Book contents
- Afro-Mexican Lives in the Long Nineteenth Century
- Afro-Latin America
- Afro-Mexican Lives in the Long Nineteenth Century
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures and Tables
- Contributors
- Acknowledgments
- Chronology of Key Events in Afro-Mexican History
- Introduction
- Part I Freedom and Colonial Legacies
- Part II (Un)Disappearing Black Mexico
- 5 Historical Memory about Slavery, Abolition, and Afro-descendants in the Mexican Press, 1821–60
- 6 The Geography of Race in Oaxaca’s Costa Chica
- 7 Oilseed Archives
- 8 The Pictorial Limits of the Nation
- 9 Reflections from the Twentieth Century
- Index
- References
6 - The Geography of Race in Oaxaca’s Costa Chica
Commodities, Culture, and Citizenship during Mexico’s Liberal Economic Transformation
from Part II - (Un)Disappearing Black Mexico
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 November 2025
Book contents
- Afro-Mexican Lives in the Long Nineteenth Century
- Afro-Latin America
- Afro-Mexican Lives in the Long Nineteenth Century
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures and Tables
- Contributors
- Acknowledgments
- Chronology of Key Events in Afro-Mexican History
- Introduction
- Part I Freedom and Colonial Legacies
- Part II (Un)Disappearing Black Mexico
- 5 Historical Memory about Slavery, Abolition, and Afro-descendants in the Mexican Press, 1821–60
- 6 The Geography of Race in Oaxaca’s Costa Chica
- 7 Oilseed Archives
- 8 The Pictorial Limits of the Nation
- 9 Reflections from the Twentieth Century
- Index
- References
Summary
The 1910 Revolution uncovered deep racial divisions among Oaxaca’s residents who lived along the Costa Chica. Afro-Mexicans and Mixtecos had a history of political and military mobilizations dating back to independence, and they served against one another on some occasions. During the revolution, Mixtecos embraced Emiliano Zapata’s radical land reform agenda. Afro-Mexicans, in contrast, aligned with the more conservative wing of Venustiano Carranza’s supporters. Members of both groups had numerous reasons to mobilize militarily, but why did they choose to fight on opposing sides? Using evidence from newspapers, legal cases, and official correspondence, this chapter analyzes the roots of these divisions. The evidence suggests that Mexico’s liberal economic transformation essentially compounded the social, economic, and cultural factors that pushed Costa Chica residents in opposite directions. Afro-Mexicans and Mixtecos therefore had divergent experiences during this economic and political transformation, which eventually led to violent confrontations during the revolution and beyond.
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- Afro-Mexican Lives in the Long Nineteenth CenturySlavery, Freedom, and the Writing of History, pp. 166 - 192Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2025
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