The African diaspora in the Americas (Spanish: Afroamericanos) refers to the people born in the Americas with partial, predominant, or complete sub-Saharan African ancestry. Many are descendants of persons enslaved in Africa and transferred to the Americas by Europeans, and whose ethnogenesis occurred in the Americas and were forced to work mostly in European-owned mines and plantations, between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries. Significant groups have been established in the United States (African Americans), in Canada (Black Canadians), in the Caribbean (Afro-Caribbean), and in Latin America (Afro-Latin Americans).
History
After the United States achieved independence, next came the independence of Haiti, a country populated almost entirely by people of African descent and the second American colony to win its independence from European colonial powers. After the process of independence, many countries have encouraged European immigration to America, thus reducing the proportion of black and mulatto population throughout the country: Brazil, the United States, and the Dominican Republic. Miscegenation and more flexible concepts of race have also reduced the overall population identifying as black in Latin America, whereas the one-drop rule in the United States has had the opposite effect.Daniel, G. Reginald. Race and Multiraciality in Brazil and the United States: Converging Paths?. University Park, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania State University Press. 2006.
From 21 to 25 November 1995, the Continental Congress of Black Peoples of the Americas was held. Black people still face discrimination in most parts of the continent. According to David D.E. Ferrari, vice president of the World Bank for the Region of Latin America and the Caribbean, black people have lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality, more frequent and more widespread diseases, higher rates of illiteracy and lower income than Americans of different ethnic origin. Women, also the subjects of gender discrimination, suffer worse living conditions.
On 4 November 2008, the first black U.S. president, Barack Obama, won 52% of the vote. His father was from Kenya and his mother was from Kansas.
Distribution Black population by country Country% Black African% Mixed Black African95%~5%92.5%3%92.4%3.1%92.1%6.1%90.6%2.1% Turks and Caicos87.6%2.5%87.3%4.7%86.2%4.8%85.3%10.9%85.3%3.8%84.7%9%82.4%13.3%76.3%5.4% U.S. Virgin Islands76%2.1% Vincent and the Grenadines71.2%23%52%9%30.2%16.7%34.2%22.8%25.6%6.1%20%40%15.8%70.4%12.4%1.8%10.2%45.3%10%76.7%9.3%26.6%9.34%15.44%7%10.5%6.9%3.7%3.6%51.6%1.1%6.7%
Black population by region according to the censuses Region Percentage Total population Country Year 73.83% 337,696 2018 55.64% 26,873 2018 41.45% 285,810 2020 36.62% 1,084,481 2020 31.43% 1,464,023 2020 Georgia 31.00% 3,320,513 2020 29.47% 1,820,472 2020 25.80% 1,296,162 2020 25.02% 1,280,531 2020 22.38% 3,164,691 2022 22.11% 218,899 2020 20.50% 2,140,217 2020 19.74% 245,362 2018 18.62% 1,607,581 2020 17.45% 233,062 2018 17.09% 647,526 2018 Bolívar 16.73% 319,396 2018 16.16% 2,594,253 2022 15.81% 1,092,948 2020 15.07% 3,246,381 2020 15.07% 453,783 2020 14.78% 2,986,172 2020 14.11% 1,808,271 2020 13.66% 1,376,579 2020 13.19% 199,394 2022 13.13% 1,219,770 2020 12.97% 142,436 2018 12.85% 283,960 2022 12.61% 854,424 2022 12.53% 1,478,781 2020 12.25% 400,662 2022 12.19% 3,552,997 2020 Sucre 11.91% 102,836 2018 11.84% 2,432,877 2022 11.81% 86,662 2022 11.37% 699,840 2020 11.21% 429,680 2022 10.95% 1,423,169 2020 10.78% 388,675 2020 Federal District 10.71% 301,765 2022 10.04% 909,557 2022 9.86% 360,698 2022 9.82% 304,739 2020 9.77% 793,621 2022 9.56% 648,513 2020 9.55% 298,709 2022 9.19% 648,560 2022 9.17% 302,749 2022 8.65% 136,793 2022 8.56% 71,086 2022 8.42% 106,318 2018 8.04% 362,417 2020 7.99% 3,546,562 2022 7.96% 316,572 2022 7.73% 49,195 2022 7.32% 289,961 2020 7.32% 60,475 2018 7.03% 494,029 2020 6.98% 398,434 2020 6.77% 595,694 2022 Córdoba 6.58% 102,495 2018 6.52% 709,837 2022 6.50% 179,101 2022 6.39% 376,356 2020 5.99% 140,142 2018 5.75% 168,809 2020 5.67% 62,168 2020 5.66% 2,237,044 2020 5.22% 312,112 2018 4.91% 193,667 2022 4.92% 96,535 2020 4.74% 339,150 2020 4.24% 485,781 2022 4.20% 10,058 2018 4.14% 131,972 2020 4.10% 2,991 2018 4.07% 234,828 2020 4.07% 309,908 2022 3.99% 307,565 2020 3.67% 65,813 2020 3.62% 10,262 2018 3.44% 26,783 2020 2.99% 21,898 2020 2.17% 45,904 2020 2.01% 17,842 2020 1.99% 16,733 2018 1.95% 82,655 2020 1.87% 25,752 2020 1.61% 23,417 2020 1.61% 6,130 2018 1.59% 14,716 2018 1.46% 20,127 2020 1.41% 5,087 2018 1.40% 9,034 2020 Buenos Aires City 1.31% 40,670 2022 1.22% 40,058 2020 1.18% 6,060 2018 1.13% 22,759 2018 1.04% 460 2018 0.96% 8,836 2018 0.92% 5,232 2020 0.92% 66,934 2018 0.90% 5,302 2020 0.90% 1,658 2022 0.86% 15,726 2020 0.77% 288 2018 0.76% 580 2018 0.74% 10,632 2022 Amazonas 0.74% 486 2018 Buenos Aires 0.74% 128,804 2022 0.74% 9,374 2022 Río Negro 0.73% 5,463 2022 0.73% 2,446 2022 0.71% 5,026 2022 0.69% 5,583 2022 0.63% 8,910 2022 0.52% 6,310 2022 La Rioja 0.51% 1,959 2022 0.51% 5,484 2020 0.50% 5,099 2018 0.49% 2,956 2022 0.48% 18,366 2022 0.48% 1,726 2022 0.48% 5,357 2022 0.47% 13,092 2018 0.47% 16,560 2022 0.46% 1,965 2022 0.42% 7,172 2022 0.42% 5,207 2018 0.40% 5,470 2018 0.40% 8,141 2022 0.40% 4,211 2022 0.38% 4,247 2018 0.38% 11,590 2012 0.35% 1,896 2022 0.30% 2,449 2022 0.23% 312 2024 Santa Cruz 0.21% 6,490 2024 0.20% 973 2024 0.16% 3,127 2024 0.13% 671 2024 0.11% 694 2024 0.10% 857 2024 0.08% 454 2024Source: Censuses of American countries.
Languages Dialects are linguistic varieties that may differ in pronunciation, vocabulary, spelling, and other aspects of grammar. The African diaspora in the Americas has been subject to various colonial languages. A list of languages spoken by or developed in the Amer-Afro diaspora is provided below.
Varieties of colonial and national languages
American English American French: Louisiana Brazilian Portuguese Nordeste: Nordestino, Costa Norte, Recifence, Bainao Sudeste: Caipira, Mineiro Fluminense / Cariocapt Caribbean English Antiguan and Barbudan English Bahamian English Bajan English Belizean English Bermudian English Cayman Islands English Jamaican English Trinidad and Tobago English Saban English San Nicolaas English Puerto Rican English Caribbean French Saint-Barthélemy French or Patois Saint-Barth Haitian French or Haitian Creole Martinican French or Martinican Creole Caribbean Spanish Puerto Rican Spanish Dominican Spanish Venezuelan Spanish Panamanian Spanish Cuban Spanish Central American Spanish Honduran Spanish Nicaraguan Spanish Colombian Spanish: Sabanero, Antioqueño, Chocoano, Vallecaucan, Tumaqueño, Nariñese Mexican Spanish: Costeño Rioplatense Spanish Venezuelan Spanish: Caraqueño, el Guaro, el Caroreño, Margariteño
Maroon languages, creoles, and ethno-cultural dialects
Arawakan Garifuna Tainonaíki
Portuguese-based Cafundó Papiamento Manhattan Creole Portuguese
Spanish-based Bozal Spanish † Palenquero
Dutch-based Berbice Creole Dutch † Skepi Creole Dutch † Black Dutch or Negerduits † Negerhollands †
Caribbean Creole French Haitian Creole or Kreyòl Louisiana Creole or Kouri-Vini Mon Louis Island Creole French Guianese Creole or Kréyòl Antillean Creole or Kreyol / Patois Guadeloupean Creole Martinican Creole fr Marie-Galante Creole Les Saintes Creole Saint Lucian Creolefr Dominican Creole French Trinidadian Creole French fr Grenadian Creole French or Kéyòl-la-gwinad, Patwa LaGwinad Venezuelean Creole French Saint-Barthélemy Creole San Miguel Creole or Panamanian Patua
Atlantic Creole English North America Afro-American Language continuum African Nova Scotian English or Africadian African-American Outer Banks English or Afro-Outer Banks African-American Appalachian English or Affrilachian Black Vernacular English or Ebonics Baltimorese or Bawlmerese Black Texas English Jazz Jargon or Harlem Jive Samaná Peninsula English Sea Island Creole or Gullah Afro-Seminole Creole
Eastern Vincentian Creole Northeastern: Bahamian Creole Southeastern: Antiguan and Barbudan Creole or Raabak Saint Kitts Creole Montserrat Creole Anguillian Creole or Anguilla Talk Kokoy North Antiguan Creole or Nawt'n dialek South Antiguan Creole or Sout'n dialek Barbudan Creole or Baabyuudan dialek Bajan Creole Tobagonian Creole Trinidadian Creole Guyanese Creole or Creolese Virgin Islands Creole Grenadian Creole English or Patois
Western Jamaican Patois or Jamiekan Kriyuol / Taak Bermudian Creole Bocas del Toro Creole or Panamanian Patois Limonese Creole or Mekatelyu Miskito Coast Creole Rama Cay Creole Turks and Caicos Creole San Andrés–Providencia Creole or Bende Providence Creole English Saintandrewan Belizean Creole or Belize Kriol
Surinamese Kwinti Maroon Spirit language or Kromanti, Deep Patwa Ndyuka Aluku Nengue Tongo Paramaccan Saramaccan Sranan Tongo
Central American Bay Islands English
Southern Caribbean Venezuelan Creole English
Liturgical Habla Congo Haitian Vodoun Culture Language or Langay Iyaric or Rasta Talk Lucumí language Nuwaubian
Manual Black American Sign Language Jamaican Country Sign Language Jamaican Sign Language Kajana Sign Language
Notable people of African descent in the Americas
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar – American basketball player Muhammad Ali – American boxer Archie Alleyne – Canadian musician Deandre Ayton – Bahamian basketball player Ronald Acuna Jr. – Venezuelan baseball player Ozzie Albies – Curaçaoan baseball player Laz Alonso – Cuban actor Edem Awumey – Canadian writer Susana Baca – Peruvian musician Leandro Barbosa – Brazilian basketball player Charles Barkley – American basketball player RJ Barrett – Canadian basketball player Abelardo Barroso – Cuban singer Mario Bazán – Peruvian athlete DaMarcus Beasley – American football player Jean Beausejour – Chilean football player Adrián Beltré – Dominican baseball player Halle Berry – American actress Beyoncé – American singer Usain Bolt – Jamaican sprinter Cory Booker – American politician E. R. Braithwaite – Guyanese writer, educator and diplomat Melvin Brown – Mexican football player Rudel Calero – Nicaraguan football player Mariah Carey – American singer Sueli Carneiro – Brazilian philosopher and political activist Ramiro Castillo – Bolivian football player Aimé Césaire – Martinican author, philosopher and politician Bill Cosby – American actor and comedian Celia Cruz – Cuban singer Teófilo Cubillas – Peruvian football player Stephen Curry – American basketball player Léon Damas – French Guianese writer Edwidge Danticat – Haitian-American author Charlie Davies – American football player Oscar D'León – Venezuelan musician Drake – Canadian rapper Tim Duncan – American basketball player Kevin Durant – American basketball player Giovanny Espinoza – Ecuadorian football player Patrick Ewing – Jamaican basketball player Frantz Fanon – Martinican philosopher and Pan-Africanist Jefferson Farfán – Peruvian football player Marielle Franco – Brazilian politician Marcus Garvey – Jamaican Pan-Africanist Gilberto Gil – Brazilian musician and politician Juan José Nieto Gil – Colombian president Edray H. Goins – African American president of the National Association of Mathematicians (NAM) Eddy Grant – Guyanese pop and reggae music star Kevin Hanchard – Canadian actor Devern Hansack – Nicaraguan baseball pitcher James Harden – American basketball player Kamala Harris – American politician, Vice President of the United States Wilson Harris – Guyanese writer Buddy Hield – Bahamian basketball player Whitney Houston – American singer Kyrie Irving – American basketball player Michael Jackson – American singer Janet Jackson – American singer Lamar Jackson – American football player C. L. R. James – Trinidadian historian and academic LeBron James – American basketball player Wyclef Jean – Haitian musician