What Is Controversial about the History of Afro-Descendants in Uruguay?

Uruguay is often referred to as one of the most European countries in South America, second only to Argentina. Its black population long since pushed aside and ignored, despite having been integral in laying the foundations for the Uruguay we know today. The exact percentage of the Uruguayan population with African heritage is unknown due to numerous factors, the most obvious being the lack of both consistent censuses of the population, and consistent wording in the few censuses taken.

The only racial data taken by the Uruguayan government was in 1852, 1884 (in Montevideo only), 1996, 2006, and 2011. Due to the inconsistent wording of their questions and changes in terminology, the data itself is unreliable. However, other conclusions can be drawn from the censuses, such as “the changes in self-identification” of the people registering for them (Andrews, Blackness in a White Nation 11). Between the 1996 and 2006 surveys, self-identification as negro (black), mestizo (mixed white and indigenous ancestry)/indigenous, and mixed black and white ancestry, all increased dramatically (1% to 2%, 0.4% to 2.9%, 5% to 6.3%, respectively) (11). By 2011, the percentage of people identifying their African ancestry increased yet again. According to the census in 2011, 8.1% of the population stated they had some Afro or negra ancestry, while 4.8% claimed their principal ancestry was Afro or negra (El Censo 2011 15). The indigenous population percentage also rose, with 5.1% of participants claiming some form of indigenous heritage, while 2.4% stated their primary ancestry was indigenous (15). As always, it must be taken into account that in a census people are reporting their own answers about how they identify themselves, so the numbers will never be one hundred percent accurate. However, it is encouraging to see that the number of people self-identifying their African ancestry is steadily rising.

The lack of exact data about Afro-Uruguayans is not alone in making their history controversial. Since Africans were first brought to the American continent, legislation has been passed time and again limiting the rights of Afro-descendants, despite their being instrumental in Uruguay gaining independence. The ‘whitening policy’ (blanqueamiento) which focused on the recruitment of white immigrants from Europe and an immigration ban on black migrants only served to widen the gap between the races, a gap which is still evident today (Andrews 8). When legislation has been written on behalf of Afro-Uruguayans, the implementation has often been slow and many of the laws have gone unenforced.

In Afro-Uruguayan Literature, Marvin A. Lewis concisely states the struggle of Afro-Uruguayans: “Afro-Uruguayans are caught in the double bind of trying to maintain a sense of ethnic identity while participating in the national culture as equals” (151-2). Both are monumental tasks, as their ethnic identity and history are almost always left out of textbooks and references in Uruguay, and the class disparity between Afro-Uruguayans and whites is still today anything but equal (Chirimini 256).