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Blackness, Indigeneity, Multiculturalism and Genomics in Brazil, Colombia and Mexico

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 May 2013

PETER WADE
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Abstract

Genomic research in Latin America has looked into the African, Amerindian and European ancestry of local populations. This article explores how indigeneity and blackness figure in genomic science in the light of previous and current representations of indigenous and Afro-descendent people. These categories have been cast as ‘other’ in Latin America, but they have occupied different locations in ‘structures of alterity’. I look briefly at these similarities and differences in the colonial and republican periods and in recent multiculturalist reforms. I look at the gendered sexual imagery surrounding each concept, before examining in detail how blackness and indigeneity figure in gendered ways in genomic science research on admixture and ancestry in Brazil, Colombia and Mexico. I conclude that, in the context of multiculturalism, genomics works to re-centre imaginaries of the nation around the mestizo and mixture, while casting blackness and indigeneity, in sexualised and gendered ways, as different kinds of others.

Spanish abstract

La genómica en Latinoamérica ha investigado la ‘ancestría’ africana, amerindia y europea de las poblaciones locales. Este artículo explora cómo la indigeneidad y la negritud figuran en la ciencia genómica a la luz de representaciones previas y actuales de los y las indígenas y afrodescendientes. Tales categorías han sido ubicadas como ‘los otros’ en América Latina, aunque han ocupado lugares diferentes en las ‘estructuras de alteridad’. Examino brevemente estas similitudes y diferencias en los periodos colonial y republicano y en las recientes reformas multiculturales. También exploro la imaginería generizada y sexualizada que rodea a cada concepto, antes de examinar en detalle cómo la negritud y la indigeneidad aparecen en forma generizada dentro de la investigación genómica relacionada con los mestizajes y la ancestría en Brasil, Colombia y México. Concluyo que, en el contexto del multiculturalismo, la genómica trabaja para recentrar los imaginarios de la nación alrededor del mestizaje y la mezcla, al mismo tiempo que ubica a la negritud e indigeneidad, en formas sexualizadas y generizadas, como maneras diferentes de otredad.

Portuguese abstract

Pesquisas genômicas na América Latina investigam a ‘ancestralidade’ africana, ameríndia e européia das populações locais. O artigo explora como a indianidade e a negritude figuram na ciência genômica sob a ótica de representações prévias e atuais de pessoas afrodescendentes e indígenas. Estas categorias foram retratadas como ‘outras’ na América Latina, porém, têm ocupado posições diferentes nas ‘estruturas da alteridade’. Analiso brevemente essas semelhanças e diferenças durante os períodos colonial e republicano e durante reformas multiculturalistas recentes. Considero a imagética sexualizada e basada em estereótipos de gênero que envolve cada conceito, antes de examinar detalhadamente como a negritude e a indianidade figuram em formas relacionadas ao gênero em pesquisas científicas de genômica acerca da miscigenação da descendência no Brasil, Colômbia e México. Concluo que, no contexto do multiculturalismo, a genômica trabalha para mais uma vez centrar os imaginários sobre as nações em torno da mestiçagem e mistura, enquanto a negritude e a indianidade são representados de formas sexualizadas e relacionadas ao gênero, como diferentes tipos de outros.

Keywords

racemestizajegeneticsgendersexualitymestizosBrazilColombiaMexicorazamestizajegenéticagénerosexualidadmestizosBrasilColombiaMéxicoraçamestiçagemgenéticagênerosexualidademestiçosBrasilColômbiaMéxico
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Latin American Studies , Volume 45 , Issue 2 , May 2013 , pp. 205 - 233
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013 

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References

1 The article is reproduced at http://cacreview.blogspot.com/2007/04/indigenous-founding-mothers-of-americas.html.

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24 Peru recognised the indigenous community in 1925; national days for the indígena were established in Bolivia (1937), Brazil (1943), Peru (1930) and Uruguay (2000); institutes were set up in Ecuador (1943), Mexico (1940), Guatemala (1945) and Brazil (1910).

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47 Silva-Zolezzi, Irma et al. , ‘Analysis of Genomic Diversity in Mexican Mestizo Populations to Develop Genomic Medicine in Mexico’, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 106: 21 (2009), pp. 8611–6CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed; Wang et al., ‘Geographic Patterns’.

48 Pena, Sérgio D. J., Bastos-Rodrigues, L., Pimenta, J. R. and Bydlowski, S. P., ‘DNA Tests Probe the Genomic Ancestry of Brazilians’, Brazilian Journal of Medical and Biological Research, 42: 10 (2009), pp. 870–6CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed; Pena, Sérgio D. J., Carvalho-Silva, Denise R., Alves-Silva, Juliana, Prado, Vânia F. and Santos, Fabrício R., ‘Retrato molecular do Brasil’, Ciência Hoje, 159 (2000), pp. 16–25Google Scholar.

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50 See http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/6284806.stm. This project explored many dimensions of Afro-Brazilian roots, but with a marked emphasis on genetics (see www.bbc.co.uk/portuguese/noticias/cluster/2007/05/070427_raizesafrobrasileiras.shtml). This reflects not only the public debates in Brazil about raced-based affirmative actions, but also the public dissemination of genetic research, such as Pena et al., ‘Retrato molecular do Brasil’.

51 Interview with Michael Kent, 2010.

52 Yunis, Juan J., Yunis, Emilio J., Acevedo, Luis E. and Campo, David S., ‘Population Data of Y-STR Minimal Haplotypes in a Sample of Caucasian-Mestizo and African Descent Individuals of Colombia’, Forensic Science International, 151: 2–3 (2005), pp. 307–13CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

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54 Silva-Zolezzi et al., ‘Analysis of Genomic Diversity’. INMEGEN was created as one of Mexico's state medical institutes in order to develop the idea of public health policy and medical practice tailored to the genetic profile of the Mexican population, and to address growing health problems such as obesity and diabetes; see López Beltrán (ed.), Genes (&) mestizos.

55 Other methods of acquiring markers of Amerindian ancestry are by using ancient DNA samples recovered from archaeological sites, or by inferring ancient Amerindian genetic markers from the DNA of mestizo populations.

56 A number of critiques of projects such as the Human Genome Diversity Project and the Genographic Project highlight that the sampling of present-day populations, seen as ‘isolated’, tends to erase historical change: see Nash, Catherine, ‘Genetics, Race and Relatedness: Human Mobility and Difference in the Genographic Project’, Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 102 (2012), pp. 1–18CrossRefGoogle Scholar; and Marks, Jonathan, ‘“We're Going to Tell These People Who They Really Are”: Science and Relatedness’, in Franklin, Sarah and McKinnon, Susan (eds.), Relative Values: Reconfiguring Kinship Studies (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2001), pp. 355–83Google Scholar.

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66 Salzano and Bortolini, The Evolution and Genetics of Latin American Populations, p. 309.

67 Shriver, Mark D. and Kittles, Rick A., ‘Genetic Ancestry and the Search for Personalized Genetic Histories’, in Koenig, Lee and Richardson (eds.), Revisiting Race in a Genomic Age, pp. 201–14Google Scholar.

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73 The study by Rojas et al. included 15 Colombian urban populations classified as mestizo: mtDNA analysis showed an average of 6 per cent African and 83 per cent Amerindian ancestry. See Rojas et al., ‘Genetic Make Up and Structure of Colombian Populations’. The study by Wang et al. sampled ‘mestizos’ in 13 locations spread across Latin America: see Wang et al., ‘Geographic Patterns’. These data also appear in an overview by Andrés Ruiz Linares, ‘Human Genetic Variation: Americas’, in Aravinda Chakravarti (ed.), Who Are We? Human Diversity and Race from a Contemporary Genetics Perspective (forthcoming). The mtDNA analysis reported in this overview shows a greater proportion of Amerindian than African ancestry for all samples, although this is only marginally so for the sample from southern Brazil (Rio Grande do Sul). (These precise percentage measurements of ancestry are estimates and are influenced by the nature of the sample taken and the kind of genetic markers and reference populations that are used for the analysis.)

74 Martínez-Cruzado, Juan C. et al. , ‘Reconstructing the Population History of Puerto Rico by Means of MtDNA Phylogeographic Analysis’, American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 128: 1 (2005), pp. 131–55CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed.

75 Alves-Silva et al., ‘The Ancestry of Brazilian MtDNA Lineages’. The criteria for ‘white’ in this study are not defined, but many Brazilian studies rely on self-classification, making reference to the standard census categories.

76 Bortolini et al., ‘African-Derived South American Populations’.

77 Rojas et al., ‘Genetic Make Up and Structure of Colombian Populations’.

78 This is suggested by X-chromosome analysis, which highlights female contributions as mothers contribute two X-chromosomes to offspring while men only contribute one. X-chromosome data for some mestizo samples indicate the significance of African ancestry; see Wang et al., ‘Geographic Patterns’.

79 Marrero et al., ‘Pre- and Post-Columbian Gene and Cultural Continuity’, p. 168.

80 Carvalho-Silva et al., ‘The Phylogeography of Brazilian Y-Chromosome Lineages’.

81 Bedoya et al., ‘Admixture Dynamics in Hispanics’.

82 Rojas et al., ‘Genetic Make Up and Structure of Colombian Populations’.

83 On Chile, see Ruiz Linares, ‘Human Genetic Variation’.

84 Rojas et al., ‘Genetic Make Up and Structure of Colombian Populations’.

85 Quilombos are notionally settlements founded by fugitive slaves, but nowadays the term may include settlements that have little historical relation to escaped slaves.

86 Palha et al., ‘Male Ancestry Structure’, p. 477; Ribeiro, Guilherme Galvarros Bueno Lobo et al. , ‘Afro-Derived Brazilian Populations: Male Genetic Constitution Estimated by Y-Chromosomes STRs and AluYAP Element Polymorphisms’, American Journal of Human Biology, 21: 3 (2009), p. 355CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed.

87 Bortolini et al., ‘African-Derived South American Populations’, p. 552. These are imposed criteria which obey the researchers’ perceptions of appearance and ancestry and which may be different from others’ perceptions in a country in which such classifications are quite varied. Not all studies use such objectivist criteria; see Santos et al., ‘Color, Race and Genomic Ancestry’.

88 Bortolini et al., ‘African-Derived South American Populations’, pp. 558–60.

89 See www.dane.gov.co/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=307&Itemid=124.

90 Moutinho, Razão, ‘cor’ e desejo. See also Pinho, Osmundo de Araújo, ‘Etnografias do brau: corpo, masculinidade e raça na reafricanização em Salvador’, Revista Estudos Feministas, 13: 1 (2005), pp. 127–45CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Viveros Vigoya, ‘Dionysian Blacks’; and Nagel, Joane, Race, Ethnicity, and Sexuality: Intimate Intersections, Forbidden Frontiers (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003)Google Scholar.

91 See the literature cited in note 19.

92 Franklin, ‘Biologization Revisited’; Nelson, Alondra, ‘The Factness of Diaspora: The Social Sources of Genetic Genealogy’, in Koenig, Lee and Richardson (eds.), Revisiting Race in a Genomic Age, pp. 253–68Google Scholar; Wade (ed.), Race, Ethnicity and Nation; Condit, Celeste M., Parrott, Roxanne L., Harris, Tina M., Lynch, John and Dubriwny, Tasha, ‘The Role of “Genetics” in Popular Understandings of Race in the United States’, Public Understanding of Science, 13: 3 (2004), pp. 249–72CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed.

93 Fry, Peter, Yvonne Maggie, Simone Monteiro and Ricardo Ventura Santos (eds.), Divisões perigosas: políticas raciais no Brasil contemporâneo (Rio de Janeiro: Civilização Brasileira, 2007)Google Scholar.

94 Pena et al., ‘Retrato molecular do Brasil’.

95 Neto, Verlan Valle Gaspar and Santos, Ricardo Ventura, ‘Biorrevelações: testes de ancestralidade genética em perspectiva antropológica comparada’, Horizontes Antropológicos, 35 (2011), pp. 227–55CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

96 Yunis Turbay, Por qué somos así?. See also http://especiales.universia.net.co/galeria-de-cientificos/ciencias-de-la-salud/emilio-yunis-turbay.html.

97 Barragán, Carlos Andrés, ‘Molecular Vignettes of the Colombian Nation: The Place(S) of Race and Ethnicity in Networks of Biocapital’, in Gibbon, Ventura Santos and Sans (eds.), Racial Identities, Genetic Ancestry, and Health in South America, pp. 41–68Google Scholar. See also www.javeriana.edu.co/Humana/humana.html.

98 See www.inmegen.gob.mx.