[Gocamino] Slavery in Spanish colonies

[robert j toy]

Rosina...You are a wonderful writer and I have forwarded many of your 
letters to friends to help explain my affinity for El Camino. I feel bad 
that my first missive to /concerning you to this site has to be an 
attempt to correct one of your major points in your last post.
In addition to bicycling from Pamplona to Santiago in 2003 and 2004, I 
have traveled extensively in Mexico in the past 25 years. I often 
wondered at the appearance of citizens there that are obviously of 
African descent. I heard all the stories of escapees from wrecked 
slave-ships and runaway slaves form the North. In a sizeable body of 
literature, this has been exposed as a sugar-coating for a shameful 
past. For example, "A Legacy of Slavery" by Colin A. Palmer tells of 
200,00 Africans brought into Mexico (which, at the time included all of 
Central America and a sizeable portion of present day USA). Mercifully, 
slavery was abolished in Mexico at the time of independance from Spain 
in 1829 (35 years before USA).
Travel the Pacific coast from Acapulco to Guatemala and you will see 
many instances of a truly integrated society wherein dark skin, African 
features, and curly hair does not eliminate one from enjoying earthly 
and spiritual fruits. .Respectfully, Robert Toy