Civil Rights Movement Marches on in Mexico
September 17, 2009 by blackgirlgrown
Filed under engage, international, race
Time Magazine posted an article outlining the plight of Afro-Mexicans. Time writes:
Mirroring Mexico’s history itself, most of Yanga’s Afro-Mexican population has been pushed to neighboring rural villages that are notable primarily for their deep poverty and the strikingly dark skin of their inhabitants. Mexico’s independence from Spain and new focus on building a national identity on the idea of mestizaje, or mixed race, drove African Mexicans into invisibility as leaders chose not to count them or assess their needs. Now many blacks want to fight back by improving the shoddy education and social services available to them and are petitioning for the constitution to recognize Afro-Mexicans as a separate ethnic group worthy of special consideration.
Excellent timing as we celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month.
