Rafael Aguilera Hernandez

Abstract

This interview was conducted on August 13, 2004, at the home of Rafael Aguilera Hernandez in Tlactalpan. ROWELL: Were you born here in Tlacotalpan? HERNANDEZ: No. I was born in a more popular neighborhood. My parents are country people with a bit of education. I was able to rent this house in the middle of town from my hard-working parents. ROWELL: Are you Afromestizo? HERNANDEZ: You don't realize that you are Afromestizo; you are born with it. I have heard that there were groups of black people here long ago. I believe that Africans came when the Spanish came. The slaves they had when they arrived in Veracruz were dispersed. I do not have too much information about that history, but it is known that they were African. Now, there are some people with stronger characteristics and some with less. ROWELL: In Tlacotalpan, what does it mean to be of African descent? What does it mean to descend from the African slaves who were brought here in the colonial times? HERNANDEZ: In reality, the idea is new. I myself had not heard the term "Afromestizo" but once or twice, and I had never really paid attention to it. It is as if there is no concept that one is Afromestizo. You are born Mexican. You do not search for your roots, for that mixture of Spanish, African, or indigenous blood. Here everyone is mixed. ROWELL: Do any of the people here know that they are descendents of Africans? HERNANDEZ: I think that some do. ROWELL: Do people—in this village, in this pueblo, this town, or in other places—know that slavery existed long ago in Mexico? [End Page 475] HERNANDEZ: They do know, but they do not inform you. You have an idea, you grow up, and they finally tell you that there were slaves, people from other countries, but you do not relate them to yourself. For example, I am Mexican, and I only believe in being Mexican. I do not stop to think about the mixture of blood, although there were African slaves. Slowly you recognize more; you realize that you do have African blood. ROWELL: Are Mexicans taught in school the history of slavery in Mexico? HERNANDEZ: Yes, but it is extremely brief. Extremely. Just that there were slaves. There is talk about crossbreeding but you do not relate it to yourself when you are a child. They do not teach you this when you are younger, and as a result you do not relate it to yourself or think you have mixed blood. In reality, as time goes by, you realize that there is African influence in the music, in your traits and characteristics, in your skin color—which is sometimes darker and sometimes lighter. ROWELL: Do the school children learn about the conquistadors, the Spanish conquerors? HERNANDEZ: Yes. They are taught in the schools about the conquests, the mixing and crossbreeding. There are more references to people of white skin and to the Spanish breeding with the indigenous Mexicans. There is no strong and clear mentioning of the mixture with the African slaves. ROWELL: So there is no discussion in schools about enslaved Africans that the Spanish brought to Mexico? HERNANDEZ: No. The Spanish arrived first, the people to which we yield honor. Then comes the discrimination against black skin, as if to say that slaves did not matter. I believe that in "the logic" of the actual world, it is obvious to say, "No, I do not have black blood," or, "Blood is not important." The presence of Africans in Mexico's history is an essence that has been transmitted through music, through our way of being, and through our magnificent skin. ROWELL: Why do you think that Mexicans of African descent don't see themselves as connected to Africa historically? Africans were brought here in the 1500s, even before Africans were taken to the United States—first in 1619, in Jamestown, Virginia. You mentioned Mexican racial mixtures earlier. We have the...