The history of Black in Latin America extends back over the times first African slaves were brought to the Americas at the beginning of the sixteenth century. It significantly influenced on the modern standing of Blacks, their social and cultural identity that varies in different Latin American countries. For instance, while Brazil is proud of its multi-ethnic society, in Haiti, Black are proud to be Black, and in the Dominican Republic, they try to forget its African roots. The aim of this paper is to analyze attitude to Black in Latin America, its historical shaping and impact on the present times.
For a start, it is necessary to give a historical overview of the life of Black in such Latin American countries as the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Brazil. Santo Domingo, a capital of the Dominican Republic, was the first Latin American city to import African slaves. It was founded by Christopher Columbus’ older brother Bartholomew and was the first place of Spanish colonial rules in all Americas. Throughout their history, people of Santo Domingo have had strong national identity regardless of their origin or skin color. That sense of self dates back to the work on sugar plantations and ranchos where Black slaves got an opportunity to ride horses and, thus, the difference between them and their slave masters decreased. In the Dominican Republic, the relationship between slaves and their masters were not the same as in the United States, and many slaves easily accepted Spanish identity continuing to keep it even after the abolishment of slavery. An important role in that was also played by Haitian occupation of Santo Domingo. In 1844, when the Dominican Republic finally became independent from both France and Haiti, Black rejected everything about their African identity, and at the beginning of the twentieth century, when the country became full of the Haitian migrants who worked on the plantations and did the entire “dirty” job, their Spanish identity became even stronger. As the result, “blackness became a negative term to many Dominicans” (“Black In Latin America (Episode 1)”).
Haiti, in turn, is known as the poorest country in Latin America, and, at the same time, the first independent nation of Black. Haitians have a strong sense of self as the descendants of the African slaves brought to Haiti many years ago. Cap-Haitien was the main port for the slave trade, and Haiti was the richest colony based on plantation economy. As distinct from Dominicans, the way Haitian Black survived their slavery lied not in a denial of their identity but in its accepting and getting comfort from their native religion. They created Voodoo, the part of their culture that combined cultures of all African ethnic groups and gave slaves courage, strength, organization, and leadership. And, in contrast to Dominicans, after getting freedom, Haitians destroyed everything about slavery but not their native roots.
Brazil is the second large black population in the world; it is the country that established racial democracy, but at the same time was the last to abolish racism in the New World. About five centuries ago, it was a colony full of sugar plantations, and, as the result, a colony full of African slaves. The attitude towards slaves here was even worse than in the United States, and Africans found a way to defend themselves adjusting their culture to slavery and creating capoeira, a martial art that could be introduced as a dance. Capoeira united slaves from different ethnic groups reminding them about their origin. However, such attitude toward slaves was distinctive only for sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and sugar plantations. The beginning of the eighteenth century was an era of gold and diamond mines. It was a world-away life; freed blacks lived together with whites and integrated into their society. A lot of white people had black lovers, what was common both for the life on sugar plantations and the life in big cities and as the result, a lot of children had different shades of skin color. For a long time, the country had been embraced with the idea of civilizing Black, but at the second part of the twentieth century, the ideas of the Black defenders found its response; Brazil became the unique truly multicultural nation that has already been “civilized by Africans” (“Black in Latin America E02”).
In conclusion, the historical development of Black in Latin American countries had a great impact on their position in society nowadays. In the Dominican Republic, Black people negate their African ancestry and call themselves “Indio” covering many gradations of brown and being proud of their Spanish heritage. Such sense of self has roots deep in the history of the Dominican slavery and the country’s occupation by Haitians, former French slaves of the same skin color. In Haiti, in turn, everybody is proud to be black, and this pride dates back to the times of fighting for freedom and unity in the face of slavery. Brazil, the country with the second large black population and racial democracy, glories its multi-ethnic society every year on the carnival, but under the myth of the racial democracy it hides racial problem still existing nowadays. In Brazil, the color of the skin is “in the eye of the beholder” (“Black in Latin America E02”), but lots of white people consider Black to be Black and nothing more. Black in Latin America traveled a long way and have even more long to go to get completely respected and free.
Works Cited
Black In Latin America (Episode 1) Haiti and The Dominican Republic - The Roots of Division. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. PBS, 2011. Online.
Black in Latin America E02, Brazil: A Racial Paradise. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. PBS, 2011. Online.
