The Indians of Africa, Ancestral Prejudices and the Constituent Process in Chile 2020-2022

Abstract

The failed Constitutional Convention (2020-2022) reactivated the discussion about the recognition of people of African descent, which led to polarizing positions both in favor of and around their recognition. The main point of contention was related to their pre-existence and their right to be constitutionally recognized, which results in access to full rights as a people vis-à-vis the Chilean nation state. In the discussions of the constituents, supported by intellectuals from different areas, not only has information been lacking, but ancestral prejudices have been activated that, anchored in national history, propose that in Chile there were never black people and that their demand could never be equivalent to that of the indigenous peoples originating from the continent. When the exclusion of Afro-descendants was ratified in the second constitutional proposal, it was confirmed that racism, xenophobia and discrimination predominate in Chile, although for some the mere fact of having thought about including them and currently having materialized the incorporation of the question about Afro-descendants in the 2024 Census shed light that despite everything, unprecedented progress has been made in the recognition of Afro-descendants in Chile.