Yo Soy Negro: Blackness in Peru By Tanya Golash-Boza University Press of Florida. 2011. 246 pages. $74.95 cloth, $21.95 paper

Abstract

The winds have shifted in Latin America. Countries once assimilationist in rhetoric and practice, or hostile to ethnoracial particularism, are now embracing multiculturalism. The politics of difference, of recognition and the right to cultural specificity are center stage. Indeed, progress is tangible; many indigenous populations have gained some rights and recognition, especially in the last two decades. But what about Afro-descendents? How might they fare under Latin America's new multicultural citizenship regimes? This is one of the key issues Tanya Golash-Boza addresses in Yo Soy Negro: Blackness in Peru. She notes, alongside other scholars, that the possibility for progressive reform in Latin America's new multicultural contexts may favor communities perceived by state elites and publics as bearers of cultural specificity. That is, progress may hinge on claims associated with clearly delineated ethnic-group status as opposed to those based centrally on racial grievances. This is a problem, for blackness may not be typically viewed through the lens of communities of culture for state elites, the general public, or even for many of Latin America's Afro-descendent populations, as Golash-Boza finds.