Situating the 2012 Election in a Broader African Diaspora

Abstract

Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork, this article analyzes Obama's significance for the African Diaspora in Colombia. I argue that for Afro-Colombians, Obama's election brought an unprecedented sense of collective pride. However, after four years of the Obama administration, many Afro-Colombian activists have begun to evaluate the impact of the Obama administration's foreign policy toward Colombia. I suggest that in order to understand Obama's significance for a broader African Diaspora, we must analyze both his symbolic importance and the material consequences of his administration's policies.

Keywords:

• African Diaspora
• Afro-Colombian activists
• black solidarity
• Colombia
• Obama

Notes

It is important to note that a number of countries in Latin America have had presidents of some African descent, among them Vicente Guerrero in Mexico, Juan José Nieto in Colombia, and Luis Miguel Sánchez Cerro in Peru. However, none of them are typically recognized as such in their respective countries.

Traditional Afro-Colombian music from this region.

Interview with Mariluz Chaverra of the Organization of Popular Neighborhoods, Quibdó, Chocó, Colombia, March 11, 2009.

Interview with Padre Emigdio, February 17, 2009.

In the 2011 election, Cartagena did elect its first black mayor, Campo Elías Terán. In this way, Perez's idea that Obama's election would have an impact on local elections in Colombia may have proven true.

Interview with Nausitare Pérez, October 21, 2008.

The Constitutional Court of Colombia later found that Acción Social was in violation of the 1991 Constitution in that they had discriminated systematically against Afro-Colombians. They ordered the agency to create a number of new specific programs to address this concern. See: Constitutional Court Decision 005 of 2009, http://www.corteconstitucional.gov.co

Speech by Barack Obama, Congressional Record, April 24, 2005, http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CREC-2005-04-04/html/CREC-2005-04-04-pt1-PgS3133.htm (accessed on September 11, 2012)

Interview with Bogotá City Councilman Laureano García, November 9, 2008.

See debate with Republican presidential candidate John McCain October 15, 2008 and later in a follow-up television appearance on CNN on October 16, 2008.

“Obama Poised to Give Presidential Seal of Approval to Gross Labor Rights Violations in Colombia,” Washington Office on Latin America, April 10, 2012.

“Los Principales Indicadores Sociodemográficos de la comunidad afrocolombiana e indígena a partir de la información del censo general 2005.” Departamento Administrativo Nacional de Estadística.

“Obama Poised to Give Presidential Seal of Approval.”

I am thinking here about the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (2009) and the Affordable Care Act (2010).

While the Obama administration did make several statements against the ousting of democratically elected leftist president Zelaya in Honduras in 2009, they supported and maintained relations with the military government that illegitimately took power.