Cipriano Reyes and the paradox of a non-diasporic “negro” identity in Argentina

EZEQUIEL ADAMOVSKY

Interdependencies of Social Categorisations

Vervuert / Iberoamericana

Lugar: Frankfurt; Año: 2013; p. 91 - 114

“Cipriano Reyes and the paradox of a non-diasporic “negro” identity in Argentina”, en Célleri, Daniela; Schwarz, Tobias; Wittger, Bea (Ed.): Interdependencies of Social Categorisations, Frankfurt a.M, Vervuert / Iberoamericana, 2013, pp. 91-114. ISBN: 9788484897019 The historiography of the 20th century lower classes in Argentina has neglected the impact of differences of colour among Argentineans. The aim of this presentation is to argue that hints of a non-diasporic “negro” identity can be traced in Argentina’s 20th century. Reactions to the discrimination on “racial” grounds in the job market and in the political arena can indeed be found. However, they rarely appeared explicitly in the public sphere, but rather indirectly, through the use of certain keys and symbols that allude to the negro mark. The presence of this non-confrontational strategy will be explored by studying one of the rare cases in which it was explicitly formulated. In 1945 and 1946 Cipriano Reyes–a rank-and-file union organiser–played a key role in the birth of Peronism. His political imagination at that time included a re-definition of the national “melting pot” and a discussion of the frontiers of inclusion/exclusion of the Argentine nation.