Today, April 27, on the "Día Provincial de las/os Afrocordobeses y su aporte a la cultura" (Córdoba, Argentina), I’d like to recommend a book that changes the way we understand the country’s history: "Hiding in plain sight: Black women, the law and the making of a white Argentine republic" by Erika Denise Edwards.
For those unfamiliar with Argentine history: there's a widespread belief that "there's no black population in Argentina" or that it "disappeared" in the 19th century. This book shows that this idea isn't natural or obvious, but rather the result of specific historical processes. During the colonial era, categories such as "white", "pardo", "mestizo", or "indian" were not only physical descriptions: they were also legal categories. They defined rights, life opportunities, and forms of social belonging. In that context, some people might have tried to change their racial classification to gain access to better conditions. This is where the Argentine (and more broadly Latin American) case differs from other contexts such as the United States. There, historically, what is known as the “one-drop rule” operated: any African ancestry classified a person as Black, in a rigid and hereditary manner. In contrast, in places like Córdoba, racial categories could be more flexible and negotiable, though always within a hierarchical system.
What Edwards highlights is particularly interesting: many Black women took advantage of these opportunities to improve their own situation or that of their families. This could involve being registered as "white" or "indian", categories that offered legal and social advantages over Blackness. This point may seem uncomfortable from a contemporary perspective. However, it's essential to understand that these decisions cannot be interpreted as a simple "denial of identity", but rather as strategies within a deeply unequal system, where racial classification had concrete material consequences. Over time, these individual and family processes contributed to something larger: the gradual erasure of the Afro-descendant population in Argentina. It was not a literal disappearance, but rather a transformation in the way people were registered, perceived, and remembered.
Like any academic book, it can be quite dense reading, but overall it's very accessible to those who are not deeply familiar with Argentina’s colonial history, as Edwards constantly revisits these mechanisms from different angles, helping readers understand how they worked in practice.
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