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Afro-Venezuelans are descendants of Africans in Venezuela. Much work has been done studying the culture, tradition, folklore of Afro-Venezuelans, beginning with Miguel Acosta Saignes, in the 1960s.〔(Jose Contreras, "Rise Of The Latin Africans. A new black-power movement in Central and South America" ), ''Newsweek'', 31 May 2008〕 According to the final results of the "XIV Censo Nacional de Población y Vivienda," at least 1,087,427 inhabitants of Venezuela (3.6%) are considered Blacks and Afro-Descendants.〔http://www.ine.gob.ve/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&id=95&Itemid=26 Venezuelan population by 30/Jun/2014 is 30,206,2307 according National Institute of Statistics〕 ==History== Ethnic Africans first arrived in Venezuela with the Spanish ''Conquistadors''. Those accompanying the expeditions were hispanicized mulattos, mixed-race slaves who were descended from African women and Iberian men, some of whom had lived in Spain for a time, as opposed to ''bozales'', slaves straight from Africa. They have also been described as among the "Atlantic Creole" generations, mixed-race descendants of African women and Iberian men. The Portuguese operated in Africa as slave traders and frequently had unions with local women. Some of these Atlantic Creole descendants worked at African ports, often growing up bilingual and working as translators; others became sailors or went to Iberia to work in Portugal and Spain. As the Spanish began to colonize Venezuela, they tended to use slaves as workers on subsistence farms. The slaves were also used as divers for pearls, a job that carried the risk of attacks by sharks. These slaves came primarily from Cape Verde and Guinea in Africa. Some slaves purchased their freedom from earnings in pearl mining. Gold was discovered in the latter part of the 1500s. Numerous slaves perished in the gold mines because of harsh conditions, and high demand for the metal led the Spanish to import more slave laborers from Africa. By the 1600s, Venezuela had 13,000 slaves. Mining was not the primary source of wealth for Venezuela, but farming in tobacco, cotton, and cocoa. Numerous cocoa plantations were developed in central Venezuela, away from the more established regions. In the frontier of these more isolated and distant regions, slaves were allowed to own and farm ''canucos,'' small homesteads. Most slaves were purchased from markets in the Caribbean, as in Cuba, because it was too expensive for planters to buy them directly from Africa. Held by farmers at plantations located in isolated central regions, many Africans intermarried with Indians, resulting in numerous mixed-race children whom the Spanish colonists called ''zambos.'' The European men had relationships with slave women and free women of color over time; their mixed-race children were known as ''pardo'' (mulatto, or brown) population, generally descended from Africans and Europeans. Today pardo is used to refer to many people of mixed descent, without referring specifically to those of African descent. As plantations became prosperous and land more scarce, planters began eyeing the canucos farmed by Afro-Venezuelans and took them over. Numerous slaves escaped and formed ''cumbes'', communities of maroons in mountainous and isolated areas. By 1830, Venezuela sought independence from Colombia. Simon Bolivar initially refused to accept Afro-Venezuelans into his army but realized he could not be victorious without the blacks, including zambos and mulattoes. But in the 1830 constitution, which said "We are all Venezuelans", indigenous peoples and ethnic Africans were excluded as citizens.〔 In addition, the constitution asserted, "We are all Roman Catholics," declaring the primacy of the established religion, and excluding some 37 known indigenous ones, as well as those of African origin.〔 Abolition of slavery occurred gradually; first the nation declared children born to slave mothers to be free, and gradually emancipated adults. Slavery was not fully abolished until 1845, after which time ethnic Africans were accepted as citizens. Planters feared revolt by the ethnic African workers, as had happened in Haiti at the beginning of the century. In 1881, the nation passed an anti-discrimination law. Most Afro-Venezuelans continued to work on their small subsistence farms in rural areas and were outside the urbanizing cities, where most education and job opportunities occurred. After the 1860s, private companies recruited Afro-Caribbean workers to work the gold mines. The arrival of new ethnic Africans stirred racial tension in the country, as some Venezuelans did not want to encourage an increase of ethnic Africans. In 1929, the country hardened its immigration laws, prohibiting people of African descent from immigrating to Venezuela, and discriminating against them.〔("Afro-Venezuelan, History and Cultural Relations" ), Everyculture.com, retrieved January 17, 2011〕 During the 1930s, oil was discovered. The great expansion in jobs in the industry led to heightened urbanization and modernization in the country. Afro-Venezuelans were attracted to urban areas for work, leading to considerable changes in their lives. They became urbanized but also struggled at the lowest rung of the society, no longer able to grow their own food. As the newest and poorest group, they could afford only the older, rundown housing. They had to compete with other ethnic groups, some of whom were better established in the cities and job markets. In this modernizing period, intellectuals such as Arturo Uslar Pietri expressed racism, suggesting that neither blacks nor indigenous peoples had much to contribute to the modern society.〔 During 1945-1948, known as the ''trienio,'' the government began work to address disparities, emphasizing the provision of education and health care to Afro-Venezuelans, as well as aiding trade union formation, and beginning work in land reform to make more land available to smaller owners. These efforts were overthrown during the dictatorship of Marcos Perez Jemenez. During the 1950s, he made an effort to "whiten" Venezuela, by encouraging higher immigration from Western European nations and development of ''mestizo'' culture that embraced a Western model.〔 In the late 20th century, Venezuela, contrasting itself with the United States or Europe, would say that it did not have racism, and most people identified as ''pardo,'' or mixed.〔 According to Francisco Toro, "cultural differences and racial or skin color differences overlap much less than they do in the U.S. or in Europe. Venezuelan society does seem to be culturally more homogeneous than skin color differences." But ethnicity (or race) seems highly correlated to class.〔 In the 1960s, following civil rights movements and activism in other regions, as well as indigenous activism, the government began to work to address the socioeconomic problems of Afro-Venezuelans. But, activist Jesus "Chucho" Garcia has noted that the 1961 constitution had no article dealing with racial discrimination against ethnic Africans and thus, no laws to implement programs. Racism was "under the table."〔 Some reform laws were passed to increase minority representation in farm societies, trade unions, and oil unions, but effort was explicitly directed at indigenous peoples. As blacks also became more politically active, they were elected to numerous political positions. In 1966 the legislature repealed the ban on black immigration. The government subsidized universities to initiate studies of Afro-Venezuelan art, history, music, and dance, in order better to recognize and acknowledge the contributions of ethnic Africans to the society. But in the early 21st century, Chucho Garcia notes that textbooks are still lacking in full treatment of the past and current contributions of indigenous peoples and ethnic Africans. For instance, there is little recognition of the current 36 indigenous peoples and 34 well-differentiated languages in Venezuela.〔 In 1999 legislators and delegates drafted a new constitution, which includes an important section on indigenous citizens and their rights. Garcia and other activists attempted to have an article included that would also address issues related to ethnic Africans but did not succeed. As a result, he says, ethnic Africans were excluded from recognition in the constitution and from resulting organic law. "For example, in the ministry of social development, there is a program to support ethnic diversity. If you look at the program, the only type of ethic diversity it refers to are the indigenous peoples, but African ethnicity does not appear."〔 As another instance, the law of equal opportunity recognizes the indigenous population, but does not address people of African descent. Garcia finds these examples of "racial exclusion, discrimination, from a juridical perspective and in the area of public policy.".〔 Garcia and other activists formed the Afro-Venezuelan Network in the late 20th century to encourage the collection of data on race and economics in order to develop programs based on facts. Venezuela's widespread belief that there is little racism has meant limited attempts by the government to collect accurate data on the socioeconomic and demographic factors. Some analysis has been anecdotal.〔 Progress is slow and by the 1990s, most blacks were still struggling economically. Race and class have been closely associated. Francisco Toro attributes such continuing problems to historic racism, that is, the legacy of slavery and colonialism. Garcia has noted the deep issues of contemporary constitutional and other law, leading to programs which overlook ethnic Africans as a minority. He also notes the high proportion of blacks who are imprisoned; in 1995 he worked to gain a review by the Organization of American States. Pierre Sané of Amnesty International came to the country to review the situation of the prisons here in Venezuela. They found that the majority of the prisoners were of African descent, far out of proportion of their percentage of the population. There have been documented instances of police discrimination against ethnic Africans. In addition, the media continue to publish racist comments and cartoons.〔(Wilpert, Gregory. "Racism and Racial Divides in Venezuela" ), ''Opinion and Analysis: Indigenous and Afro-Venezuelans,'' venezuelanalysis.com January 21, 2004, retrieved January 17, 2011〕 Venezuela representatives signed the Durban plan against racism, which was approved in 2001 in Durban, South Africa, and addresses discrimination in education, the judicial system, public administration and public policy. According to Garcia, in the next few years, the government had not taken much action.〔 After Hugo Chavez came to power in 1999, the government did make new efforts to improve conditions for minorities, as well as including recognition of indigenous peoples in the new constitution. Garcia has continued to work to gain recognition of ethnic Africans as a group to gain more understanding and attention to their situation. In 2004 he gained agreement with Minister of Planning and Development, Jorge Giordani, to establish indicators in the next census "to measure the levels of development in the communities of African descent," who had not been counted separately before that.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Afro-Venezuelan」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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