Afro-Indigenous Interactions, Relations, and Comparisons

Black and Indigenous Inequality in Mexico: Implications for Multiracialism and Intersectionality Research

“…Our quantitative findings build on a small but important body of historical and qualitative scholarship on black-indigeneity in Mexico. Research has shown that black-indigenous mixture has a long-standing history in the country (Carroll 2005; Lewis 2003, 2012; Wade 2018). Today, black-indigeneity has been documented, mostly in the Costa Chica region, where local identifications connote a mixture of black and indigenous ancestry (Lewis 2000, 2012; Sue, forthcoming; Wade 2018).…”

“…Research has shown that black-indigenous mixture has a long-standing history in the country (Carroll 2005; Lewis 2003, 2012; Wade 2018). Today, black-indigeneity has been documented, mostly in the Costa Chica region, where local identifications connote a mixture of black and indigenous ancestry (Lewis 2000, 2012; Sue, forthcoming; Wade 2018). Laura Lewis, who has conducted decades of fieldwork in San Nicolás, Guerrero, argues that locals adopt the identity of moreno , a reference to black-indigenous heritage, to anchor themselves to the Mexican nation via a claim of indigenous ancestry.…”

“…In contrast, Latin American national ideologies have recognized and encouraged white/black and white/indigenous mixture as a strategy for whitening, touting their progenies as national prototypes (Loveman 2014; Telles and Sue 2009). Despite these regional differences, the consequences have been similar—the ignoring of dual-minorities, even though such mixtures and identifications exist in both contexts (Morning 2002; Wade 2018).…”

“…The overlooking of black-indigenous populations has been further exacerbated by the division, especially in Latin American studies, between studies of “race” and studies of “ethnicity”; blacks are conceptualized within a racial framework, and the indigenous, an ethnic framework, which impedes discussions about black-indigeneity (Wade 2018). Limited studies (e.g., Lewis 2000, 2003, 2012; Sue, forthcoming; Wade 2018) have addressed black-indigeneity, but because of data limitations, studies have not addressed the statistical phenomenon of black-indigenous classification and its relationship to population dynamics and measurements of socioeconomic inequality.…”

Racial geographies of the Anthropocene: Memory and erasure in Rio de Janeiro

“… 4. My intention here is not to conflate Indigenous genocide with the subjugation of African and Afro-descendant people in Brazil. Instead, I want to draw attention to the interrelation between the two forms of violence, and the historical struggle against ethnocide and racism shared by Afro-descendants and native peoples (for more on Black-Indigenous interactions and exchanges in Latin America see Wade, 2018). Moreover, I acknowledge that there were other groups whose existence played a key role during Brazil’s colonial period, including non-Portuguese colonisers, Muslim and Jewish communities, among others. …”