HOW ARGENTINA RED-CARDED BLACK PEOPLE

Argentina has just won the 2024 Copa America trophy after a one-nil victory over Colombia at a match played at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami.

While the focus should have been on football, many people could not help notice the stark difference in the racial make-up of the two teams. The Colombian side had Black players, while Argentina didn’t have any.

So, why do teams of countries on the same continent look so different? In no small part, it reflects racist policies implemented by Argentina over a century ago.

At one point the country was Blacker than it likes to admit. In 1778, Afro-Argentines formed almost half the population of Argentina. However, anti-Blackness policies succeeded in reducing them to 30% of the population by the time the country gained independence from Spain in 1816. Racial politics and alleged extermination campaigns then saw them steadily wiped out and their rich Black culture erased from the nation’s collective consciousness.

Today, statistics show Afro-Argentines form a paltry 0.4% of Argentina’s total population, making it the Whitest country not just in Latin America but the Whitest outside Europe.

The old saying: ‘Mexicans descend from the Aztecs, Peruvians from the Incas, but Argentinians descend from ships from Europe,’ encapsulates Argentina’s perception of itself as a nation of White Europeans that never had Blacks.

Historically, Black people and their culture were shown the red card. Argentina’s football team is evidence of that.