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The making of a White nation: The disappearance of the Black population in Argentina
Author(s) -
Edwards Erika Denise
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
history compass
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.121
H-Index - 1
ISSN - 1478-0542
DOI - 10.1111/hic3.12456
Subject(s) - latin americans , white (mutation) , mythology , meaning (existential) , european population , population , history , genealogy , psychology , gender studies , demography , political science , sociology , law , classics , psychotherapist , biochemistry , gene , chemistry
While visiting what is considered the most European and White country in Latin America, I often asked Argentines, “What happened to the Black population?” The most common response I heard on the streets of Argentina “there are no Blacks, they disappeared.” But how can a population “disappear” and what exactly does that constitute for a country that prides itself in being European. Scholars have grappled with the meaning of disappearance and the consequences of the myth of Black disappearance since the 1960s. This essay traces their observations and conclusions, which have put the color back into Argentina's whitened past.