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African diaspora

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A poster of "African Reparation, Reconciliation and Restoration Conference"

The African diaspora is the diaspora created by the movements and cultures of Africans and their descendants throughout the world, to places such as the Americas, (including the United States, Canada, the Caribbean, Central America, and South America) Europe and Asia. Much of the African diaspora is descended from people who were enslaved and shipped to the Americas during the Atlantic slave trade, with the largest population living in Brazil (see Afro-Brazilian).

History

Dispersal through slavery

See also: Atlantic Slave Trade and Arab Slave Trade

Much of the African diaspora was dispersed throughout Europe, Asia, and the Americas because of both the Atlantic and Arab Slave Trades. Beginning in the 9th century, African slaves were taken from the northern and eastern portions of the continent. Then beginning in the 15th century Europeans, and later Americans, took slaves from much of the rest of the continent, especially West Africa. These slaves were dispersed all over the world. Those taken by the Arab slave trade often ended up in the Middle East while those taken by the Atlantic slave trade often ended up in Brazil or the United States. Both the Atlantic and the Arab slave trades lasted until the 19th century.[1]

Dispersal through immigration

From the very onset of Spanish activity in the Americas, Africans were present both as voluntary expeditionaries and as involuntary colonists.[2] [3] Juan Garrido was one such black conquistador. He crossed the atlantic as a freedman in the 1510s and participated in the siege of Tenochtitlan.[4] African immigration has become the primary force in the modern diaspora. It is estimated that the current population of recent African immigrants to the United States alone is over 600,000.[5]. Countries with the most immigrants to the U.S. are Nigeria, Ghana, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Egypt, Somalia, and South Africa. Some of them came from Angola, Cape Verde, Mozambique(see Luso American), Equatorial Guinea, Kenya, and Cameroon. Africans typically congregate in urban areas, moving to suburban areas over time. There are significant populations of African immigrants in many other countries around the world, including the UK[6] and France.[7][8]

Intra-Africa

Paul Tiyambe Zeleza writes that often diaspora studies focus too much on the Atlantic slave trade. He describes the four dominant dimensions of the global African diasporas: the intra-Africa, Indian Ocean, Mediterranean, and Atlantic diasporas.[9] The intra-Africa diaspora concerns itself with the movement of people between the nations of Africa. It is still an emerging area of research for Western scholars.

Indian Ocean

More broadly, the African diaspora comprises the descendants of the indigenous peoples of Africa, wherever they are in the world outside Africa itself. Pan-Africanists also consider other Africoid peoples as diasporic African peoples. These groups include, among others, the Malay Peninsula (Orang Asli),[10] New Guinea,[11], Andamanese, certain peoples of the Indian subcontinent,[12][13] notably Dravidians such as Tamils, and the aboriginal peoples of Melanesia and Micronesia.[14]

Definitions

See also: Black people

The African Union has defined the African diaspora as "[consisting] of people of African origin living outside the continent, irrespective of their citizenship and nationality and who are willing to contribute to the development of the continent and the building of the African Union." Its constitutive act declares that it shall "invite and encourage the full participation of the African Diaspora as an important part of our Continent, in the building of the African Union."

Most societies that apply the "black" label on the basis of a person's ancestry justify it as to applying to members of the African diaspora.[citation needed] Between 1500 and 1900, approximately four million enslaved African were transported to island plantations in the Indian Ocean, about eight million were shipped to Mediterranean-area countries, and about eleven million survived the Middle Passage to the New World.[15] Their descendants are now found around the globe. Due to intermarriage and genetic assimilation, just who is a descendant of the African diaspora is not entirely self-evident.

A few examples of populations who are seen as "Black" or who see themselves as "Black" because they descend from native Africans are: African Americans, many Latin Americans, and most residents of the Republic of South Africa (basically those with "obvious" African features).

African Americans — (see description above) or visit African American.

Afro-Latin Americans — Among the Afro-Latin American populations in South and Central America there are populations that identify as negros. Some with high levels of admixture as well.

Afro-Arabs — Various people of the Middle East whose ancestors were brought during the Arab slave trade period.[16]

Siddis — Black people of African descent in Pakistan and India. Many share the similar name "Saeed" (Sheedis, Shudra, and Siddi).

Destinations

North America

British North America imported only about 500,000 Africans out of the 11 million shipped across the Atlantic.[17] Nevertheless, the United States has preserved two distinct genetic population groups: one of mostly African ancestry, the other overwhelmingly European.[18] Many New World states (except Canada) that enslaved African people, have unimodal Afro-European genetic admixture scatter diagrams.

A wide variety of recent studies target natural population admixture in the United States as a way to uncover disease susceptibility genes, based on the observation that genetic risks for certain diseases appear to vary between populations of different genetic ancestry, including risk for type 2 diabetes, propensity for nephropathy and systemic lupus erythematosus.[18][19] Researchers from the Departments of Biological Chemistry and Medicine, University of California at Davis, National Human Genome Center at Howard University, and R.S. Cooper Preventive Medicine and Epidemiology, Loyola University, state in a recent study that there is "compelling evidence that the African contribution to individual African American subjects can be accurately analyzed with a set of obtainable markers that distinguish between European and African ancestry, [and] for the majority of markers, the African populations are more nearly fixed for one allele than the European American population".[18]

Various follow-up studies, including a study performed by the National Human Genome Center, Howard University; the Department of Anthropology, Penn State University; the Department of Epidemiology and Population Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine; and the Department of Environmental Health, University of Cincinnati, have shown that the average admixture of African Americans is higher than that of African Caribbeans in the former British Colonies in the Caribbean. For African Caribbeans, the average European ancestry is 10 percent and for African Americans, it is approximately 18 percent. An exception is the Gullah population from South Carolina and Georgia, where the European admixture is very low.[20] The genetic data collected for this study also indicate African and native American admixture in the European American sample, however, as noted in other studies of European American populations, the non-European admixture is low in European Americans, in this case the result showed it to be less than 5 percent.[20]

U.S. Bureau of the Census categorizes the population by race based on self-identification.[21] The census surveys have no provision for a "multiracial" or "biracial" self-identity, but since 2000, it is possible to check off more than one box. The EEOC has strict regulations defining who is black or white and implicitly denies the existence of mixed people.

Latin America

At an intermediate level, in Latin America and in the former plantations in and around the Indian Ocean, descendants of enslaved people are a bit harder to define because many people are mixed in demographic proportion to the original slave population. In places that imported relatively few slaves (like Argentina), few if any are considered Black today.[22] In places that imported many enslaved people (like Aruba or Puerto Rico), the number is larger, but all are still of mixed ancestry.[23]

Europe

Main article: Afro-European

Most of the presence of people of African descent living in Europe is not due to slave trade, but to recent immigration.[citation needed] There are about 1.2 million British Afro-Caribbeans, a group largely attributable to immigration from the British West Indies after World War II. France has about 12 million residents of African descent, largely from Algeria (between 4 and 6 million) and the Magreb generally (around 8 million),[24] the Netherlands ca. 700,000, and Germany ca. 300,000. Altogether, the European population with African ancestry is estimated to more than 5 million.

Estimated population and distribution

Continent / Country Country population Afro-descendants [25]population
Caribbean 31,475,027.00 87.4% 28,646,333.58
Haiti 8,608,504.00 95.00% 8,308,504.00
Jamaica[26] 2,758,124.00 89.20% 2,708,477.77
Dominican Republic 9,183,984.00 84.00% 7,714,546.56
Trinidad and Tobago 1,065,842.00 58.00% 618,188.36
Guyana 767,245.00 36.00% 276,208.20
Suriname 439,117.00 41.00% 180,037.97
The Bahamas[27] 303,770.00 85.00% 258,204.50
Belize 287,730.00 31.00% 89,196.30
Barbados 279,912.00 90.00% 251,920.80
Netherlands Antilles 221,736.00 85.00% 188,475.60
French Guiana 199,509.00 66.00% 131,675.94
Saint Lucia 168,458.00 90.00% 151,612.20
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 117,848.00 85.00%

100,170.80

Virgin Islands 108,605.00 79.70% 86,558.19
Grenada 89,703.00 95.00% 85,217.85
Bermuda 65,773.00 61.20% 40,253.08
Cayman Islands 45,436.00 60.00% 27,261.60
Saint Kitts and Nevis 39,129.00 90.00%

39,129.00

Cuba 11,382,820.00 34.66% 3.905,807
British Virgin Islands 23,098.00 83.00% 19,171.34
Puerto Rico 3,927,188.00 8.00% 314,175.04
Europe 190,856,462.00 2.1% 4,017,583.06
United Kingdom 60,609,153.00 2.9% (inc. partial) 2,015,400.00
France[28][29] 62,752,136.00 3.0% 1,900,000.00
Spain 40,397,842.00 1.3% 505,400.00
Netherlands[30] 16,491,461.00 1.8% 300,000.00
Portugal 10,605,870.00 0.9% 100,000.00
South America/Central America 319,038,336 35.3% 112,645,204.92
Brazil 188,078,227.00 44.70% 84,070,967.47
Colombia 43,593,035.00 21.00% 9,154,537.35
Venezuela[31] 25,730,435.00 10.00% 2,573,043.50
Ecuador 13,547,510.00 3.00% 406,425.30
Honduras 7,326,496.00 2.00% 146,529.92
Nicaragua 5,570,129.00 9.00% 501,311.61
Costa Rica 4,075,261.00 3.00% 122,257.83
Panama 3,191,319.00 14.00% 446,784.66
Uruguay 3,431,932.00 4.00% 137,277.28
North America 440,244,038 11.8% 39,264,513.74
United States[32] 298,444,215.00 12.90% 38,499,303.74
Canada[33] 33,098,932.00 2% 662,210
Mexico 108,700,891.00 <1.00% 103,000
Sub-Saharan Africa 760,000,000 99% 767,000,000
Outside Africa 5,821,000,000 2.9% 168,879,165.2
Total 6,581,000,000 14.2% 936,384,565.20

Note that population statistics from different sources and countries use highly divergent methods of rating the "race", ethnicity, or national or genetic origin of individuals, from observing for color and racial characteristics, to asking the person to choose from a set of pre-defined choices, sometimes with an Other category, and sometimes with an open-ended option, and sometimes not, which different national populations tend to choose in divergent ways. Color and visual characteristics were considered an invalid way to determine the genetic "racial" branch in anthopology (the field of science that original conceived of "race", as a genetic branch of people who could have a relative success together compared with other branches, now considered invalid) as of 1910.

Top 10 African Diaspora populations

Country Population Rank
Brazil 84,070,967 1
United States 38,499,303 2
Colombia 9,154,537 3
Haiti 8,308,504 4
Dominican Republic 7,714,546 5
Cuba 3.905,807 6
Venezuela 2,573,043 7
Jamaica 2,708,477 8
United Kingdom 2,015,400 9
France 1,900,000 10

The Americas

  • African Americans - There are an estimated 40 million people of African descent in the US. Note that this figure (here, and in the chart, above) directly conflicts with information in this same article that says that 30% of US people have genetic content from the [post 1400] African diaspora.
  • Afro-Latin American- There are an estimated 100 million people of African descent living in Latin America, making up 45 % of Brazil's population.[34] There are also sizeable African populations in Cuba, Haiti, Colombia, Dominican Republic and Venezuela.
  • The population in the Caribbean is approximately 31 million. Significant numbers of African-descended people include Haiti- 8 million, Cuba- 3.8 million, Dominican Republic- 3.3 million, Jamaica - 2.5 million,[35]

Canada

Main article: African Canadian

Much of the earliest black presence in Canada came from the United States, comprising former slaves who escaped along the Underground Railroad to locations in Nova Scotia and Southwestern Ontario.[citation needed] Slavery had begun to be outlawed in British North America as early as 1793. Later black immigration to Canada came primarily from the Caribbean, in such numbers that fully 70 per cent of all blacks now in Canada are of Caribbean origin.

As a result of the prominence of Caribbean immigration, the term "African Canadian", while sometimes used to refer to the minority of Canadian blacks who have direct African or African American heritage, is not normally used to denote all black Canadians. Blacks of Caribbean origin may be denoted as "Caribbean Canadian" or "Afro-Caribbean Canadian", but there remains no widely used alternative to "Black Canadian" which is considered inclusive of both the African Canadian and Caribbean Canadian communities.

Europe

Main article: Afro-European

United Kingdom

2.0 million (inc. British Mixed) split evenly between African-Caribbeans and Africans, see also Black British. Cities with notable Afro-Caribbean populations

France

5 million of Sub-Saharan African descent[36].

Netherlands

300, 000 of Surinamese descent.

Russia

While there may have been black people in Russia early on[37] the first blacks in Russia was the result of slave trade by the Ottoman empire[38] and their descendants still live on the coasts of the Black Sea. Czar Peter the Great was recommended by his friend Lefort to bring in Africans to Russia for hard labor. Alexander Pushkin was the descendant of the African slave Abram Petrovich Gannibal, who became Peter's protege, was educated as a military engineer in France, and eventually became general-en-chef, responsible for the building of sea forts and canals in Russia.

During the 1930s fifteen Black American families moved to the Soviet Union as agricultural experts.[39]As African states became independent in the 1960s, the Soviet Union offered them the chance to study in Russia; over 40 years, 400,000 African students came, and many settled there.[40][41]

Note that there are also non-African people within the former Soviet Union who are colloquially referred to as "the blacks" (chernye), and often face social discrimination. Gypsies, Georgians, and Tatars fall into this category [42].

See also Racism in Russia.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Historical survey > The international slave trade". Slavery. Encyclopedia Britanica. 2007. Retrieved 2007-09-30.
  2. ^ Warren, Benedict (1985). The Conquest of Michoacán. University of Oklahoma Press.
  3. ^ Krippner-Martínez, James (October 1990). "The Politics of Conquest: An Interpretation of the Relación de Michoacán". The Americas. 47 (2): 177–198. doi:10.2307/1007371.
  4. ^ Africana: The Encyclopedia of the African and African American Experience. p. 327. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  5. ^ {{cite web |url=http://mumford1.dyndns.org/cen2000/BlackWhite/BlackDiversityReport/black-diversity03.htm |title=Diversity in Black and White
  6. ^ Mensah, John Freelove. Persons Granted British Citizenship United Kingdom, 2006. Home Office Statistical Bulletin 08/07, 22 May 2007. Retrieved 4 November 2007.
  7. ^ Thomas, Dominic (2006). Black France: Colonialism, Immigration, And Transnationalism. Indiana University Press, 2006, ISBN 0253348218.
  8. ^ Tattersall, Nick. Africans denounce French DNA immigration bill. Reuters Africa, 5 October 2007. Retrieved 4 November 2007.
  9. ^ Rewriting the African diaspora: Beyond the Black Atlantic Paul Tiyambe Zeleza African Affairs 2005 104(414):35-68; doi:10.1093/afraf/adi001
  10. ^ Runoko Rashidi (2000-11-04). "Black People in the Philippines". Retrieved 2007-09-29. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  11. ^ "West Papua New Guinea: Interview with Foreign Minister Ben Tanggahma". 2007-07-25. Retrieved 20007-09-29. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  12. ^ Iniyan Elango (2002-08-08). "Notes from a Brother in India: History and Heritage". Retrieved 2007-09-29. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  13. ^ Horen Tudu (2002-08-08). "The Blacks of East Bengal: A Native's Perspective". Retrieved 2007-09-29. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  14. ^ Runoko Rashidi (1999-11-19). "Blacks in the Pacific". Retrieved 20007-09-29. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  15. ^ "Reconsidering Trauma, Identity, and the African Diaspora: Enslavement and Historical Memory in Nineteenth-Century Highland Madagascar" (PDF). William and Mary Quarterly. 56 (2): 335-62. 1999. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |firstname= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |lastname= ignored (help)
  16. ^ A Legacy Hidden in Plain Sight (washingtonpost.com)
  17. ^ Hugh Thomas, The Slave Trade: The Story of the Atlantic Slave Trade: 1440-1870 (New York, 1997), 793, 804-5.
  18. ^ a b c Collins-Schramm, Heather E., Rick A. Kittles et al. (2002). "Markers that discriminate between European and African ancestry show limited variation within Africa". Human Genetics 2002:111, pp. 566, 568-569.
  19. ^ Zager, Philip G., William C. Knowler and Barry I. Freedman (2003). "Genetic Determinants of Diabetic Nephropathy: The Family Investigation of Nephropathy and Diabetes (FIND)". J Am Soc Nephrol 14:S202-S204, 2003. Retrieved 6 November 2007.
  20. ^ a b Shriver, Mark D. et al. (2003). "Skin Pigmentation, Biogeographical Ancestry, and Admixture Mapping," Human Genetics, 2003:112, p. 395. (Abstract).
  21. ^ U.S. Census Bureau. State & County QuickFacts. Retrieved 6 November 2007.
  22. ^ Harry Hoetink, Caribbean Race Relations: A Study of Two Variants (Lon-don, 1971), xii.
  23. ^ Clara E. Rodriguez, "Challenging Racial Hegemony: Puerto Ricans in the United States," in Race, ed. Steven Gregory and Roger Sanjek (New Brunswick NJ, 1994), 131-45, 137. See also Frederick P. Bowser, "Colonial Spanish America," in Neither Slave Nor Free: The Freedmen of African Descent in the Slave Societies of the New World, ed. David W. Cohen and Jack P. Greene (Baltimore, 1972), 19-58, 38.
  24. ^ in French
  25. ^ https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/index.html
  26. ^ https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/jm.html%7C-People
  27. ^ https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/bf.html%7C-People
  28. ^ http://paceebene.org/pace/nvns/nonviolence-news-service-archive/in-officially-colorblind-f
  29. ^ http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070205.wxfrance05/BNStory/International/home
  30. ^ http://www.cbs.nl/NR/rdonlyres/2DAFB377-8622-4A6F-9700-8E93EB8EDD61/0/pb01e067.pdf
  31. ^ http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/profiles/Venezuela.pdf
  32. ^ https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/us.html
  33. ^ http://www40.statcan.ca/l01/cst01/demo52a.htm
  34. ^ https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/br.html cia factbook
  35. ^ http://www.un.org/esa/population/publications/WPP2004/World_Population_2004_chart.pdf
  36. ^ 1/4 of the French Black population comes from the Caribbean islands. in French
  37. ^ Black colchians black russians yes they exist
  38. ^ Лили Голден и Лили Диксон. Телепроект "Черные русские": синопсис. Info on "Black Russians" film project in English
  39. ^ A New York Times review of family memoir entitled Three Very Rare Generations
  40. ^ MediaRights: Film: Black Russians
  41. ^ Лили Голден и Лили Диксон. Телепроект "Черные русские": синопсис. Info on "Black Russians" film project in English
  42. ^ The Unmaking of Soviet Life: Everyday Economies After Socialism By Caroline Humphrey Cornell University 2002 p36-37

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