Negro? Prieto? Moreno? A Question of Identity for Black Mexicans

THE NEW YORK TIMES
By Randal C. Archibold

Israel Reyes Larrea, who named his daughter “Africa” and has devoted a room in his house to a collection of memorabilia from the black communities of Mexico, said he was “Afro-Indian” — with a great-grandmother of African descent. But since moving here a couple of decades ago and marrying a black woman, he describes himself as black.

MEXICO---Hernán Reyes calls himself “negro” — black — plain and simple. After some thought, Elda Mayren decides she is “Afromexicana,” or African-Mexican. Or Afromexican. Or “moreno,” “mascogo,” “jarocho,” or “costeño” — some of the other terms sometimes used to describe black Mexicans. This isolated village is named for an independence hero, thought to have had black ancestors, who helped abolish slavery in Mexico. It lies in the rugged hills of southwestern Mexico, among a smattering of towns and hamlets that have long embraced a heritage from African slaves who were brought here to work in mines and on sugar plantations in the 16th century. [link]