Post-abolition states deliberately decimated freed black populations, especially in Argentina

Evidence

Some might argue that these differences have to do with the fact that societies abolishing slavery significantly later left considerably more time for importation of African slaves, their reproduction and resultant sexual exploitation upon arrival, and so the higher proportions are to be expected. But while part of an explanation, this is less than compelling, revealing just one side of the story. For one, slave trading was outlawed for the most part decades earlier than slave abolition outright, especially in the latter cluster of countries. More significant though is the substantial evidence that freed black populations in countries like Argentina were selfconsciously wiped out. The African or African-descended population there just prior to abolition was close to or more than half (depending on the source). Argentinean rulers made a deliberate decision to decimate blacks in the population, largely by having them serve on the front lines of devastating mid-century wars with its neighbors. Today, the black percentage of Argentina’s population is effectively zero. The experiences in Chile and Mexico, while perhaps not quite as vicious, are comparable. — David Theo Goldberg, The Threat of Race, 1074

Categorization

• XREF: State-directed demographic engineering as identity threat response; Argentine elites deployed blacks into war fronts as a whitening strategy. Replicates the threatened-privilege mechanism operating through state policy rather than private violence. — connects to: Earlier abolition correlates with smaller African-descended populations today in Latin America — David Theo Goldberg, The Threat of Race: Reflections on…, 1071; Post-emancipation labor systems trapped former slaves by law and poverty.; Post-enslavement black people faced total inescapable white supremacy

Broader Connections

• Post-enslavement black people faced total inescapable white supremacy #corroborates (0.80)
• Post-emancipation labor systems trapped former slaves by law and poverty. #expands (0.78)
• Earlier abolition correlates with smaller African-descended populations today in Latin America #corroborates (0.75) — David Theo Goldberg, The Threat of Race, 1071