and activism will be explored in chapters five, six, and seven respectively.
3.1 Research Parameters Epistemology
With this research, I sought to increase understanding on the concept of blackness and how it relates to broader issues of history and context. It further seeks to explore the experiences of black people in Mexico, and how the identity of a minority group can be used as a site for positive expression and activism. The intention is to examine how individuals see themselves and relate to their surroundings, and how social realities are understood and experienced in relation to this.
The concepts used in this research mean that this research is taken from the constructionist ontological position, such as the understanding of identity as fluid and relational, that believes social experiences and meanings are continuously created and recreated by social actors (Bryman, 2008, pp.19-20). This means that social objects and categories constructed by the perceptions of social actors instead of being pre-determined realities (ibid). The description of concepts is created through interaction, resulting that the description vary in relation to time and place (ibid). As stated in the previous chapter, as CRT is used as a framework, interviews were predominantly used in order to research identity and some of the experiences related to it, focusing on the participants’ discourse as the base for this study.
Research Location
The Costa Chica region is on the Pacific coast spanning the states of Guerrero and Oaxaca (Hoffman and Rinaudo, 2014, p. 146), stretching from Acapulco in Guerrero to Huatulco in the coast of Oaxaca, and from the Pacific till the mountains of the Sierra Madre del Sur (Lewis, 2005, p.55) It was home to a sizeable indigenous population that fled when the Spanish colonisers arrived, and slaves as well as cimarrones (former slaves that escaped) found their population numbers increase until around 1791 there were almost 20 times more blacks and mulatos than Spanish (ibid). The black and mulato populations were concentrated on the fertile coastal regions, while the interior areas were mainly populated by indigenous groups (Aguirre Beltrán 1985, pp.59-60; Gerhard, 1993, pp.148-149, p.151, p. 381: cited in Lewis, 2005, p.55).
This history is still apparent in the Costa Chica landscape today: the Afromexican inhabitants predominantly inhibit villages that are relatively isolated from the main coastal road (Hoffman and Rinaudo, 2014, p.146). The villages populated by Indigenous groups are located in the hinterland, whilst the mestizos live on the small towns through which the main road crosses (ibid). This spatial division is effectively “a geographic configuration that has long acted as a clear-cut naturalizing element of the ‘differences’ (imagined to be radical) between the three ‘ethnic groups’ inhabiting the region. In regional collective representations, each group is associated with a specific space (Indian villages, Black ranchos, Mestizo market towns).” (ibid) Furthermore, these associations with space implying various values, functions and hierarchies interestingly led to the development of the Costa Chica being known as an ‘Indian region’ (ibid). This is due to several reasons: the first regional National Indigenous Institute (Instituto Nacional Indigenista, INI) was set up in the 1940s; the diversity in language and culture in this region is vaster than in other regions in the country; and “the political and administrative approach to multiculturalism only concerned groups qualified and officially listed as ‘Indian’” (ibid) until recently. “Today, the biggest Afro-Mexican settlement is located in the Costa Chica region (CDI, 2012; INEGI 2015).” (Cited in: Masferrer León, 2016, p.3)
Interviews were conducted in twelve locations in the Costa Chica: Huatulco, Santa Rosa de Lima, El Ciruelo, San Juan Bautista Lo de Soto, Santo Domingo Armenta, San Pedro, Santiago Jamiltepec, San Jose del Progreso, Charco Redondo, El Azufre, and Zapotalito located in Oaxaca, and Cuajinicuilapa in Guerrero.
3.2 Respondents Sampling
The sampling procedure underwent some changes once the fieldwork started. As my initial plan was to heavily focus on the concept of activism, and therefore interview mainly individuals that were part of or leaders of Afromexican organisations, contacts were initially made with these organisation members. However, for security concerns, it was advised that I maintain in close contact with a trustworthy local for the duration of the fieldwork in the Costa Chica. This meant that some of the contacts initially made with organisation members did not become respondents for this research. Furthermore, more general access to predominantly Afromexican women was provided, which inherently added a more gender-focused approach to my research. A prominent implication for this bias may be the stress on the Afromexican women’s movement as a big component of the Afromexican movement.
The sampling procedure utilised was therefore snowball-sampling, a non-probabilistic sampling technique that uses previous participants to locate and access the following participants by way of their social networks. Sometimes referred to as chain-referral sampling, it has been prominently used for conducting research on marginalised and conflict-affected groups (Cohen and Arieli, 2011). The sampling was also based on access: as it was a relatively dangerous area to navigate alone, for the duration of one week I travelled with one member (and founder) of an Afromexican Women’s organisation, who provided workshops on women’s rights and violence against women. These workshops were mainly attended by women, which reinforced the gender bias mentioned above. Additionally, even after this, the participant giving the workshops aided in the sampling process by connecting me with a majority of women who were open to be interviewed. The few male participants were approached when the situation allowed whilst visiting different communities.
This study’s respondents were therefore predominantly women part of the Afromexican population in the above mentioned towns in the Costa Chica. Within the duration of two months, thirty interviews were conducted. Two participants were part of government institutions; CONAPRED and the INAH. One participant is an academic at a local university. The further twenty-seven participants were either part of Afromexican organizations based in the Costa Chica area, or citizens of the previously mentioned towns in the Costa Chica. Of these twenty-seven, the age range was between seventeen and sixty-three, which consisted of twenty-two female and five male participants.
3.3 Data Collection Procedures
The qualitative data collection was divided into two stages. In Stage one a couple of semi-structured interviews were conducted with experts, in order to gain a general understanding of the situation of Afromexicans from the perspective of national (government) institutions and to gain insight into the relationship between the institutions and the Afromexican organisations. These interviews would also allow to establish connections with the Afromexican organisations and general population, and to formulate a more concrete plan for the activities and trajectories that would be undertaken in the time spent in the Costa Chica. Stage two consisted of participant observations in various settings, and semi-structured interviews held with members of Afromexican organisations active both in the region and nationally, and the general population, in the above mentioned towns in the Costa Chica.
Semi-structured Interviews
Interviews can provide “rich sources of data on people’s experiences, opinions, aspirations and feelings” (May, 1993, p.91), rendering them an integral part of a qualitative study. As this study focuses on individuals’ descriptions and perceptions of their own identity, personal experiences of discrimination and how these relate to social and political issues, the interview method applies to provide an optimal setting for inquiry and understanding, guided by CRT.
For the participants with an academic background, the questions asked were greatly focused on providing a general knowledge of the situation of the Afromexican population, in terms of the general view Mexicans had on the Afromexican population. For the academic respondents, questions were also asked about what the academic field’s focus was when discussing with the Afromexican population, and what was lacking within this field nationally speaking. For the governmental institution, questions were focused on how their institution contributed to the Afromexican population’s struggles for recognition, visibilisation and denouncing of discrimination and violence.
Concerning the rest of the participants, questions were based on gaining an understanding of the way they self-identify, and their experiences with discrimination, also particularly inquiring about their perceptions of their access to education and health services. For the individuals that were part of an organization, additional questions regarding the details of their organisation were asked. On a more personal level, to ask a person how they relate to their identity and how they would describe themselves is a complex question to ask; additionally, as stated earlier in this study, not everybody is actively concerned with their identity. Therefore, in order to reduce my influence on their answer, the question was asked directly: how do you self-identify or define yourself? At times I saw it necessary to add some examples of some of the categorisations I had understood as being possible options (also through my gatekeeper), which spanned the spectrum from racial identity to national identity.
Participant Observation
May defines participant observation as beneficial to the researcher as: “Knowledge can come only from undertaking detailed and meticulous inquiries through which we generate understanding” (1993, p.112). Participant observations were conducted in four occasions; first, during a meeting attended by various Afromexican organisations based in the Costa Chica area in which they discussed future events, elected a representative for a meeting with institutions, and discussed how to proceed in the struggle for recognition. Meetings such as this are commonly held a couple of times a year, and its goal is to discuss different matters concerning the organisations themselves and the Afromexican population for whom they are fighting for. Second, during a meeting organised by one of the Afromexican organisations to call for the inclusion of Afromexicans in the Secretaria de Asuntos Indigenas (Secretary of Indigenous Affairs). Third, during a workshop conducted by a member of the Afromexican women’s organisation geared towards Afromexican women in particular, talking about human rights, particularly women’s rights, and violence. Finally, an observation of the Afromexican Museum in Cuajinicuilapa, Guerrero was also conducted.
3.4 Data Analysis
The data analysis consisted of first transcribing all interviews, then coding the transcriptions in order to identify which themes emerged. The coding was informed by Peters and Wester’s definition of coding: “a creative process that is guided by constant reflecting on research questions, observation material, and conceptual frame” (2007, p.638). Once broad themes were identified, such as self-defined identity, discrimination, and activism; I created networks using the programme Atlas.ti in order to breakdown these themes and identify the main focuses that would drive the research. Out of this I created concepts to aid in the analysis process. The observation notes where then analysed in relation to this data; then finally, I
triangulated the cases that would be used for illustration with literature and statistical data available about the Afromexican population.
3.5 Positionality
In order to collect data with minimal bias, it is expected of qualitative researchers to keep an objective and marginal position among the respondents, keeping such distance that researchers effectively remain strangers to them (Emerson, 1995, p.36). However, as Hughes explains, a qualitative researcher is more likely to immerse themselves in the research than a quantitative researcher based on the nature of qualitative methods such as participation and interpretation (1993, p.697). Thus, it would be erroneous to deny my influence on the approach and outcomes of this research.
As an African diasporic female researcher with almost nine years of experience living in Mexico, it is clear that my perspective and positionality within this topic and research plays a role; inevitably shaped the way I approached this study. Even though I had not travelled to the Costa Chica previously, having lived in various different states in Mexico made me aware of the general depth of invisibility of the Afromexican population; firstly, I myself had previously not encountered any information about the Afromexican population, despite having lived three years in Veracruz, the second state most populated by Afromexican people. Additionally, virtually every conversation I had about this research topic, both prior to arriving in Mexico and within Mexico outside of engaging with respondents, was met with disbelief and a lack of awareness of the Afromexican population. This lack of knowledge on my part and visibility of the Afromexican population is what initially led my interest in conducting this research. Both my affinity with Mexican culture and my deep interest for the topic of diasporic experiences in the world had the potential to influence my engagement with the respondents and my interpretation of the phenomena observed. This influence was most evident when I realised that for the respondents interviewed in the Costa Chica, they were all individuals I would myself have classified as Afromexican; that is, they exhibited at least some visible phenotypical traits that would render me to classify them as afrodescendant, even if they did not identify it themselves. Similarly, there were two participants that phenotypically would be associated to be part of the indigenous community, whom identified as negro.
My insider/outsider status brought with it both difficulties and advantages in terms of how I related to the respondents in the Costa Chica in particular. As mentioned earlier, I may have been viewed as an “insider” due to the colour of my skin, the kinkiness of my hair, and my familiarity with Mexican culture and the language. Nevertheless, as identified by critical race and feminist theorists, the insider status of a researcher established on identity is complex and multi-dimensional (De Andrade, 2000, p.270). Once I revealed that I was in fact a researcher coming from abroad, combined with my short visits to the different
towns in the Costa Chica, my status often presumably changed to an “outsider” among the Afromexican respondents.
3.6 Limitations
The case in the Costa Chica is specific: as is described in the second section of chapter five, the fact that the Costa Chica is a rural area affects their perception and interpretation of their racial identity. Therefore, the findings in this research need to be viewed within the specific context of this area in the states of Guerrero and Oaxaca; not as one that can be extrapolated to the Afromexican population in the rest of Mexico. Although I did not conduct research in other areas in Mexico, such as Veracruz – the state with the second-biggest population of Afromexicans – prior research conducted in this region point to different practices than the one examined in my research.
Additionally, although it is disclosed in the second section of this chapter that this research contains a gender bias due to the gender imbalance of the participants, there is no notable difference between participants of different genders when it comes to expressions of identity and experiences of discrimination. Regardless, it is undoubtedly necessary for more research to be conducted to find out if the experiences of Afromexican individuals of different genders differ. Furthermore, I suggest research that goes into more depth in terms of how identity is expressed and plays into family ties and friendships; the precise locations where Afromexicans experience discrimination; other (basic) services that the Afromexican population might suffer a lack of access to; and how the mobilisation of this population develops is crucial to gain a more holistic understanding of this marginalised group.
4.1 African arrival in Mexico
The very first arrival of Africans in Mexico was in 1544 at the port of Veracruz, when Hernán Cortés ordered five hundred labourers to work on his sugarcane plantation and processing factory (Githiora, 2008, p.20). The culmination of the importation of enslaves people, however, was in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, when around two hundred and fifty thousand Africans arrived in Mexico (ibid). Mexico’s slave port was a crucial port in the sixteenth and seventeeth century; in that time, more slaves arrived than at any other nation (Carroll, 2001; Vaughn, 2005). Soon after, “[c]olonists also began to rely on a new generation of American-born slaves called negros criollos, and thus slave trading in Mexico was no longer in business.” (ibid)
In 1810 Mexico declared independence from Spain, and it was in this same year that slavery ended, even though the abolishment act was not signed on paper until 1817 (ibid, p.23). Enslaved Africans often actively resisted their condition throughout the Americas, resulting in various ways of resistance, such as rebellions and maroonage (ibid). The limited knowledge of the African Diaspora in Mexico can be argued to have been due to the traditions of maroonage, which means that a significant part of the population of Africans in Mexico lived on the outside limits of Spanish rule (ibid, p.25). “Data or records about their communities –including that of their physical location and social organization –is little recorded, while some may have been distorted or destroyed by colonial authorities.” (ibid) Similarly, Winston and Kittles highlight that the trans-Atlantic slave trade and slavery in the Americas meant that “significant aspects of the history, identity, and culture of the enslaved Africans were essentially wiped away and lost to succeeding generations” (2005, pp.211-212).
4.2 Mexican Revolution, Mestizaje, and the Erasure of Blackness
Historically, Spanish colonizers had an anti-African bias enforced through case-based laws, ultimately leading to the contemporary anti-black bias that still persists today, and the view that “being Mexican becomes being mestizo/o, defined as European and Indian, with an emphasis on the European roots.” (Banks, 2006, p.204) Spanish colonisers aimed to maintain their hegemony by creating an intricate hierarchy called the ‘sistema de castas’, “which “justified” institutionalized racial and economic discrimination based on divisions among the “races,” as defined by the dominant European colonial ideology” (Githiora, 2008, p.40). One of the main lasting influences this racial hierarchy has was that the ability to move up in social class depended on “vertical cultural and racial assimilation” (ibid). For example: a ‘mestizo’ was the offspring of a Mexican and Spanish parent, who would then have a higher social
position than the Mexican parent who was indigenous, but a lower social position than their Spanish parent; similarly, a ‘mulato’, offspring of African and Spanish parents, had a higher social position than their African parent, but a lower one than their Spanish parent (ibid). This meant that “a mestizo could “improve” his or her social “race” even more by marrying into a Spanish family, while an African could ensure the freedom of his children by marrying an indigenous Mexican.” (ibid) This was thus the main method of upward social mobility for Africans during this period, and this racial assimilation could be argued to have contributed to their ‘disappearance’ (ibid).
Furthermore, “[a]ccording to Beltrán, darker-hued Afro-mestizos consistently tried to conceal their African ancestry because under colonial rule, Indians had a higher socio-economic status than castas…. Even free Afro-mestizos had an interest in hiding their African ancestry since by law mulattoes, but not mestizos, were subject to paying tribute in the form of head-taxes.” (Banks, 2006, pp.206-207)
At the beginning of the twentieth century, in the aftermath of the Mexican Revolution, the government promoted a national ideology that was focused on creating national sentiment and eradicating the national attitude towards racial inequality (Sue, 2013, p.1). With the Mexican Revolution in 1910 came political and social reform, as the castes system and racial laws were abolished (Banks, 2006, p.214), resulting in an effort by leaders to incorporate the indigenous and mestizo peasant majorities, debating whether Mexico would be a mestizo nation or an indigenous one (Basave Benítez, 1992, p.121). From then on the term mestizo is used to the denote most of the population, turning it into “a source of pride rather than a stigma” (Menchaca, 1993). “By the end of the 1920s the issue was largely settled - the Mexican national character was to comprise a modern mestizo identity resting on a pre-Hispanic indigenous foundation. This formulation left no room for Mexicans of African descent, relegating them to the margins.” (Vaughn, 2013, p.229; Lewis, 2005, p.54) In this period, indigenous education was promoted, and the indigenous traditions were ingrained into the nationalistic ideology (Knight, 1990, p.82). Furthermore, Mexico was proclaimed to be free of racism, whilst eliminating blackness from the image of the Mexican population (Sue, 2013, p.1). In the 1940s, the Mexican anthropologist Gonzalo Aguirre Beltrán provided several key studies about the black population in Mexico (1972, 1985). He explained that the national statistics excluding black people were due to a biological erasure, as these had been “diluted” in the process of mestizaje (1970, p.12). Persistence in the country being free of racism still persists today (ibid.). Ironically, this erasure of the African descendent population results in their discrimination; as Carroll stated “In Mexico, racism t[akes] the form of denial.” (Althaus and Hegstrom, 2005, p.21)
The conscious effort by the state in creating a national identity that minimized and even erased blackness is one that has been evident in many different cases. As put forward by Frantz Fanon, “colonisation is not satisfied merely with holding a people in its grip and emptying the native's brain of all form and content. By a kind of perverted logic, it turns to the past of oppressed people, and distorts, disfigures and destroys it” (1963, p.170). Therefore, Banks writes: “Contemporary anti-black bias in Latin American countries like Mexico is a vestige of Spanish colonialism and nationalism that must be acknowledged, but is often lost in the uncritical celebration of Latina/o mestizaje.” (2006, p.203) Similarly, Meri Jones stresses that this modernizing process of whitening “were part of a regional nation-building project, in which the recently independent countries throughout Latin America and the Caribbean sought to achieve recognition from the European and North American powers.” (2013, p.1566) This meant that elites knew that “the racial diversity of the region would preclude their place among the powerful [meaning] that race was a key component in forming a modern national ideology.” (ibid) It resulted in mestizaje as an ideal which was said to be a mix of all the races but was really a mix of only European and indigenous ancestry (ibid). Boyce Davies believes that the term mestizo or mestizo is used to separate people from those that identify “as ‘African,’ ‘Afro-‘ or ‘Black.’” (1994, p.16) Bost goes further than this, arguing that the term mestizaje is often used as a form of privilege for people with lighter-skin, whilst negating “the continued oppression of darker-skinned peoples as the dominant culture seeks out the familiar (the whiteness) within the other.” (2003, p.24)
It wasn’t until the late twentieth century that the Dirección General de Culturas Populares (General Management of Popular Cultures) initiated a national programme called ‘Nuestra Tercera Raíz’ (Our Third Root), where “various scientific initiatives began to reveal the importance and diversity of ‘contributions’ by people of African origin (Hoffmann 2005; Martínez Montiel 1994; Velázquez and Correa 2005).” (Hoffman and Rinaudo, 2014, p.139) Contemporary discussions on a metaphor of the ‘Third Root’ emphasizes African ‘roots’ as the third root next to the first two indigenous and Spanish roots, providing the foundation of the “national tree of a mestizo Mexico” (Vaughn, 2013, p.230) Yet the significance of these roots is based on a functional role, as “providing the raw material to produce mestizo Mexico as the finished product” (ibid). Although this discourse attracted necessary academic and public recognition for the Afromexican community, it highlighted Mexico as a mestizo population, instead of looking into the subjectivity of the Afromexican people (ibid.), and effectively inhibits the exploration of the black identity (Lewis, 2005, p.55).
4.3 2011 International Year for People of African Descent and 2015 Intercensal Survey
Increasingly, information and accounts on the lives of Afro-Latin American communities and populations are being explored and becoming known. As Andrews highlights, Afro-Latin America now includes other countries beyond Brazil and the Caribbean, such as Colombia, Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru, Argentina, Mexico, and other countries in Central America (2009, p.192). Up until 2009 the Mexican government had little
