Afro-Argentine

English

Alternative forms

• Afro-Argentinian (rare)

Etymology

From Afro- +‎ Argentine.

Adjective

Afro-Argentine (not comparable)

1. (chiefly historical) Of or pertaining to Argentines of African descent.
   • 2003, John Charles Chasteen, James A. Wood, Problems in Modern Latin American History: sources and interpretations:

     Following the destruction of the free black battalions at Sipe-Sipe, the Afro-Argentine representation in the armed forces consisted almost entirely of ...

   • 1995, Darién J. Davis, Slavery and Beyond: The African Impact on Latin America and the Caribbean:

     An obviously discontented unit was the Afro-Argentine Fourth Cazadores, which between November 1827 and October 1829 lost 31 soldiers dead and ...

   • 1999, Brian Bell, Argentina, Insight Guides:

     A great percentage of Afro-Argentine males served in the army,...

   • 2003, C. Michael Hawn, Gather Into One: Praying and Singing Globally:

     A third is that they perished while serving in the special Afro-Argentine male battalions of the army.

   • 2004, Theodore Link, Rose McCarthy, Argentina: A Primary Source Cultural Guide:

     Half of San Martin's army was comprised of Afro-Argentine soldiers. Slaves could earn their freedom by serving in the military, and some Afro-Argentine men...

Noun

Afro-Argentine (plural Afro-Argentines)

1. (chiefly historical) An Argentine of African descent.
   • 1999, Joyce Moss, Latin American Literature and Its Times:

     In the case of Afro-Argentines, as in the case of Argentina's Indians and gauchos, this tactic arguably succeeded. Although blacks constituted about 10 percent of Argentina's population in 1810, by 1887 their numbers had dropped to less than 2 percent, and have continued to drop down to the present day. ...

   • 2005, Jeffrey M. Shumway, The Case of the Ugly Suitor & Other Histories of Love, Gender, & Nation in Buenos Aires, 1776-1870:

     The official mouthpiece of the Rosas government, La Gaceta Mercantil, praised Afro-Argentines as “valiant defenders of liberty who have won fame and glory in a hundred battles,” adding that “General Rosas so appreciates the mulattos and morenos that he has no objection to seating them at his table and eating with them.”
     In other respects, however, the persistence of racism against Afro-Argentines, Indians, and gauchos showed regrettable continuities with the colonial past.

Usage notes

• Since Argentina historically had a large black population, but currently has a very small one (see the article "Demographics of Argentina" in Wikipedia), the term Afro-Argentine is mostly historical.
• The variant form Afro-Argentinian exists as well, but is exceedingly rare.

Quotations

• 1995, Darién J. Davis, Slavery and Beyond: The African Impact on Latin America and the Caribbean:

  One Argentine poet and writer of popular history recalls at length how the Afro-Argentines served as cannon fodder from one end of the country to the other, ...

• 1999, Brian Bell, Argentina, Insight Guides:

  Argentina's greatest puzzle is the vanished Afro-Argentines. Historians throughout the years have offered diverse explanations. Ordinary citizens are ready with stories that range from the plausible to the ludicrous. ...

• 2003, C. Michael Hawn, Gather Into One: Praying and Singing Globally:

  As we will see, however, this does not mean that there are not vestiges of the Afro-Argentines in the music and culture.

• 2003, Jennifer Guglielmo, Salvatore Salerno, Are Italians White?: how race is made in America:

  They discover Afro-Argentines whom Argentines claim not to see, they note the predominance of dark faces among laborers and white faces among the wealthy.

• 2005: Monte Reel, In Buenos Aires, Researchers Exhume Long-Unclaimed African Roots, published in the Washington Post, 5 May 2005, page A14

  ...the black Argentines did not vanish; they just faded into the mixed-race populace and became lost to demography. According to some researchers, as many as 10 percent of Buenos Aires residents are partly descended from black Argentines but have no idea. "People for years have accepted the idea that there are no black people in Argentina," said Miriam Gomes, a professor of literature at the University of Buenos Aires who is part black and considers herself Afro-Argentine.