The Guardian

'We exist. We're here': Afro-Mexicans make the census after long struggle for recognition

The Afro-Mexican population are often overlooked in Mexico’s cultural mosaic, but this year marks a statistical first
Observers expect the census to put the current total at around 2 million – mostly in Guerrero, Oaxaca and Veracruz states. Photograph: AFP/AFP via Getty Images

When Bulmaro García encounters military checkpoints in Mexico’s southern Guerrero state, soldiers sometimes ask him to sing the national anthem to prove his nationality.

García, a black man from the remote Costa Chica region, always refuses, and instead schools the soldiers – usually from other parts of Mexico – in local history.

“We exist. We’re here. We occupy

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