The Latin American Identity and the African Diaspora: Ethnogenesi ...

fluid in Latin America, given that an obviously non-Caucasoid individual in Puerto Rico, for example, may be euphemistically classified as “trigueño” [“tannish”], while conversely that same person in the Dominican Republic is unquestionably accepted as “blanco,” meaning “white,” with all of the prerogatives and social attributes that that society reserves for its lighter-complexioned members. This is but one example of a corpus of racial attitudes one finds throughout the Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking Americas. In all fairness, it must be made clear that most Latin American societies do not overtly authorize racist attitudes in this day and age. The emphasis here is on “most.” However, one has to deal with the covert in Latin America, and covertly, for most countries, the structure and pattern of acceptance and success follow the degree of one's consanguine affiliation to a Caucasoid and/or non-Caucasoid ethnic group. Studies have shown that no person can be explained outside the frame of reference that includes the organic heritage, the social heritage, the human nature, and the unique experience of that person (Boyd, “The Concept of Black Esthetics” 13). Consequently, admitting that the presence of Africa in Latin America is a reality organizes the summation of all of the foregoing. It is a reality that manifests itself in the area's basic culture, in the language, in the karma and religiosity, and, most importantly, has played an important role in shaping the imagery of the national phenotypes that the outside world considers to be the Latin American prototype.

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Little does the outsider suspect, however, that the culture and phenotype classified as “Hispanic” or “Latin” in the autochthonous sense are the denouement of a few centuries of close interaction among the Africans, Europeans, and indigenous Indians that have peopled the region. The proportions are not equally balanced in all regions. Some areas, such as Mexico and Central America, are decidedly more European and indigenous Indian, but do have an African element diffused within the ethnic composition. Other areas, including the Spanish-speaking Caribbean (Cuba, Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico), have a generous admixture