The Black experience in Argentina is one colored by systemic racism, which is described as the way individuals, structures, and institutions uphold and perpetuate inequality on the basis of race (Cole, 2018). Racism in Argentina acts to erase Afro-Argentines and Afro-descendants and their contributions to the country. The fight for the visibility of Blacks in Buenos Aires is a constantly evolving struggle. Since the beginning of this battle in 1995, Afro-descendants living in Buenos Aires have sought ways to resist and combat the disenfranchisement they have endured. Afro-activists in Buenos Aires organize around finding ways to combat the invisibility of Blackness in Argentina while simultaneously uplifting the Black community. Drawing upon five qualitative interviews with Afro-Argentine activists, as well as ethnographic observations conducted in the summer of 2018, I demonstrate how the Black activist experience in Buenos Aires challenges systemic anti-Black racism and combats invisibility.
