Table Of ContentComparative raCial politiCs
in latin ameriCa
Latin America has a rich and complex social history marked by slavery, colonialism,
dictatorships, rebellions, social movements and revolutions. Comparative Racial Politics
in Latin America explores the dynamic interplay between racial politics and hegemonic
power in the region. It investigates the fluid intersection of social power and racial pol-
itics and their impact on the region’s histories, politics, identities and cultures.
Organized thematically with in-depth country case studies and a historical overview
of Afro-Latin politics, the volume provides a range of perspectives on Black politics and
cutting-edge analyses of Afro-descendant peoples in the region. Regional coverage
includes Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Haiti
and more. Topics discussed include Afro-Civil Society; antidiscrimination criminal
law; legal sanctions; racial identity; racial inequality and labor markets; recent Black
electoral participation; Black feminism thought and praxis; comparative Afro-women
social movements; the intersection of gender, race and class, immigration and migra-
tion; and citizenship and the struggle for human rights. Recognized experts in different
disciplinary fields address the depth and complexity of these issues.
Comparative Racial Politics in Latin America contributes to and builds on the study of
Black politics in Latin America.
Kwame Dixon is an Associate Professor of Political Science at Howard University,
who did his undergraduate work at the University of South Florida and received his
Ph.D. from Clark-Atlanta University. He was awarded two Fulbright grants and has
done extensive field research and lived in several Latin American countries, including
Ecuador, Colombia and Brazil. He is the author of Afro-Politics and Civil Society in Salva-
dor da Bahia (University Press of Florida, 2016) and coeditor of Comparative Perspectives
on Afro Latin America (University Press of Florida, 2012). He teaches courses on Interna-
tional Human Rights, Latin American Politics and Comparative Racial Politics.
Ollie A. Johnson III is Chair and Associate Professor in the Department of African
American Studies at Wayne State University. He is the coeditor of Race, Politics, and
Education in Brazil: Affirmative Action in Higher Education (2015). He also authored Bra-
zilian Party Politics and the Coup of 1964 and coedited Black Political Organizations in the
Post-Civil Rights Era. Professor Johnson received his Ph.D. in Political Science from the
University of California at Berkeley. His current research focuses on African American,
Afro-Brazilian and Afro-Latin American Politics.
‘Comparative Racial Politics in Latin America is an exemplary work that
brings together scholarship focusing on black movement activism as
articulated by Afro-descendant men and women, against persistent
inequalities. Afro-descendant women have been at the forefront of
articulating the needs of black citizenship. This book will be a great
resource for activists, scholars, and students interested in black activ-
ism and policy changes in Latin America.’
—Gladys Mitchell-Walthour, Assistant Professor in the Department
of Africology, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
‘Located at the cutting edge of the current wave of research on black-
ness in Latin America, the stellar cast of contributors assembled by
Dixon and Johnson in this book provides an outstanding overview of
racial politics in Latin America and the Caribbean. Its breadth of cov-
erage and the penetratingly critical stance adopted by its contributors
make the book required reading for students and scholars alike.’
—Peter Wade, Professor of Social Anthropology,
University of Manchester
‘This volume ably brings together established and emergent scholars
to trace historical and contemporary patterns of black political mobi-
lization in Latin America.’
—Juliet Hooker, Professor of Political Science, Brown University
Comparative raCial
politiCs in latin
ameriCa
Edited by Kwame Dixon and
Ollie A. Johnson III
First published 2019
by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
and by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2019 Taylor & Francis
The right of Kwame Dixon and Ollie A. Johnson III to be identified
as the authors of the editorial material, and of the authors for their
individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77
and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical
or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including
photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval
system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks
or registered trademarks and are used only for identification and
explanation without intent to infringe.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record for this title has been requested
ISBN: 978-1-138-72702-1 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-138-48530-3 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-19106-5 (ebk)
Typeset in Bembo
by codeMantra
Contents
List of Figures viii
List of Tables x
Notes on Contributors xii
Acknowledgments xvi
Introduction: Comparative Racial Politics in Latin
America – Black Politics Matter 1
Kwame Dixon and Ollie A. Johnson III
part i
History 15
1 Beyond Representation: Rethinking Rights, Alliances
and Migrations: Three Historical Themes in Afro-Latin
American Political Engagement 17
Darién J. Davis
2 Recognition, Reparations and Political Autonomy of
Black and Native Communities in the Americas 44
Bernd Reiter
3 Pan-Africanism and Latin America 64
Elisa Larkin Nascimento
vi Contents
part ii
the Caribbean 87
4 Black Activism and the State in Cuba 89
Danielle Pilar Clealand
5 Correcting Intellectual Malpractice: Haiti and Latin America 111
Jean-Germain Gros
6 Black Feminist Formations in the Dominican Republic
since La Sentencia 139
April J. Mayes
part iii
south america 161
7 Afro-Ecuadorian Politics 163
Carlos de la Torre and Jhon Antón Sánchez
8 En la Sucursal del Cielo (In the Branch of Paradise):
Geographies of Privilege and Black Social Suffering
in Cali, Colombia 183
Jaime Amparo Alves and Aurora Vergara-Figueroa
9 The Impossible Black Argentine Political Subject 211
Judith M. Anderson
10 Current Representations of ‘Black’ Citizens: Contentious
Visibility within the Multicultural Nation 229
Laura de la Rosa Solano
part iv
Comparative perspectives 247
11 The Contours and Contexts of Afro-Latin American
Women’s Activism 249
Kia Lilly Caldwell
12 Race and the Law in Latin America 271
Tanya Katerí Hernández
Contents vii
13 The Labyrinth of Ethnic–Racial Inequality: A Picture of
Latin America According to the Recent Census Rounds 288
Marcelo Paixão and Irene Rossetto
14 The Millennium Development Goals/Sustainable
Development Goals and Afro-Descendants in the
Americas: An (Un)intended Trap 318
Paula Lezama
Conclusion 344
Kwame Dixon and Ollie A. Johnson III
Index 349
Figures
4.1 Experiences with discrimination 100
4.2 Group consciousness and awareness 103
4.3 Black organizing 103
8.1 Housing discrimination in Colombia ‘Apartment for renting,
but not for Blacks’ 194
8.2 Picture of ‘The most powerful women of Cali’, by Hola
Newspaper 194
8.3 Corridor of wealth 195
8.4 Poorer areas of the city 196
8.5 Frequency of homicides 198
8.6 Homicides by boroughs in 2010 201
8.7 Afro-descendant population by boroughs 205
9.1 African Diaspora Working Group (ADWG) meeting 214
9.2 Grupo de Estudios Afro-Latino Americanos (GEALA) poster by
Darío la Vega 222
9.3 Obaca by FansWorld TV 223
10.1 The answer is Colombia postcard 230
10.2 Couple of dancers. Photo from El Universal 239
10.3 Palenqueras. Photo from the website Noticartagena 240
10.4 A palenquera woman in a postcard celebrating the Colombian
Independence Day. Fonturcol 240
10.5 Black man dressed as a slave, Cartagena Tourism
Corporation stand at the 31st Anato show 241
10.6 Two women dressed as the India Catalina and the palenquera,
Cartagena Tourism Corporation stand at the 31st Anato show 242
14.1 Millennium development goals 319
14.2 Sustainable development goals 319
Figures ix
14.3 Percentage of country population that is low income 325
14.4 Percentage of country population that is middle income 326
14.5 Percentage of country population that is upper-middle income 327
14.6 Percentage of country population that is high income 328
14.7 Racial and ethnic wealth gaps have grown since the Great
Depression median net worth of households in dollars, 2013 329
14.8 Poverty rates of Afro-Descendants versus non–Afro/non–
indigenous population in selected countries, 2014 333
14.9 Brazil’s income distribution – market, disposable and
consumable income – by racial/ethnic membership, 2008–2009 334
14.10 Proportion of undernourished people, 1990–1992 and 2014–2016 337
14.11 Relation between poverty and global and chronic
malnutrition for children under five years old, mid-1990s.
Nine countries, national averages 338
14.12 Unemployment rate and average school attainment by group
age, gender and ethnic/racial membership, 2014 340
