After Brazil and the United States, Colombia has the third-largest
population of African-descended peoples in the Western hemisphere. Yet
the country is commonly viewed as a nation of Andeans, whites, and
mestizos (peoples of mixed Spanish and indigenous Indian ancestry).
Aline Helg examines the historical roots of Colombia's treatment and
neglect of its Afro-Caribbean identity within the comparative
perspective of the Americas. Concentrating on the Caribbean region, she
explores the role of free and enslaved peoples of full and mixed African
ancestry, elite whites, and Indians in the late colonial period and in
the processes of independence and early nation building.
Why did race not become an organizational category in Caribbean Colombia
as it did in several other societies with significant African-descended
populations? Helg argues that divisions within the lower and upper
classes, silence on the issue of race, and Afro-Colombians' preference
for individual, local, and transient forms of resistance resulted in
particular spheres of popular autonomy but prevented the development of
an Afro-Caribbean identity in the region and a cohesive challenge to
Andean Colombia.
Considering cities such as Cartagena and Santa Marta, the rural
communities along the Magdalena River, and the vast uncontrolled
frontiers, Helg illuminates an understudied Latin American region and
reintegrates Colombia into the history of the Caribbean.
