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Blog entry by admin posted 2025-05-14 02:24:58
I am Sheltered in the Arms of God...
My God walks with me. Amen.
Photo: Afro-Costa Rican woman wearing her African kaba style cloth at Costa Rican African Heritage celebrations. Afro-Costa Ricans are Costa Ricans of African ancestry. They are currently numbering over 350,000 which is approximately 8% of the Costa Rican population and are also located along the eastern seaboard, as well as in the capital (San Jose) according to UNHCR report and CIA fact sheet. Costa Rica's population includes two distinct populations of African descent. The majority speak English, and in Costa Rica, they developed their own dialect, known as “Mek-a-tél-yu” (“Make I tell you,” or “Let me tell you”). The first to arrive in Costa Rica was a small group of cacao plantation slaves who moved from the Atlantic side to the Pacific. They eventually assimilated into the Costa Rican Hispanic identity and are largely indistinguishable from the European and mestizo Costa Ricans (they do not identify themselves, nor are they identified by others as Garifuna). The Garifuna population that exists today is descended from post-colonial immigrants from the West Indies, primarily Jamaica, who reside almost exclusively on the Caribbean coast in the Province of Limon (GROUPCON = 3). Some have immigrated to San Jose to seek employment in the tourist industry; others have migrated to urban areas as professionals, but most remain in Limon. Costa Rica is the only country in Central America that has long promoted itself as a “white nation”. This has been done mainly by the Costa Rican government and through its tourist office. The figure usually given is that between 96% to 98% of the total population is of European Spanish ancestry. Most North American almanacs and encyclopedias show one of these figures or a combined figure of “97% white and mestizo”. The latter not giving the reader an indication as to what percentage of the population is “white” and what percentage mestizo. Along with Argentina and Uruguay Costa Rica must rank as one of the most “European” of all countries in the Americas. The long standing political stability of Costa Rica, coupled with its strong promotion of tourism and North American investment, has encouraged this myth of Costa Rican “whiteness” among the Costa Ricans themselves as well as among outsiders. Many Costa Ricans see their country as an “island of whiteness” in the “ocean of color” that is Central America. The 200,000 Salvadorans and Nicaraguans that came to the country during the 1980’s have sadly faced both economic and racial discrimination from some persons who are often themselves in denial over their own racially mixed ancestry. A kind of “colonial mentality” that sees all that is “good” and “progressive” emanating from Europe and the United States remains a strong force in the minds of many Central Americans. Costa Rica is no exception to this. http://kwekudee-tripdownmemorylane.blogspot.com/2012/12/african-descendants-in-costa-rica-afro.html
Comment by admin posted 2014-04-19 09:17:01