AFRO-MEXICANS: HISTORY, CHARACTERISTICS, COMMUNITIES, CULTURE - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2025

The afromexicanos are the group of people born in Mexico who have African ancestry. Negros, Afromixtecos, Jarochos or Afromestizos are other terms used to refer to this ethnic group, which was born as a result of the conquest of the Spanish. Africans fulfilled a purely labor role upon arrival in Mexico.

The Afro-Mexican community was historically dwarfed by mestizaje and indigenous people. It became the second most important in some areas of the country until the early nineteenth century. After the Mexican Revolution, when speaking of Mexicanness it was in reference to the union between the indigenous and the Spanish.

Posthumous full-body portrait of Vicente Guerrero painted to adorn the Iturbide Room of the then Mexican Imperial Palace. Ramón Sagredo, via Wikimedia Commons.

They currently represent just over 1% of the Mexican population or, what is the same, just over a million people. Despite this, its organization and inclusion in legislative documents took much longer than in other regions of America, such as Colombia, Brazil or Nicaragua.

Only in 2015 were the first censuses in Mexico that included Afro-descendants as racial identification. It was in 2018 when the most important step was taken in the integration of Afro-Mexican communities.

The Mexican Senate approved the Law of the National Institute of Indigenous Peoples. Black people were constitutionally recognized and were guaranteed equal opportunities, with access to public programs and resources.

Origin and history

The presence of Africans in Mexico was born with the arrival of the Spanish to the American continent. In their expeditions they already had groups of African slaves.

Another new wave of blacks arrived as a result of the prohibition of enslaving indigenous populations in the Spanish colonies. It was King Carlos I who decreed this measure, although in many parts of America the slavery of indigenous people was also illegally practiced.

The Spanish searched for a way to get hold of black labor and began importing slaves from Africa. According to figures from the anthropologist Gonzalo Aguirre Beltrán, more than 200,000 blacks entered the country during the 1580s and 1650s.

The slaves were arriving from western Africa, specifically from the Congo and the Gulf of Guinea. To a lesser extent Senegal and the Gambia also brought African representation to Mexico. Many female slaves who were engaged in domestic service, were mistresses or nurses were originally from Cape Verde.

Throughout this colonial era, a caste system was designed to identify the groups that made up the Mexican populations. The mix between Africans and Spanish were considered mulattoes.

The offspring between Africans and indigenous people were called coyotes. It was thanks to the struggle for Independence, undertaken by José María Morelos and Miguel Hidalgo, they declared the end of slavery in Mexico.

Most recent events

The arrival of Africans did not end after the colonial era. During the 19th and 20th centuries, Mascogos and workers from the Caribbean arrived. Over the years, the migratory movements of African populations towards Mexico diminished, but in 1973 the doors of the Central American nation were once again open.

During the government of President Luis Echeverría, Senegalese citizens were awarded scholarships to study careers such as restoration, plastic arts or architecture. Some African groups have even entered Mexico as political refugees.

The situation of African descendants in Mexico gained visibility in 2013 due to the death of Malcolm Shabazz. Malcolm X's first male descendant was beaten to death in a Mexican bar.

With the intention of rescuing its history, events such as Encuentros de Pueblos Negros have been created, which already has 19 editions. Organizations like Mexico Negro and Africa AC are civil groups that fight for constitutional recognition of black peoples in Mexico. In 2020 there will be a new national census that will allow us to learn more about Afro-Mexican groups in the country.

Characteristics of Afro-Mexicans

Afro-descendant communities in Mexico are characterized by living in situations of poverty and lack of education. They are located mainly in rural areas of the coast of the country. Surnames such as Moreno, Crespo or Prietro are common in families with African origins.

Each area of ​​Mexico has a term to refer to the African Americans in their communities. The United Nations (UN) refers to the Afromixteco expression that results from the mixture between blacks and indigenous people of La Mixteca (a mountainous region between the states of Guerrero, Oaxaca and Puebla). The term Jarocho refers to Mexican Afro-descendants originating from the Papaloapan River basin.

In Mexican history you can find important actors who had African ancestry. Vicente Guerrero was the second president of Mexico, the first black to hold that position in the American continent, and he was part of the mulattoes in the caste system. Emiliano Zapata, hero of the Mexican revolution, is defined by some groups as a descendant of Indians, blacks and Spaniards.

José María Morelos, an independence leader who abolished slavery and was the son of Afro-descendants, also has an important place in history. Or Gaspar Yanga, who came from Africa and rebelled against the Spanish. He fought for the freedom of his community and formed San Lorenzo de los Negros, the first place for free Africans.

Afro-Mexican communities in Mexico

Since 1527 there were populations with black slaves, specifically on the coast of Guerrero. These communities later moved to Acapulco to work construction at the shipyards. Over the years, the black towns spread and are currently found throughout the Mexican geography.

Costa Chica is one of the most representative areas of the Afro-descendant community that appear since the time of the Spanish conquest. It is made up of Guerrero and Oaxaca. The blacks in these areas devoted themselves mainly to cultivation (cocoa or cotton) and livestock.

Acapulco and Costa Grande benefited from the Afro-Mexican presence in their development. Their work focused on the port, the point of arrival for important products from the East. They also cultivated coffee and copra (dried coconut pulp).

Another port, Veracruz, was the gateway for a large part of Africans in that part of the country. Those who remained in the region dedicated themselves to work on sugar estates or livestock.

In Coahuila there are the mascogos. They are a community whose ancestry came to Mexico from the United States during the 19th century. They were concentrated in the Múzquiz municipality. A decree in 2017 recognized them as an indigenous people of Coahuila

Culture and customs (gastronomy, traditions, clothing)

Afro-descendant cultures lost many of their references at a cultural level when they were forced to mobilize different populations and live in slavery. Afro-Mexicans do not have a language of their own and a colonial influence is observed in their clothing.

Although, as is customary in African peoples, dance and music are the aspects of their culture that have lasted and permeated the most in Mexican traditions. In addition, each region has different customs.

In Costa Chica, the dance of the devils has African roots. In Tabasco the drums are played as it is done in Nigeria. While Veracruz has the dance of negritos. They are jarocho and carnivals are also influenced by African customs.

The balafón, a wooden keyboard, also arrived in Mexico from Africa. Today it is known as a marimba, an important instrument in the state of Chiapas and with some presence in Oaxaca and Tabasco.

The heritage of African culture in Mexico can also be appreciated in the language. The bamba is recognized as a hymn or popular song in Veracruz, but in the Congo it is the name of several cities. Or the word kaffir, in Tanzania it is a population and in Mexico it refers to those who drive without care.

Gastronomy

Jamaica is a very popular fruit in Mexico, but originally from Africa. Jamaica water is classified as a national drink in Senegal. It has many variants in western and central Africa.

In Veracruz is where the African heritage is most noticeable in the food. Dishes like mogomogo are considered African for their preparation and for the use of ingredients such as bananas.

Religion

In Mexico there is a great presence of Santeria, especially in recent times. It has great influence from the Cuban Afro-descendant community, although it is a rather clandestine practice.

Religions with origin in Africa are usually considered in Mexico of witchcraft or superstition. In the Sonora market, in Mexico City, you can find many references to religions with African origin, medicinal herbs or the presence of the Yoruba religion.

References

1. Afro-Mexican people and communities. Recovered from conapred.org.mx
2. Afro-descent. Recovered from cinu.mx
3. Velázquez, M., & Iturralde, G. (2016). Afro-Mexicans: reflections on the dynamics of recognition. Recovered from cinu.mx
4. Durán, A. (2008). Afro-Mexicans, the third cultural root. Recovered from um.es
5. Hoffmann, Odile. (2006). Blacks and Afromestizos in Mexico: Old and New Readings of a Forgotten World. Mexican Journal of Sociology, 68 (1), 103-135. Recovered from May 2019, from scielo.org.mx
6. Velázquez, M., & Iturralde, G. (2012). Afro-descendants in Mexico. A history of silence and discrimination (1st ed., Pp. Conapred.org.mx). Mexico DF