The African diaspora in the Americas (Spanish: Afroamericanos) refers to the people born in the Americas with partial, predominant, or complete sub-Saharan African ancestry. Many are descendants of persons enslaved in Africa and transferred to the Americas by Europeans, and whose ethnogenesis occurred in the Americas and were forced to work mostly in European-owned mines and plantations, between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries. Significant groups have been established in the United States (African Americans), in Canada (Black Canadians), in the Caribbean (Afro-Caribbean), and in Latin America (Afro-Latin Americans).
History
editAfter the United States achieved independence, next came the independence of Haiti, a country populated almost entirely by people of African descent and the second American colony to win its independence from European colonial powers. After the process of independence, many countries have encouraged European immigration to America, thus reducing the proportion of black and mulatto population throughout the country: Brazil, the United States, and the Dominican Republic. Miscegenation and more flexible concepts of race have also reduced the overall population identifying as black in Latin America, whereas the one-drop rule in the United States has had the opposite effect.[35]
From 21 to 25 November 1995, the Continental Congress of Black Peoples of the Americas was held. Black people still face discrimination in most parts of the continent. According to David D.E. Ferrari, vice president of the World Bank for the Region of Latin America and the Caribbean, black people have lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality, more frequent and more widespread diseases, higher rates of illiteracy and lower income than Americans of different ethnic origin. Women, also the subjects of gender discrimination, suffer worse living conditions.
On 4 November 2008, the first black U.S. president, Barack Obama, won 52% of the vote. His father was from Kenya and his mother was from Kansas.[36]
Distribution
editBlack population by country
edit
Black population by region according to the censuses
edit
.svg){kind=small}
.svg){kind=small}
.svg){kind=small}
Languages
editDialects are linguistic varieties that may differ in pronunciation, vocabulary, spelling, and other aspects of grammar. The African diaspora in the Americas has been subject to various colonial languages. A list of languages spoken by or developed in the Amer-Afro diaspora is provided below.
- American English
- American French: Louisiana
- Brazilian Portuguese
- Nordeste: Nordestino, Costa Norte, Recifence, Bainao
- Sudeste: Caipira, Mineiro
- Fluminense / Cariocapt
- Caribbean English
- Caribbean French
- Saint-Barthélemy French or Patois Saint-Barth
- Haitian French or Haitian Creole
- Martinican French or Martinican Creole
- Caribbean Spanish
- Central American Spanish
- Colombian Spanish: Sabanero, Antioqueño, Chocoano, Vallecaucan, Tumaqueño, Nariñese
- Mexican Spanish: Costeño
- Rioplatense Spanish
- Venezuelan Spanish: Caraqueño, el Guaro, el Caroreño, Margariteño
Maroon languages, creoles, and ethno-cultural dialects
edit- Berbice Creole Dutch †
- Skepi Creole Dutch †
- Black Dutch or Negerduits †
- Negerhollands †
- Haitian Creole or Kreyòl
- Louisiana Creole or Kouri-Vini
- Mon Louis Island Creole
- French Guianese Creole or Kréyòl
- Antillean Creole or Kreyol / Patois
- Guadeloupean Creole
- Saint Lucian Creole fr
- Dominican Creole French
- Trinidadian Creole French fr
- Grenadian Creole French or Kéyòl-la-gwinad, Patwa LaGwinad
- Venezuelean Creole French
- Saint-Barthélemy Creole
- San Miguel Creole or Panamanian Patua
North America
Eastern
- Vincentian Creole
- Northeastern:
- Southeastern:
- Antiguan and Barbudan Creole or Raabak
- Saint Kitts Creole
- Montserrat Creole
- Anguillian Creole or Anguilla Talk
- Kokoy
- North Antiguan Creole or Nawt'n dialek
- South Antiguan Creole or Sout'n dialek
- Barbudan Creole or Baabyuudan dialek
- Bajan Creole
- Tobagonian Creole
- Trinidadian Creole
- Guyanese Creole or Creolese
- Virgin Islands Creole
- Grenadian Creole English or Patois
- Antiguan and Barbudan Creole or Raabak
Western
- Jamaican Patois or Jamiekan Kriyuol / Taak
- Bermudian Creole
- Bocas del Toro Creole or Panamanian Patois
- Limonese Creole or Mekatelyu
- Miskito Coast Creole
- Turks and Caicos Creole
- San Andrés–Providencia Creole or Bende
- Providence Creole English
- Saintandrewan
- Belizean Creole or Belize Kriol
Surinamese
- Kwinti
- Maroon Spirit language or Kromanti, Deep Patwa
- Ndyuka
- Aluku
- Nengue Tongo
- Paramaccan
- Saramaccan
- Sranan Tongo
Central American
- Bay Islands English or Caracol
Southern Caribbean
Liturgical
edit- Habla Congo
- Haitian Vodoun Culture Language or Langay
- Iyaric or Rasta Talk
- Lucumí language
- Nuwaubian
Manual
editNotable people of African descent in the Americas
editThis section may contain unverified or indiscriminate information in embedded lists. (November 2019) |
- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar – American basketball player
- Muhammad Ali – American boxer
- Archie Alleyne – Canadian musician
- Deandre Ayton – Bahamian basketball player
- Ronald Acuna Jr. – Venezuelan baseball player
- Ozzie Albies – Curaçaoan baseball player
- Laz Alonso – Cuban actor
- Edem Awumey – Canadian writer
- Susana Baca – Peruvian musician
- Leandro Barbosa – Brazilian basketball player
- Charles Barkley – American basketball player
- RJ Barrett – Canadian basketball player
- Abelardo Barroso – Cuban singer
- Mario Bazán – Peruvian athlete
- DaMarcus Beasley – American football player
- Jean Beausejour – Chilean football player
- Adrián Beltré – Dominican baseball player
- Halle Berry – American actress
- Beyoncé – American singer
- Usain Bolt – Jamaican sprinter
- Cory Booker – American politician
- E. R. Braithwaite – Guyanese writer, educator and diplomat
- Melvin Brown – Mexican football player
- Rudel Calero – Nicaraguan football player
- Mariah Carey – American singer
- Sueli Carneiro – Brazilian philosopher and political activist
- Ramiro Castillo – Bolivian football player
- Aimé Césaire – Martinican author, philosopher and politician
- Bill Cosby – American actor and comedian
- Celia Cruz – Cuban singer
- Teófilo Cubillas – Peruvian football player
- Stephen Curry – American basketball player
- Léon Damas – French Guianese writer
- Edwidge Danticat – Haitian-American author
- Charlie Davies – American football player
- Oscar D'León – Venezuelan musician
- Drake – Canadian rapper
- Tim Duncan – American basketball player
- Kevin Durant – American basketball player
- Giovanny Espinoza – Ecuadorian football player
- Patrick Ewing – Jamaican basketball player
- Frantz Fanon – Martinican philosopher and Pan-Africanist
- Jefferson Farfán – Peruvian football player
- Marielle Franco – Brazilian politician
- Marcus Garvey – Jamaican Pan-Africanist
- Gilberto Gil – Brazilian musician and politician
- Juan José Nieto Gil – Colombian president
- Edray H. Goins – African American president of the National Association of Mathematicians (NAM)
- Eddy Grant – Guyanese pop and reggae music star
- Kevin Hanchard – Canadian actor
- Devern Hansack – Nicaraguan baseball pitcher
- James Harden – American basketball player
- Kamala Harris – American politician, Vice President of the United States
- Wilson Harris – Guyanese writer
- Buddy Hield – Bahamian basketball player
- Whitney Houston – American singer
- Kyrie Irving – American basketball player
- Michael Jackson – American singer
- Janet Jackson – American singer
- Lamar Jackson – American football player
- C. L. R. James – Trinidadian historian and academic
- LeBron James – American basketball player
- Wyclef Jean – Haitian musician
- Jerry Jeudy, American football player
- Dwayne Johnson – American actor and wrestler
- Magic Johnson – American basketball player
- Michael Jordan – American basketball player
- Colin Kaepernick – American civil rights activist and American football player
- Martin Luther King Jr. – American civil rights activist
- Hayden Knight – American football player
- Don Lemon – American journalist
- Mia Love – American politician
- Malcolm X – American human rights activist
- Bob Marley – Jamaican reggae musician
- Jackson Martínez – Colombian football player
- Margareth Menezes – Brazilian singer and producer
- Nicki Minaj – Trinidadian rapper
- Totó la Momposina – Colombian singer
- Zezé Motta – Brazilian actress
- Morella Muñoz – Venezuelan singer
- Milton Nascimento – Brazilian singer
- Anthony Nesty – Surinamese swimmer
- Lupita Nyong'o – Mexican actress
- Barack Obama – American politician, first black president of the United States
- Michelle Obama – American politician, former First Lady of the United States
- Shaquille O'Neal – American basketball player
- David Ortiz – Dominican baseball player
- Deval Patrick – American politician
- Chris Paul – American basketball player
- Pelé – Brazilian soccer player
- Carlos Posadas – Argentine musician
- Álex Quiñónez – Ecuadorian Olympic sprinter
- Rubén Rada – Uruguayan singer
- Lionel Richie – American singer
- Rihanna – Barbadian singer
- Robinho – Brazilian football player
- Walter Rodney – Guyanese historian and political activist
- Arturo Rodríguez – Argentine boxer
- Bill Russell – American basketball player
- Carlos Andrés Sánchez – Uruguayan football player
- Pablo Sandoval – Venezuelan athlete
- Giovani dos Santos – Mexican football player
- Milton Santos – Brazilian geographer
- Tupac Shakur – American rapper
- Cayetano Alberto Silva – Uruguayan musician
- Will Smith – American actor and singer
- Domingo Sosa – Argentine soldier
- Sloane Stephens – American tennis player
- Mike Tyson – American boxer
- María Isabel Urrutia – Colombian athlete
- Bebo Valdés – Cuban pianist
- Elcina Valencia – Colombian teacher
- Dwyane Wade – American basketball player
- Derek Walcott – Saint Lucian poet, playwright and the 1992 Nobel Prize Literature Winner
- Denzel Washington – American actor
- The Weeknd – Canadian singer
- Kanye West – American rapper and singer
- Russell Westbrook – American basketball player
- Andrew Wiggins – Canadian basketball player
- Eric Eustace Williams – Trinidad and Tobago's first Prime Minister
- Serena Williams – American tennis player
- Zion Williamson – American basketball player
- Russell Wilson – American football player
- Oprah Winfrey – American talk show host, actress and producer
- Tiger Woods – American golfer
See also
editRelated bibliography
edit- Ethnic domination and racist discourse in Spain and Latin America. Dijk, Teun A. van. van. Gedisa Editorial SA ISBN 84-7432-997-3
- Gender, class and race in Latin America: some contributions. Luna, Lola G. Ed PPU, SA ISBN 84-7665-959-8
- Gender, race and class "color" desensientes Latinas. Impoexports, Colombia, Yumbo
- Afro Atlantic Histories resource, National Gallery of Art, Washington DC.
References
edit- ↑ "US Census Bureau" (PDF). Census.gov. Retrieved 2 October 2013.
- ↑ "Tabela 1.3.1 – População residente, por cor ou raça, segundo o sexo e os grupos de idade – Brasil – 2010" (PDF) (in Portuguese). Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística. Retrieved 28 July 2015.
- 1 2 "Haiti — The World Factbook". CIA. Archived from the original on 18 January 2026.
- 1 2 "Grupos étnicos información técnica". Archived from the original on 8 April 2020. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
- ↑ Homburger, Julian R.; Moreno-Estrada, Andrés; Gignoux, Christopher R.; Nelson, Dominic; Sanchez, Elena; Ortiz-Tello, Patricia; Pons-Estel, Bernardo A.; Acevedo-Vasquez, Eduardo; Miranda, Pedro; Langefeld, Carl D.; Gravel, Simon (4 December 2015). "Genomic Insights into the Ancestry and Demographic History of South America". PLOS Genetics. 11 (12) e1005602. doi:10.1371/journal.pgen.1005602. ISSN 1553-7404. PMC 4670080. PMID 26636962.
- ↑ Mooney, Jazlyn A.; Huber, Christian D.; Service, Susan; Hoon Sul, Jae; Marsden, Clare D.; Zhang, Zhongyang; Sabatti, Chiara; Ruiz-Linares, Andrés; Bedoya, Gabriel (25 October 2018). "Understanding the Hidden Complexity of Latin American Population Isolates". PLOS Genetics. 103 (5): 707–726. doi:10.1016/j.ajhg.2018.09.013. ISSN 1553-7404. PMC 6218714. PMID 30401458.
- ↑ Ruiz-Linares, Andrés; Adhikari, Kaustubh; Acuña-Alonzo, Victor; Quinto-Sanchez, Mirsha; Jaramillo, Claudia; Arias, William; Fuentes, Macarena; Pizarro, María; Everardo, Paola; Avila, Francisco de; Gómez-Valdés, Jorge (25 September 2014). "Admixture in Latin America: Geographic Structure, Phenotypic Diversity and Self-Perception of Ancestry Based on 7,342 Individuals". PLOS Genetics. 10 (9) e1004572. Bibcode:2014PLOSG..10.4572R. doi:10.1371/journal.pgen.1004572. ISSN 1553-7404. PMC 4177621. PMID 25254375.
- ↑ "Afrocolombianos". encolombia.com (in Spanish). 6 April 2020. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
- ↑ "Sociodemographic panorama of Mexico 2020". 25 July 2020.
- 1 2 "Jamaica – People". Encyclopedia Britannica.
- 1 2 "Dominican Republic — The World Factbook". CIA. 16 December 2025. Archived from the original on 9 January 2021.
- ↑ Moya Pons, Frank (2010). Historia de la República Dominicana (in Spanish). Vol. 2. Editorial CSIC. ISBN 978-84-00-09240-5. Retrieved 28 July 2015.
- 1 2 "El 32,8 % de la población de Panamá se reconoce como afrodescendiente". March 2023.
- ↑ Census Profile, 2016 Census Archived 8 November 2017 at the Wayback Machine Statistics Canada. Retrieved 6 November 2017.
- ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). www.one.cu. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 June 2014. Retrieved 11 January 2022.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - 1 2 "Resultado Básico del XIV Censo Nacional de Población y Vivienda 2011" (PDF). Ine.gov.ve. May 2014. p. 29. Retrieved 8 September 2014.
- ↑ Censo poblacional de Venezuela 2011
- 1 2 "Población Afroperuana" (PDF) (in Spanish). 2017. Retrieved 25 January 2023.
- ↑ http://www.ecuadorencifras.gob.ec/cpv/ [dead link]
- 1 2 "Puerto Rico 2020 census".
- ↑ "Nicaragua — The World Factbook". CIA. 5 December 2025. Archived from the original on 9 January 2021.
- 1 2 "Trinidad and Tobago 2011 population and housing census demographic report" (PDF). Central Statistical Office. 30 November 2012. p. 94. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 October 2017. Retrieved 5 March 2016.
- 1 2 "The Bahamas — The World Factbook". CIA. 12 December 2025. Archived from the original on 10 January 2021.
- 1 2 "Barbados — The World Factbook". CIA. 11 December 2025. Archived from the original on 9 January 2021.
- 1 2 Mazzeo, Mario (7 March 2021). La población Afro-uruguaya en el Censo 2011 (in Spanish). Ediciones Trilce. ISBN 978-9974-32-625-5.
- 1 2 "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 July 2011. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - 1 2 "Censusstatistieken 2012" (PDF). Algemeen Bureau voor de Statistiek in Suriname (General Statistics Bureau of Suriname). p. 76. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
- 1 2 "Honduras — The World Factbook". CIA. 17 December 2025. Archived from the original on 11 January 2021.
- 1 2 "Honduras - XVII Censo de Población y VI de Vivienda 2013". Instituto Nacional de Estadística de Honduras. Archived from the original on 25 February 2021.
- ↑ Perfil, Redacción (28 March 2015). "Los afro- argentinos y el racismo que perdura". Perfil.com.
- ↑ "Cuadro P42. Total del país. Población afrodescendiente en viviendas particulares por sexo, según grupo de edad. Año 2010" [Table P42. Total for the country. African-descendant population in private households by sex, according to age group, 2010]. INDEC (in Spanish). Archived from the original (XLS) on 29 October 2013.
- ↑ "Cuadro P43. Total del país. Población afrodescendiente en viviendas particulares por sexo, según lugar de nacimiento. Año 2010" [Table P43. Total for the country. African-descendant population in private homes by sex, according to place of birth, 2010]. INDEC (in Spanish). Archived from the original (XLS) on 18 April 2014.
- 1 2 "Saint Lucia — The World Factbook". CIA. Archived from the original on 12 January 2026.
- 1 2 "Belize — The World Factbook". CIA. 12 December 2025. Archived from the original on 9 January 2021.
- ↑ Daniel, G. Reginald. Race and Multiraciality in Brazil and the United States: Converging Paths?. University Park, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania State University Press. 2006. ISBN 0-271-02883-1
- ↑ Goldstein, Bonnie (30 July 2012). "Obama descended from slave ancestor". The Washington Post. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
- ↑ "CIA - The World Factbook -- French Guiana". CIA. Archived from the original on 23 December 2012. Retrieved 13 October 2013.
- ↑ Bethel, Camille (February 2013). "Census: Mixed population on the rise | Trinidad Express Newspaper | News". Trinidadexpress.com. Archived from the original on 4 November 2013. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
- ↑ "Grupos étnicos información técnica". dane.gov.co. Archived from the original on 8 April 2020. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
- ↑ "Costa Rica". The World Factbook. Langley, Virginia: Central Intelligence Agency. 2011. Archived from the original on 11 January 2021. Retrieved 4 October 2011.
- ↑ "Censo 2022". INDEC. Retrieved 8 March 2024.
- ↑ "Race and Ethnicity in the United States". United States Census Bureau. 12 August 2021. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
- ↑ "Panorama do Censo 2022". Panorama do Censo 2022 (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 7 August 2024.
- ↑ "Características de la Población – Censo 2012" [Population Characteristics – 2012 Census] (PDF) (in Spanish). Instituto Nacional de Estadística. p. 103. Archived (PDF) from the original on 30 April 2021. Retrieved 30 April 2021.
- ↑ "visibilización estadística de los grupos étnicos". Censo General 2018. Departamento Administrativo Nacional de Estadistica (DANE). Retrieved 10 February 2020.