Abstract
Walking down the streets of Argentina, one might suspect that there are no blacks among the city’s inhabitants. Though a black community hardly exists in presentday Argentina, history tells another tale. Beginning in 1535 and continuing over the next four centuries slaves were brought to Buenos Aires. By the time of Argentina’s independence in 1810 blacks accounted for a sizable minority of Buenos Aires’ population and contributed their dance known as the candombe, religion, and literature to the country’s vibrant culture. However, in the years 1850 through 1890, the black population declined dramatically and the black community all but disappeared. Wars and disease decimated the black population, while European immigration, Social Darwinism, and miscegenation led to the whitening of the black population such that the black community in Buenos Aires virtually disappeared.