Soccer and the Afro-Mexican Population
Edoardo Isella has only ever played once for the Mexican national team. His 45 minutes in a friendly against Bolivia in 2000 were unremarkable. Isella told Guadalajara’s Mural newspaper after the game, “I didn’t play as well as I would have liked to.”
But Isella’s debut was remarkable in another way. The cap he earned in 2000 made him the first Afro-Mexican player (that I have found after extensive research) to represent El Tricolor.
The next year, another Afro-Mexican, Melvin Brown, nicknamed Melvin de los Choko Krispis or “Melvin of the Cocoa Crispies” would make his debut for Mexico. Brown’s national team career lasted longer than Isella’s, culminating in him making the 2002 World Cup team (though he never played).
Both Isella and Brown currently play for Jaguares, a Chiapas-based team in the Mexican Primera. They have fallen out of favor with regard to the national team and play their football in relative obscurity.
Isella (L) and Brown (R)
Their obscurity reflects the status of Afro-Mexicans in general. Though many have lived there for centuries, many Mexicans, not to mention outsiders, are unaware of this segment of their population.
The first Afro-Mexicans are believed to have been brought to the country in the 16th by the Spanish conquistadors. The black population in Mexico grew quickly as Spaniards continued to import slaves, going from 20,000 in 1570 to 35,000 by 1646, according to anthropologist Bobby Vaughan. In total, it is believed that 200,000 or more slaves may have been brought to Mexico before slavery was abolished in 1821.
The current Afro-Mexican population is made up of the descendants of former slaves, many of whom intermarried with native Mexicans. The Afro-Mexican population has also been augmented by several waves of migration.
A group of runaway slaves in the United States had married Seminole Indians and formed their own communities. In the middle of the 19th century, these so-called “maroons,” under threat from Native American groups and the American army, escaped to Mexico and became part of the Afro-Mexican population.
John Horse (aka Juan Caballo), leader of Black Seminole group that went to Mexico in 1849
Blacks continue to come to Mexico today. Many are economic migrants, members of black populations in countries, coming to relatively prosperous Mexico to improve their lives. Both Edoardo Isella and Melvin Brown fall into this category (Isella’s father is from Honduras while Brown’s grandparents are Jamaican).Most Afro-Mexicans today live in coastal states of Southern Mexico, largely isolated from the rest of the country. Many Mexicans are unaware of their existence simply because they have never met or seen an Afro-Mexican.
The status of Afro-Mexicans, therefore, is hard to define. Bobby Vaughan told the Guardian in 2005, “This is the one community that is not recognised nationally. Indigenous groups are worse off in many ways, but at least they are paid lip service. Mexicans of African descent have no voice and the government makes no attempt to assess their needs, no effort to even count them.”
Afro-Mexicans in the Costa Chica region
Soccer players like Edoardo Isella and Melvin Brown have made Mexicans more aware of the Afro-Mexican community. They have also forced Mexicans to confront their attitudes toward this minority group.
Isella rose to prominence while at Chivas, a team known for fielding only Mexican players. Writing in the newspaper Reforma on October 12, 2000, Sergio Patiño said Isella had received “constant criticism from Chivas purists, for being a foreigner and for having dark skin” (translation my own).
Controversy over Afro-Mexicans arose most prominently in 2005 when the Mexican Postal Service issued stamps commemorating the cartoon character Memín Pinguin. Memín, an Afro-Mexican comic book character around since the 1940s, was seen by some as racist. They cited a story line in which Memín was told that as a black he could not go to heaven. Jesse Jackson called for then-President Vicente Fox to take the stamp off the market.
Many in Mexico did not understand these criticisms. Some cited another issue in which Memín traveled to Texas and was refused service because of his race.
Covers of MemÃn PinguÃn
Historian Enrique Krauze represented the Mexican perspective in his 2005 opinion piece in the Washington Post called “The Pride in Memin Pinguin.”
To Americans, the figure, with his exaggerated “African” features, appears to be a copy of racist American cartoons. To Mexicans, he is a thoroughly likable character, rich in sparkling wisecracks, and is felt to represent not any sense of racial discrimination but rather the egalitarian possibility that all groups can live together in peace. During the 1970s and ’80s, his historietas sold over a million and a half copies because they touched an authentic chord of sympathy and tenderness among poorer people, who identified with Memin Pinguin.
The nature of race relations may not be entirely clear right now, but the Afro-Mexican population is likely to be discussed more in the future. That is because the great hope of Mexican soccer is Giovanni Dos Santos, the son of a black Brazilian father and Mexican mother. Dos Santos is considered a phenomenal talent with the potential to become one of the best players in the world. He led Mexico to the U-17 World Championship in 2005 and was snapped up by Barcelona, where the 18 year-old is currently on the cusp of breaking into the first team.
Giovanni Dos Santos (top row, 6th from L) as a kid, along with his father (in yellow shirt)
If Dos Santos lives up to his potential, the country will have its most visible Afro-Mexican ever. It will be interesting to see how Dos Santos affects Mexican attitudes about their black population. If nothing else, having a prominent Afro-Mexican player will bring awareness to a community long ignored.
Giovanni Dos Santos, the Afro-Mexican future of El Tricolor
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March 17th, 2007 09:53
Speaking as someone who has lived in London all his life, I can honestly say I had no idea that Mexico had any cross-section of its population that originated in Africa.
I was similarly unaware of Giovanni Dos Santos and the fact that he’d been snapped up by Barcelona. I sincerely hope he soon comes to the attention of people around the world so that people get to understand who he is and what he represents.
Well done on a very well-written piece!
March 17th, 2007 16:02
Chris - Glad you enjoyed the piece and thanks for the compliments. I enjoy your blog as well!
March 30th, 2007 19:34
There was another Afro-Mexican player who played for the Mexican national team in the 90’s. In fact, he was a back-up for Jorge Campos in the 94 World Cup. His name is Adrian Chavez, and he was well liked and still makes apperances on Televisa. So Issela was not the first afro-Mexican to play for the national team.
March 31st, 2007 08:30
Eduardo - Thanks for the information on Adrian Chavez. I didn’t know about him and am glad to have my research corrected!
July 28th, 2007 18:19
[...] numbers. The first slaves were brought to Costa Rica by Spanish conquistadors in the 16th century. Like in Mexico, the African population in Costa Rica began as a very small minority. Slavery was abolished in [...]
August 28th, 2007 05:59
u forgot to mention Robert Charles Forbes, Roberto Nurse, Tomas Campos and Joel Huiqui they all played in first division… Eder and Jonathan Dos Santos (Gio’s brothers)… some other afro-mexican playes that play in the mexican lower division are Peter Donkorh, Peter Erikson Thelemaque, Robson De Souza, Princess O’Brian Anota Anota (plays in Cruz Azul), Oscar Ayodele Otuyemi…
December 21st, 2007 15:09
This is an interesting post. I knew Gio dos Santos had a little extra in him
I find the whole Memin Piguin situation indicative of prevailing notions of race. In general, mainstream society believes that racism is a thing of the past, or that something is racist only if done with malicious intent. This can be said for the US, Mexico, European countries, the rest of Latin America, and anywhere else on the globe; and those are dangerous misconceptions. Memin Piguin is a “darkie with a heart of gold.” The leading Mexican opinion is that, because of the addition of “heart of gold” as a qualifying clause, the “darkie” part of it is non-offensive. Of course, darkie iconography depicts black people as more simian than homosapien, reducing people of African descent to humanoid animals of menial intellect and feral sensibility. But, because the comic book series looks upon Memin Piguin with compassion and not disdain, mainstream Mexican society believes that it couldn’t be called racist. I think more Mexican people would be up in arms if they didn’t regard Memin Piguin as an accurate depiction of black people, physical appearance notwithstanding. And mainstream Mexican society is critical of Americans who find Memin Piguin offensive. Riiiight. It seems like people all over the world are dangerously oblivious to their racism.
Is there a contingent of Mexicans who will stand up against this “friendly racism?” I mean, I’m sure it happens, in some form or another, with depictions of the Amerindian population, also. It seems that people of African descent everywhere but the US (and to a lesser extent, the UK) have no voice. Especially in Latin America and Europe, people of African descent need to demand their right to be heard and assert themselves in the political landscape of their countries. People all over the world need to be called out on their racism. If they aren’t, it will continue to be considered acceptible for Spanish soccer fans to make monkey noises at Thierry Henry and Samuel Eto’o during matches.
February 21st, 2008 08:22
Great article, but the first Afro-Mexican in the national team was Adrian Martinez, GK for America.
March 10th, 2008 08:17
where i live there are tons of Afro-Mexicans and they are super nice and very cool people and to be honest with you i love the mixing of cultures and races…and to be honest my DECENDENCIA is Japanese and Spanish …but I am Mexican…. i was born in la Costachica in San Luis Acatlan, Guerrero i like my life and i hope one day i can go to Japan …and go take a look around…
March 23rd, 2008 21:33
I know for sure that if Mexico national team consisted of more afro-mexicans they would be extremely good. The reason being is that here in the U.S africans dominate all the sports. Mexico should be aware of there black people.
March 25th, 2008 19:26
You know what i agree with you german but Mexico hardly gets Afro-Mexicans to play because everyone talks like for example they’ll say that they are not Mexicans that is what they say about Gio Dos Santos and Nery castillo so the Mexicans do not want their soccer to be underestimated.But i do agree if the had more players like Gio and more afro-mexicans they would not be good but extremely good because africans are very fast and very strong players.
April 7th, 2008 12:19
adrian chavez was indeed the first afro mexican.I remember watching him in the bench in the world cup ,well i have cousins in the state of oaxaca who have african in them they have strong curly hair,and dark feautures since oaxaca borders with veracruz alot of indigenous people mixed with black,i think there are approximetly 1 million afro mexicans.Most living in the states of Oaxaca veracruz guerrero,yucatan campeche and coahuila.I also agree with adrians opinion if mexicans were more aware of blacks in mexico the goverment would recognize them and built more schools and playing fields so that they can overcome their obscurity.I could only imagine if the FMF (mexican football federau) would breed these communities into soccer players they would be better contenders Adrian chavez i believe was 6′3 and if u see any mexican national team one thing they lack is height and they often get overtaken in corners.
June 8th, 2008 22:54
excuse me most of your coments in my opinion are racist and are not based on solid facts. if your logic is correct african nations would dominate the world cup becuose they are 100% afro and there atributes of strenth and speed are not diluted by other races genes. other nations in south america colombia, ecuador, have high percentages of afro players but are not what you consider world powers in soccer. someone mentioned the dominance of black players in the USA on the surface the coment seems to be true but if you look deeper you find the reasons for this fact not be raciel but social lets take boxing in the erly 1900’s ther where alot of champions of iresh,jewish and italian heretige today you have to look very hard to find a good fighter of that heretage much less a world champion. what went wrong? or maybe what we should ask is what went right for the groups mentioned most left poverty behind and are part of the middle class in the USA. and steer there children into sports that are more gentle than boxing, afro people in the USA until recently havent had the same acsees to education or opurtuities than european imagrents had so they concentrate alot on sports that will get them scollarchips to atend universitys in other words its like a lottery for the poor and like the lottery there are a lot more loosers than winners. to finish i would say that if mexico wants to win the world cup it needs to provide the infrastructure for 100% of mexican children starting with the education,health,and justice systems. i know that when this comes about that mexico will be a soccer power and the nation will prosper beyond our dreams for the good of all mexicans.
September 3rd, 2008 17:09
Great article but you made your mistake when you linked Dos Santos to Afro-Mexicans. His father is from Brazil while his mother is Mexican. He has nothing to with Africa unless you’re saying all humans came from that continent. However I seriously doubt that what you referring to.