Moving to Mexico

I ran across a few Afro-Mexican people in Tlacotalpan, in Veracruz. In fact, one man made a point of telling me this. I don't know what % of residents would identify themselves that way.

I rarely see African-American tourists in Mexico, but I no longer visit the most popular tourist places like Cancun or Cabo San Lucas.

I was just in Cartagena Colombia for Christmas, that's a place that has a wide blend of colors, and an African-American wouldn't stand out, at least based on color. Though I know little about the Colombian culture and whether there's racism there or not.

Were not allowed to spend our money there because of the embargo and strict laws that's being applied against the Cuban economy.

Yes and the USA government makes it extremely expensive and time consuming to renounce your citizenship. They will tax you and try to control your life forever, wherever you reside.

I ran across a few Afro-Mexican people in Tlacotalpan, in Veracruz. In fact, one man made a point of telling me this. I don't know what % of residents would identify themselves that way.

In French-Mexican War, Nubian Egyptians were sent into the Rio Papalopan delta region (including Tlacotalpan and Alvarado) to fight for France because other soldiers were felled by tropical diseases the Nubians were not impacted by. So it's the Nubian influence that one sees in that region ... more so than Afro-Mestizos ... IMO.

That region also has a strong Chilean genetic influence (due to a cargo ship from Chile being stranded off the cost of Alvarado for a year and sexual relationships with locals), and also American (USA) genetic influence due to the U.S. soldiers that were stationed in the area along the Rio during the Mexico-American War.

When we discuss that part of Veracruz, and Veracruz generally, I miss the contributions of John Todd ... a former contributor on the TTMB who lived in Veracruz and was a local historian.

LW

Being black, I'm not sure where I would fit in. I'm retired, I have a decent pension at the age of 51 but even at that I'm worried for such transition to Mexico.

Nobody here is going to have the answers you seem to be looking for. You should be commended for the amount of research you're doing, and for the questions you're asking. Identify a location/city/town that you think greatly interests you (for reasons other than skin color) ... and rent an apartment/house to live-in. If you don't like the area or the people don't seem to respond to you in a manner you expect ... simply move-on to someplace else. There's no one set formula that applies to us all ... white, black, brown ... or yellow.

I don't know that you've answered my earlier comment ... about qualifying for a visa to reside in Mexico. Have you worked-through the regulations, yet?

LW

p.s.: Have you looked at a copy of the "People's Guide to Mexico"? If not, there's probably a copy in your local public library.

Yes, I have my temp resident card

You'll always be a gringo no matter your race. And as such, that'll be a bigger factor in how you're treated by locals. Even in Afro-Mexican communities, you'll always be an outsider. I think there's too much analysis-paralysis going on here.

Thanks for the response.

LW

For interest: last night I attended the Mexican workshop of the project ¨Anti-Racismo en America Latina en una Era Post-Racial¨ presented at the San Pablo Cultural Centre in Oaxaca, and talked briefly to the director Peter Wake from the University of Cambridge. One of the findings of their studies was that class dominates race, which include Mexico, Ecuador, Colombia and Brasil. Anyone interested in learning more about this can check out their website: https://www.lapora.sociology.cam.ac.uk/about

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