The influence of the Afro-Argentine on Argentine culture is examined in this study, with chapters devoted to the evolution of Argentine demographic policy, the historical context for the role of the Afro-Argentine, the various views different parts of society had of the Afro-Argentines, and their place in Argentine popular creole culture. Castro teaches history at California State U. in Dominguez Hills. c. Book News Inc.

In Afro-Argentine Discourse, Marvin A. Lewis attempts to write blacks back into the literary history of Argentina by treating in depth, for the first time, the written expression of Argentines of African descent during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Because their contributions are overlooked or minimized in most literary histories, it is often assumed that blacks had little or no part in the development of Argentine literature. Through original archival research, Lewis corrects this erroneous assumption by examining texts never before made available to the academic community. Afro-Argentine Discourse investigates a new dimension of the black experience in the Americas and will stir much interest and debate regarding the black presence in Argentina.

Celebrities live their lives in constant dialogue with stories about them. But when these stories are shaped by durable racist myths, they wield undue power to ruin lives and obliterate communities. Black Legend is the haunting story of an Afro-Argentine, Raúl Grigera ('el negro Raúl'), who in the early 1900s audaciously fashioned himself into an alluring Black icon of Buenos Aires' bohemian nightlife, only to have defamatory storytellers unmake him. In this gripping history, Paulina Alberto exposes the destructive power of racial storytelling and narrates a new history of Black Argentina and Argentine Blackness across two centuries. With the extraordinary Raúl Grigera at its center, Black Legend opens new windows into lived experiences of Blackness in a 'white' nation, and illuminates how Raúl's experience of celebrity was not far removed from more ordinary experiences of racial stories in the flesh.

Reviewed by Daniel D Staats for Readers' Favorite - Five Stars. If you like history and/or geography, you will love The Black History Truth: Argentina by Pamela Gayle. The first part of this book is a great introduction to the land of Argentina and its history. Pamela covers the history of this South American country from before the Conquistadors came and destroyed the land as it was. Pamela goes back in history and explains the foundations of chattel slavery. She gives the common beliefs that are espoused by historians, then gives the darker side of the truth. She exposes the fallacies often found in Eurocentric history. Since whites were in charge, they wrote the history and shaded the facts to give credit to the whites instead of natives and Africans. Pamela makes sure to correct many fallacies and give a true accounting of history. In The Black History Truth: Argentina by Pamela Gayle, one learns the heretofore untold stories of the contributions of Africans to Argentina. Pamela wants to boost the usefulness of this book and does so by giving assignments at the end of each chapter. These assignments help the newly learned information to stick in the mind. Pamela does an excellent job of presenting a volatile subject calmly and respectfully. The facts in this book are backed up with the truth behind the myths that have been taught for centuries. One needs to have an open mind as one reads this book. Many of the facts presented by Pamela will be new to most readers. Remember, just because the information is new to you does not mean it is not correct. One refrain you will find in this book is: "Yet, the truth is..."

Details how African-descended women's societal, marital, and sexual decisions forever reshaped the racial makeup of Argentina Argentina promotes itself as a country of European immigrants. This makes it an exception to other Latin American countries, which embrace a more mixed--African, Indian, European--heritage. Hiding in Plain Sight: Black Women, the Law, and the Making of a White Argentine Republic traces the origins of what some white Argentines mischaracterize as a "black disappearance" by delving into the intimate lives of black women and explaining how they contributed to the making of a "white" Argentina. Erika Denise Edwards has produced the first comprehensive study in English of the history of African descendants outside of Buenos Aires in the late colonial and early republican periods, with a focus on how these women sought whiteness to better their lives and that of their children. Edwards argues that attempts by black women to escape the stigma of blackness by recategorizing themselves and their descendants as white began as early as the late eighteenth century, challenging scholars who assert that the black population drastically declined at the end of the nineteenth century because of the whitening or modernization process. She further contends that in Córdoba, Argentina, women of African descent (such as wives, mothers, daughters, and concubines) were instrumental in shaping their own racial reclassifications and destinies. This volume makes use of a wealth of sources to relate these women's choices. The sources consulted include city censuses and notarial and probate records that deal with free and enslaved African descendants; criminal, ecclesiastical, and civil court cases; marriages and baptisms records and newsletters. These varied sources provide information about the day-to-day activities of cordobés society and how women of African descent lived, formed relationships, thrived, and partook in the transformation of racial identities in Argentina.

This research studies the activities of Afro-Argentine organizations regarding affirmative action policy formulation in Argentina focusing on the context, key factors, developments, and opinions of the stakeholders. The study builds upon the hypothesis that current cultural activities and political pressure groups of the Afro Community in Buenos Aires, Argentina are lobbying for and having a positive effect on affirmative action policy planning in Argentina at the present time. Research on this topic is important not only for understanding how affirmative action gains importance on the public and government agendas in Argentina, but also in the broader context of political agenda setting and interest group agency, potentially for other Afro-descendant groups in the rest of Latin America and the world. The method rests on semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders and activists of the most important Afro-Argentine civil society organizations in Argentina, based in Buenos Aires city as well as suburban Buenos Aires. The Afro-Argentine community is achieving agenda setting and affirmative action policy formulation through seeking historical and cultural recognition, using opportunities that arise from globalization, the rise of multiculturalism and government openness, and employing cultural and rights-based approaches to position themselves. The study finds that, in spite of the group's invisibility, the state is appropriating the strategies and receiving affirmative action proposals in the form of compensatory policies, individual-type (antidiscrimination) and collective (upward mobility and equal opportunity) measures. Antidiscrimination measures and compensatory policies of recognition have been implemented; however there is no evidence of the existence of the more substantial "quota" collective-type policies. The organizations are in the process of proposing these. The research also finds that discrimination and whitening persist, and identifies tensions both in the definitions of a general Afro-Argentine identity and the debate over equality and difference by the Afro community in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Judging from proposals that have not yet made it onto the government agenda, and the stakeholders' pessimism and doubt on the successful passing of affirmative action policy, it remains unclear whether Argentina will move beyond recognition and antidiscrimination measures in the near future.