Africanity of Spain

7/23/2019 Africanity of Spain

1/9

The Africanity of Spain: Identity and ProblematizationAuthor(s): Antumi ToasijeSource: Journal of Black Studies, Vol. 39, No. 3 (Jan., 2009), pp. 348-355Published by: Sage Publications, Inc.Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40282566.

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2/9

The

Africanity

f

Spain

Identity

nd Problematization

Journal

f Black

Studies

Volume 9

Number

January009 348-355

ff^ fiflQ


3/9

Toasije

/The

Africanity

f

Spain

349

conducted

y

the

Spanishpowers, specially y

the

government

nd the

media s

being

ustained ver false

myth

f

pure

uropeanity.

How do we Africans

ive this

process?

And

what re the ocial conse-

quences

f

t

ll?

TheAfrican

igrant

s

very

isible n a

European

nviron-

ment nd

s a victim fracist

peculations

n

the

media,

nd all the

panish

institutions,

uch

s local and national

dministrations,

o have n

opinion

and

agency

n this

genda.My purpose

n

this

rticles to

briefly

elate he

struggle

fAfricans

n

Spain

s

part

f he ollective

f

Blacks

n

Europe.

We

start ith hefact hat lackAfricans ave lways ived nSpain, ndthis

existence

as contributedo

a remarkablelement

n

the

Spanish

ulture.

mean

hat his as

happened,

ot

nly

nterms f

popular

ulture,

uch s fla-

menco r

religious

ractices,

ut lso

in

the

high,

o-called

lite ulture f

Spain.

We see

these vidences

with cademics nd writers

uch as

Juan

Latino

Maso,

1973)

orChicaba

romhe

Guinean

rea,

ainters

uch

s

Juan

de

Pareja

from

he17th

entury,

r with heAfrican-Cuban

egacies

n vari-

ous

fields

uring

he

8th,

9th,

nd

20th

enturies.

ut t s not

nly

he

ast

Africanchievements

n

Spain

hat aveno

recognition,

ven he

most

ecent

contributions

f

the

Equatorial-Guinean

ift

o

Spain

n

scientific

esearch,

politics,iterature,ndmany therspects f modernpainhavenotbeen

recognized.

hereason

or his

s that

pain

wishes

oconceal ts olonial nd

enslaving ast

nAfrica.

The

De-Africanizationf

Spain

Therehas been

definite

ntention,

n several

evels,

o

destroy

ll facts

regarding

frica

n

relation

o

Spain,

nd

this

process

has taken ifferent

routes.

irst,

here asbeen he

olitical

nd

ulturalreationf

supposedly

objective,

atural

ultural

pposition

etween

slamic nd

Christian

orlds.

Both

iews,

owever,

ave common

ackground

asedonSemiticiviliza-

tion

n

the

Mediterranean

nvironment.ince

he ndof

he

panish

nvasion

wars n

Morocco,

alled

African

ars,

ith he efeat f he abilian eader

Abd

El-Krim

n

1926,

he

enseof a

publicly

wned

African-Spanish

den-

tity

as declined

n the

discourse f

power.

eteven

during

he

dictatorship

of Francisco

ranco t

the

peak

of theofficialization

f theCatholic

ult,

there

tillwas

a sense

f

commonality

ithwhat he

panish

fficialsalled

our

rothers,

he

moors.

urthermore,

here ere till

ositive

lack

figures

in the

opular

raditions

uch s Christmas

here he harismatic

ersonage

of the King Baltasaror some Black Saints (San Martinde Poires,

San

Benedicto,

an

Elesboam,

anta

figenia,

an

Moiss,

San

Serapio,

San

Fermin,

tc.)

wererevered.

his

relationship

ddedto the

conomic,

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4/9

350 Journalf Black Studies

religious,

nd ocial

eality

f he

ountry

nd reated

n

Europe

he

ommon

phrase,

aidas an

nsult,

Africa

egins

n

the

yrenees.

Alas,

much f thishas

come

to an

end,

new imes ave

rrived ith he

entrance

f

Spain

n the

European

ommon

Market ndthen he

European

Union nd

monetary

ystem

n

2002.

Spain

has

erupted

nto n advanced

capitalist ountry

ith

ll of the ttributesf theolder advanced

oun-

tries,

ith

growingconomy

nd a more acialist utlook.

With he

uropeanization

rocess

n

Spain,

he

ontribution

f

Africans,

thefact ftheAfricanityfSpain, nd the mportancefBlack communi-

ties

nd

elements o

Spanish istory

ave

been

definitivelyiped

utfrom

the

official iscourse. os Maria Aznar

Lopez,

Spanish

president

rom

1996

to

2004,

stamped

is

mprint

n the

nding

f theAfrican ontribu-

tion n

Spain

by

criminalizingmmigration

nofficial iscoursesuch s the

Seville

ommet f he 1st ndthe 2nd fJune

002

Toasij

&

VVAA,

2004).

There

were

proposals

or conomic anctions o countries

f

origin

of

the

migrants.

rom he

ra of

Felipe

Gonzalez,

herewas a

growing

is-

course

n

criminalizationf the

migrationrocess,

ut t was withAznar

that he

discourse ecamemore

elligerent,y

means f thewords

llegal

andundocumented.he words urope ndAfrica ecame ntagonistic,nd

there as

been a serious ntentiono concealthe

Africanity

f

Ceuta

and

Melilla and

even the

Canary

slands,

n African

erritory

hat

oday

s

receiving

he mostAfrican

migrants

rom he sea

in

what s

actually

n

internal frican

migration.

Does thismean hat he

European

ispositions

or o said

securing

he

south

rontiersre n fact

aying

hat

pain

and tsBlack

egacy

an be a

problem

or

ocial

stability

nd

European omogeneity?

he

reality

s that

the

European

nion eeks o

push pain

to demonstrate

ts

Europeanity

y

closing

he

gates

o the

millenarianfrican

mmigration,

nd

Spain

willnot

becarelessnthis angerousask, o the xtent fkilling isarmedeople,

to be as

European

s

possible.

One

only

has to see that here asbeen ittle

candal

n the

panish ress

after he

declarationsf theMinister f nternationalffairsf

Morocco,

Taieb

Fassi

Fihri,

whoannounced o themedia hat he

panishKing

Juan

Carlos called theMoroccan

ounterpart

ohamed

VI,

three

imes n the

same

day

o ask

for

elp

with he ntrancefAfricans

n

Ceuta nd

Melilla

in

October

005

El

Pais,

2005).

As

a

consequence,

heMoroccan

overn-

ment,

ending

nder

he

pressure,

ent o the

Saharan

esert undreds

f

African

itizens,

n unknown umber f

whomdied

of starvationnd the

governmenteinforcedhemilitaryresencentheborders,illing ozens

of

people

y

hooting

hem s

they

ried oclimb

ver

hewalls.

fwe

accept



5/9

Toasije

/The

Africanity

f

Spain

35

1

that here

s no

favor

n

internationalelations ithout

ompensation,

e

can

understand

hy

t

s evident hat

pain

s

a

key

for

Morocco o

access

the

European

nion.

A concomitantourse n this

rocess

f de-Africanization

f

Spain

has

been

the

depersonalization

f theBlack

migrants

n all

public

discourses.

Spanish

uthorities

aveusednew

forged

eographicpithets

uch s

sub-

Saharans,

ccompanied

yexpressions

uch

s avalanche

avalancha),

lux

(flujo),

nd

o

on,

pplicable

nly

o

objects

hat

elp

o

problematize

lack

immigrationy eliminatingnythingegardinguman ightsn relationo

migrations.

The anomalous concentrationf information

egarding

onregular

immigration

s a

kind f

new

crime n

television,

ress,

nd

radio hows

thefact hat

urope

n

general

nd

Spain

n

particular,

ecause

of

racist

myths orged

n

slavery

nd

colonial

ras,

earAfrican

migration.

ctually,

Spain

fears frican

migration

uchmore han tdoes themore

uantitative

migrations

rom atinAmerican

rWestern

uropean

ountries.

he

racist

myths

ave created

n irrational

icture

f Blacks thathas been used

to

oppress

heBlack

masses,

not

nly

n the

past

rasbut lso in the

present,

wheren every ity fSpainone can see Black workers ith xtremely

underqualified

obs

and

ess

rights

han ther

migrants.

The

RecentBlack Generations

To have

n

open

picture,

e

must

ivide

ur

present eality

s a collec-

tive ultural

ommunity

nto

four

enerations.

irst,

we must

nalyze

he

group

f Black

people

who

migrated

nto

pain

before he

1980s

or

were

descendants

f ancient lack

populations

mainly

n the

Andalusia

egion,

especiallys the irst ere mixed roup fmiddle-classrofessionalsnd

administrative

echnicians.

heymostly

ame

from

quatorial

uinea,

n

African

erritoryccupiedby Spain

until

1968.

Many

of

them

ollowed

politically

he

rightwing

and

had

strong

inkswith he

Franco

regime,

being

n

consequence ommonlyespected

n their

rofessional

ields ut

not

lways

n

thefamiliarnd

social

relations,

sually eing

he

object

f

cheats

nd racist ttitudes

n the

Spanish

amilies

Bolekia,2005);

others

were he

Cubans

uch

s

AntonioMachin

nd

other lack

Latin

Americans

and

fewAfrican

mericans,

uchas the

writer hester

imes,

nd

some

sportsman

nd

militaryersonal,

f theAmerican

military

ases

n

Spain,such s

Torrejon

r Rota.Mostof them

peak

of

having

ood

treatmentn

professional

nd administrativeerms

n

comparison

ith

heAmerica

f

those

ays.



6/9

352

Journal

f Black

Studies

A

second

group,

he

majority

f Black

Africans

oday

n

Spain,

ame

since

the

middle

1980s,

the

majority

romWestern

Africa;

Senegal,

Gambia,

ape

Verde,Mali,

andfrom

he

1990s

Nigeria

ndCentral

frica;

Cameroon

nd theDemocratic

epublic

f

Congo

and

Equatorial

uinea.

This

generation

ad

to

face

the

growing

acism

n

Spanish

ociety,

is-

crimination

n

obs

and

housing,

he

isingmportance

fthe

Neo-Nazi ac-

tion,

nd the ll treatment

f

the

Spanish olice

and administration.

n

the

media,

twas the

ime

f

television

eries nd

films,

howing

he

history

f

slaveryndthe ealityfdiscriminationntheUnited tates. his, ontrary

to ts

original urpose,

reated

sentiment

mong

he

Spanish

opulation

that

we

Blacks shouldbe hated r

made fun

f

as comics.

Furthermore,

Spain

was

thought

o

have

had

nothing

o

do

with

lavery

nd

racism,

because

as themovies

howed,

hiswas an

American

roblem.

rom

he

1990s,

hisAfrican

eneration

n

Spain

created

vast

uantity

f associa-

tions

nd

support

roups,

mostof them nder

nationalistic

r cultural

basis.

These

groups

ave

very ractical bjectives,

uch s

regularization,

support

id

to

widows,

epatriation

f

cadavers,

nd lso cultural

nd ocial

objectives

round hedates

f national estivitiesnd

some ocial

activity,

butpoliticss notamong heir riorities. study onductedn 2003 in

Majorca

at the

University

f the Balearic slands

hows

clearly

hat

he

Black

Africanssociations

resent

he

highest

atio f

density

f

ny

migra-

tion

roup

o

Spain.

A

third

roup

f Blacks

n

Spain

re

the

hildrenfthe

firstnd second

generation

f Black

populations

of

which am

one).

Many

were

brought

to

Spain

t a

very oung ge

or were orn

n the

ountry.

his

group

ad

to

face

growing

acismwith

reat

erplexity

nd onfusion

ecause

fthe act

that

hey

were,

y

official

apers,

paniards.

his

reality

hows

more he

fact that we

are

talking

bout racism and

not of

xenophobia.

lack

Spaniards,omeofwhomwerebornn the ountry,adto realize heir if-

ference

nd

began

o

generate

ttitudes,

uite

imilar o

those escribed

y

Omowale

Malcolm

X)

in the 1960s

Malcolm

X

&

Haley,

1992).

Some

take

he

ttitude

f ssimilationnd

ccepted

obe

relegated

oworks nder

their

ualification

ndnever

uestioned

ublicly

he

ituation,

ssuming

he

official

iscourse,

aying

hat there s

no racism n

Spain.

Others,

minority,

ake ombativettitudes

nd

began

o

organize

nd

fight

acism

with

trength,reating

ssociations nd Panafrican

roups

imilar

o those

of the

United

tates,

he

Caribbean,

nd

the same Africa.

hese

groups

began

o

erupt

n

the

ap

nd

reggae

mbiences,

specially

fter

he

howing

in1992of theSpikeLee filmMalcolmX and the onceitsnSpainofrap

groups

uch

as Public

Enemy.

An

unambiguous

xample

s theColours



7/9

Toasije

/

The

Africanity

f

Spain

353

Brotherhood

ndtheBlack Panthersf

Spain

known

s FOJA

oday),

wo

groups

reated

n

the

1990s

ed

by Abuy

Nfubea,

well-known

ctivist,

with he

purpose

f the ducation f theBlack

youth

nd the

defending

f

Blacks

against

heNeo-Nazis nd the

police.

Finally,

third

roup mong

this

generation

f Black

Spaniards

was

trying

o create

ssociations nd

links imilar

o those f the econd

generation,

ith o senseor ntention

of

confrontation,

ut onstructed

n

a cultural

asis and with

tandardized

procedures

nd

commitments,

here re about

150

groups

f

ntegration

r

celebrationreatedmainly ymembersfthisAfrican-Spanisheneration.

Finally,

would ike o concentraten the ourth

eneration;

his

roup

s

still

omposed

f

hildren,

orn

n

Spain,

rom frican

arents,

nd ome re

the hird

eneration

fBlack

Spaniards eing

orn

n

Spain

with

ull itizen-

ship

ut

efinitely

ess

ibertiesnd

privileges

n

the

very

ext uture.

hy?

The fact

f

the

lready

ntroduced

uropeanization

f

Spain

has a

very

strongmpact

n the ducationnd

n

consequence

n the

dentity

f he ndi-

vidual nd

he

ocial

oppression

fBlacks. he

statementhat he

ppression

whether

f

racist ature r

any

ther

ind reates

lternative

dentitiesr/and

develops

sense fhistorical ound s well

tudied,

hich s to

say

he eel-

ingthat communityas beenhistoricallyeprivednd needs reparation

depends

n

the onditions.

t s

objective

o

ay

hat lack

populations

ll over

the

globe

havebeen

generally

eprived

f their

dministrationf

freedom,

labor,

esources,

nd

need

eparation.

ut he

fficialiscourse ot

nly

ides

this

act ut

urnst

nto he

ontraryy

criminalizing

hosewho ntend o

escape

the

unjust

onditionsf

the nternationalconomical

ystem.

his s

being

ranslated

n

popular

ttitudes,

roblematizing

lack

people

r

segre-

gating panish

dealistic

iew rom frican

egacies.

hetension

etween

he

judicial

fact

f theneed of

reparations,

nder

he

ight

f the

nternational

Penal

Court,

hat

ays

withoutoubt

hat

here

re crimes

gainst umanity

that o notprescribe,uch s racism,enocide,ndslaverynd the fficial

rhetoric,

enace

ocreate n

dentity

haos nthe

minds f he

young

frican-

Spaniards.

Identity

nd Problematization

The social

uprisings

n France n

2005

are

an

example

fthe

dmystifi-

cation f

the

ntegrationrocess,

which

s

actually

form

fthe

ntegrity

f

the

European ommunity.learly,

t

poses

the

uestion

f the ocial cul-

turalmodelto follow.The real

background

s that

multigenerations

f

immigrants

re

still

deprived

f essential

ights,

ave ower

ncomes,

nd



8/9

354

Journal

f

Black Studies

do nothave

proper olitical epresentation;

acism

s

always

t

the

op

of t

all.

The solution

s

nonexistentn the

government,

ut he ormulaso

min-

imize he ensions re

clearly

xposed

n

the

2ndPan-

African

ongress

n

Spain,

elebratedn Madrid n

December

005.

The

conclusions fthe

meeting,

hich

ongregated

bout 00

represen-

tatives f

African

ongovernmental

rganizations

n

Spain, ay

that istor-

ical and cultural

pproaching

nd

reconciliationetween lack

Africans

andWhite

uropeans

s a

key

ssue

for

harmonious

oexistence,

ut here

cannot ereconciliationithouteparations,nd a factor or eparationss

recognition

f

the

wound

Conclusions

f

the

2nd

Pan-African

ongress,

2005).

Today, pain

has not ven nteredhe

phase

f

the

ecognition

f ts

responsibility

n

the

nslavement

f

millions

f

Black

Africans,

he olo-

nialism,

he

postcolonialism,

ndthe

ersistence

fracism.

pain

eeks

not

even

o

recognize

ts

Africanity,

hemillenarianontributionsf theBlack

population

o

its

history,

nd what n fact s

Spain's

mixedAfrican-

European

ackground.

Thus,

we can

conclude

hat,

n

one

hand,

heAfrican

lack

community

in

Spain

today

must

acethe onstructionf

political

ntitieshat an

rep-

resent ur nterests a collectivend, nthe ther and, he panish ow-

ersmust

egin

he

process

or he

ecognition

f

the ontributionfBlacks

to

the

history

f

Spain

and

stop

he

depersonalization

f

the

Black mmi-

gration.

his

must e

done

by

consulting

heBlack

representatives

f the

social movements

lreadyworking

ith

n Afrocentric

genda,

s

concep-

tualized

y

Asante

2003),

and

mplementing

ur ecommendations

tarting

in

the

chool,

he

public

media,

nd the

public

dministration,

specially

the

police.

Without

ecognition

f the

Africanity

f

Spain

and the

rimes

against

fricans

n

the

hands

f

the

panish owers,

here an'tbe

repara-

tions,

or

will

here ver xist n

African-Spanish

dentity,

ecause

dentity

is a fact fmoralitynd ethics rreconcilable ith hefeelingf njustice

that,

ooner r

ater,

ill

explode

n

a social conflict.

References

Asante,

M. K.

(2003).

Afrocentricity:

he

heoryf

ocial

change. hicago:

African merican

Images.

Bolekia,

J.

2005).

Speech

t the nd

Pan-Africanongress.

npublishedroceedings.

Conclusions

f

the

nd

Pan-Africanongress.

2005).

Unpublishedroceedings.

El

Pais.

2005,

October

2).Malcolm X &

Haley,

A.

(1992).

Autobiographyf

Malcolm X. New York: Ballantine.

(Originally

ublished

964)



9/9

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/

The

Africanity

f

Spain

355

Maso,

C. C.

(1973).

Juan atino:

Gloria

de

Espaha

y

de

su

raza.

Chicago:

Nororiental.

Serra,

.,

Toasije,

A.

(2004).

La

immigraci,

asos

emisors les Illes

Balears

The

mmigra-

tion

mitting

ountriesnd heBalearic

slands].

alma

de

Mallorca,

pain:

Edicions

ort.

Toasije,

A.,

& VVAA.

2004).

La

immigraci,

asos

emisors les Illes Balears

[The

mmi-

grationmitting

ountriesnd theBalearic

slands].

almade

Mallorca,

pain:

Edicions

Cort.

Van

ertima,

.

(1991).

The

golden ge of

heMoor.

New

Brunswick,

J:

ransactionublishers.

Antumi

oasije

received is

MA

in

general

istory

rom he

University

fthe

Balearic

slands,

Spain, nd doctoratenAfricantudiesromutonomousniversityfMadrid. e ispresident

of thePanafricanenter

ituoCha

Wanafrika,

irector

f theReview

f

Migrations

f

the

Federation

f

mmigrants

n the

Balearic

slands,

nd

Member f heAfrican

tudies

roup

f

theAutonomous

niversity

f Madrid.

His

researchnterestsnclude

anafricanism,

frican

migrations,

frican

ontemporary

ulture,

nd

African

esistances.

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Africanity of Spain

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