When we think of Afro-American, a hemisphere transformed by the forced population transfer of millions of West African slaves, rarely does Argentina spring to mind. The country is widely perceived to be the whitest in the region and many Argentines self-style themselves as the Europeans of South America.
Research in recent decades cites a strong racial intermixing with whites and amerindians in the 18th and 19th centuries as the main reason for the decline of the black population in Argentina. Argentina had huge black population in the 18-19th centuries but those blacks were all slaves.
Afro-Argentines often feel like they’ve been written out of history and are mistaken for foreigners in their own country. Why are there no black people in Argentina, unlike Brazil, Colombia, or even Bolivia and neighboring Uruguay? The racist attitudes of superiority reigned supreme with such horrific intensity in the 16th to 20th centuries.
Studies show that between 4% and 6% of Argentineans have African genes, but few people there are aware of their country’s African roots, which were largely cut through a series of epidemics and wars that killed huge numbers of what was a sizeable African population until the 19th century.
Argentina has never had any black football player. There are no black players on Argentina’s roster. Actually, there are hardly any black people left in Argentina period. Argentina is currently the only country in the world without blacks.
In 1997, Argentine president Carlos Menem was asked abroad at a university “are there black people in Argentina?” Menem responded: “No, Brazil has that problem.” The descendants of enslaved Africans taken to Argentina are known as “Afroargentinos.
Reference: https://www.africanexponent.com/amp/post/6569-black-people-wiped-out-from-argentina
Content created and supplied by: Auntykuma (via Opera
News )