Mexico has finally acknowledged the more than one million Afro-Mexicans who live and work in the Latin country.

In its latest population census, Mexico accounted for 1.38 million people of African ancestry which represents 1.2 percent of the whole population.

This development is being hailed as a significant step towards curtailing the rampant racism against blacks in the country and in neighboring South American nations. It can be recalled that Mexico used to exclude its black population from its constitution.

This means that people with African ancestry in the country often don’t get the same resources and allocations afforded to the majority. For more than 15 years, the black community in the nation has fought for formal and official recognition.

Mexico’s black population are concentrated in the coastal states of Oaxaca, Veracruz, and Guerrero. Numerous social studies have shown that these communities are usually less educated and have higher rates of poverty compared to the rest of the country.

This is mostly because they don’t get the same treatment as far as government allocations are concerned in comparison to the general population. However, now that the country’s black communities are now officially recognized in the census, there’s reason to believe that change is coming.

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