Chocolate and Corn Flour: History, Race, and Place in the Making of "Black" Mexico: History, Race, and Place in the Making of “Black” Mexico

Located on Mexico's Pacific coast in a historically black part of the Costa Chica region, the town of San Nicolás has been identified as a center of Afromexican culture by Mexican cultural authorities, journalists, activists, and foreign anthropologists. The majority of the town's residents, however, call themselves __morenos__ (black Indians). In __Chocolate and Corn Flour__, Laura A. Lewis explores the history and contemporary culture of San Nicolás, focusing on the ways that local inhabitants experience and understand race, blackness, and indigeneity, as well as on the cultural values that outsiders place on the community and its residents.Drawing on more than a decade of fieldwork, Lewis offers a richly detailed and subtle ethnography of the lives and stories of the people of San Nicolás, including community residents who have migrated to the United States. San Nicoladenses, she finds, have complex attitudes toward blackness—as a way of identifying themselves and as a racial and cultural category. They neither consider themselves part of an African diaspora nor deny their heritage. Rather, they acknowledge their hybridity and choose to identify most deeply with their community. Located on Mexico's Pacific coast in a historically black part of the Costa Chica region, the town of San Nicolás has been identified as a center of Afromexican culture by Mexican cultural authorities, journalists, activists, and foreign anthropologists. The majority of the town's residents, however, call themselves morenos (black Indians). In Chocolate and Corn Flour , Laura A. Lewis explores the history and contemporary culture of San Nicolás, focusing on the ways that local inhabitants experience and understand race, blackness, and indigeneity, as well as on the cultural values that outsiders place on the community and its residents. Drawing on more than a decade of fieldwork, Lewis offers a richly detailed and subtle ethnography of the lives and stories of the people of San Nicolás, including community residents who have migrated to the United States. San Nicoladenses, she finds, have complex attitudes toward blackness—as a way of identifying themselves and as a racial and cultural category. They neither consider themselves part of an African diaspora nor deny their heritage. Rather, they acknowledge their hybridity and choose to identify most deeply with their community. Contents Acknowledgments Introduction Chapter One: The Lay of the Land Chapter Two: Identity in Discourse: The “Race” Has Been Lost Chapter Three: Identity in Performance Chapter Four: Africa in Mexico: An Intellectual History Chapter Five: Culture Work: So Much Money Chapter Six: Being from Here Chapter Seven: A Family Divided? : Centripetal and Centrifugal Forces Chapter Eight: Transnationalism, Place, and the Mundane Conclusion: What’s in a Name? Notes Bibliography Index The Lay Of The Land -- Identity In Discourse : The Race Has Been Lost -- Identity In Performance -- Africa In Mexico, An Intellectual History -- Culture Work : So Much Money -- Being From Here -- A Family Divided? : Centripetal And Centrifugal Forces -- Transnationalism, Place And The Mundane. Laura A. Lewis. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [341]-362) And Index. Explores the lives and self-understanding of Mexicans of African descent living in the agricultural village of San Nicolas on the Pacific coast of Mexico.