The promises and limits of Bolivia’s anti-racism law for Afro-Bolivians: tundiqui, the National Afro-Bolivian Council, and the battle against blackface

ABSTRACT

In 2009, Bolivia ratified a new constitution that reinforced the centrality of multiculturalism in the nation. In it, Afrodescendants were for the first time specifically mentioned as part of the Bolivian population, and an anti-discriminatory stance was made explicit throughout. In fulfillment of the constitutional mandate, the Bolivian government ratified Law No. 045 Against Racism and All Forms of Discrimination in 2010. This study examines the origins and components of Law No. 045 and describes Afro-Bolivian efforts to apply it against racist elements of a popular folk expression known as tundiqui. In 2014, the National Afro-Bolivian Council (CONAFRO) submitted a formal complaint against tundiqui to the National Committee against Racism and all Forms of Discrimination, the entity tasked with implementing Law No. 045. Focusing on the Committee’s subsequent series of meetings and resolutions, the discussion highlights the potential and limits of the application of Law No. 045, both in relation to tundiqui and more broadly.

KEYWORDS:

• Afro-Bolivians
• Bolivia
• discrimination
• law against racism
• racism

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. See the article by Igreja and Ferreira in this issue for the deployment of a similar argument in the Brazilian context.

2. In addition to hearing about verbal aggressions during numerous conversations and interviews I have conducted with Afro-Bolivians from 1998 to the present, they are also mentioned in the 2010 CERD Civil Society Report alongside other kinds of acts of discrimination and racism faced by the Afro-Bolivian population; see Informe de la Sociedad Civil Boliviana al Comité para la Eliminación de la Discriminación Racial de Naciones Unidas – CERD (United Nations General Assembly 2009).

3. The panel was entitled ‘No Bailarás Tundiqui: Estereotipo y Censura en el Régimen Plurinacional’ and the Bolivian anthropologists sitting on it all defended the dance. No Afro-Bolivian had been informed of, or invited to the panel by organizers, but several were present (having been informed about it by the author): they argued against tundiqui’s racist elements.

4. Sigl and Mendoza Salazar (2012) describe the contested nature of tundiqui, while Cavour Aramayo (1994) and Paredes (1970) present the popular explanation of it as being an indigenous and mestizo imitation of Afro-Bolivians.

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Sara Busdiecker

Sara Busdiecker is Associate Professor of International Studies and Co-Director of African Diaspora Studies at Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia. She holds a Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of Michigan. Her research and publications focus on the contemporary Afro-descendant populations of Bolivia and Chile with an emphasis on the intersections of collective organizing, performance, representation, space/place, and identity.