By Victor Ochieng
The move by the Mexican government to officially recognize Afro-Mexicans in the Latin American country has been hailed as a step in the right direction as Latin Americans of African descent continue with their quest for racial equality.
The Huffingpost Post reported that 1.38 million Mexicans of African descent have now been recognized, something that has been illusive since the Mexican Revolution in 1910. For all these years, the Latin American nation has ignored African Mexicans, maintaining a national identity of “mestizaje,” which ignores the descendants of African slaves, but recognizes mixed race of Spanish colonizers and indigenous people of Mexico.
When we read about such things, we might be tempted to think that Blacks didn’t play any roles in the fight for independence in Mexico. But then again, we hear of Gaspar Yanga, a celebrated national hero who helped free Blacks from slavery. Another notable figure is Vicente Guerrero, the second president of Mexico who, prior to holding the position, served as a powerful army general in the fight against Spanish rule.
Mexico and Chile remained as the only Latin American countries that still didn’t recognize Blacks.
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