Did you know that around 1.2% of Mexico’s population are said to be black Mexican! That’s a huge amount, around 1.38 million in fact.

Until now this section of society has not been officially recognised but after years and years of campaigning and hard work Mexico has finally taken the steps to do so.

Mexico has only previously acknowledged “mestizaje,” which was people of Spanish descent and natives only. Despite a very large afro-mexican heritage.

Kulture Kritic (http://bit.ly/1NXRLyr) wrote:

Mexico and Chile remained as the only Latin American countries that still didn’t recognize Blacks. Mexico Negro, a human rights advocacy group, has been relentlessly campaigning for the official recognition of the Mexican Black population in the national census to see more resources allocated to Afro-Mexicans and that “the Mexican state pays off its historical debt with Afro Mexicans.” The fight has been ongoing for more than a decade.

and

In general, Blacks in Latin America have been feeling the heat of racism. There is an approximated 150 million people of African descent in Latin America, representing 30% of the region’s population, according to a United Nations report.

Still, Afrodescendants in these countries remain unrecognized economically or otherwise, but there is hope that as they continue to fight for their rights, a lot more will be achieved. The recognition of Afro-Mexicans is just one step towards that goal.