Racism in Argentina - Racial Terms - Negro Y negra

Negro Y negra

In Spanish, negro literally means "black male" and negra means "black female". Negro and negra are widely used terms in Argentina, across all social classes, including in those classes which are referred to as negro and negra by other social groups. Negro is also one of the most common nicknames, with no offensive meaning.

Paradoxically, the same racist ideology in Argentina that maintains that "there are no negros (of African ancestry) in Argentina" uses the word negro to designate a vaguely defined population made up of workers, poor people, internal migrants, Latin-American immigrants, and natives, without any more distinction.

Víctor Ramos, the president of SOS Internacional, responded in the following manner when asked by a journalist what were the most common manifestations of racism in Argentina:

I would say that the most common form, what we see most frequently, is related to racism against the criollo. That is to say, against those who are also referred to as "cabecita negra" or "morocho". It is frequently said that in Argentina there is no racism because there are no "negros"... but here there is much discrimination against those of dark skin, including against aborigines who have a darker skin color... this occurs in the same manner in all of the provinces of our country.

An example of this type of racism is the response given by a high-level official of the municipality of Escobar to two businessmen who wanted to set up a nightclub next to the rail station:

"I don't want negros here... If I want nightclubs for negros, I'll put them on the outskirts of the city, far away.

There is such close identification between poverty, race, slums and marginalization in Argentina that philosopher José Pablo Feinmann compares these circumstances with the "Muslim question" in France.

In 1996, during a diplomatic trip to the United States, when asked about the Black population of Argentina, President Carlos Menem remarked:

"Black people do not exist in Argentina, Brazil has that problem".

It is also important to note that there is widespread use of the terms negro and negra that has a fraternal meaning totally devoid of discriminatory intention. Between friends and family they are common nicknames. For example, the famous late singer Mercedes Sosa is affectionately known as "Negra Sosa".