Afro-Asian refers
to a person of mixed African and Asian ancestry. The term also can refer to modern
descendants of aboriginal, mostly uncontacted, Asian ethnic groups such as the Negritos. Historically, Afro-Asian populations have been
marginalized as a result of human migration and social conflict. Much has not
changed for many within the global, present-day, Afro-Asian population.
Africa
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Katanga Afro-Japanese
During the 1970s, an increased demand
for copper and cobalt attracted Japanese investments
in the mineral-rich southeastern region of Katanga Province. Over a 10-year period, more than
1,000 Japanese miners relocated to the region, confined to a strictly male-only
camp. Arriving without family or spouses, the men often sought social
interaction outside the confounds of their camps. In search of intimacy with the
opposite sex, sometimes resulting in cohabitation, the men openly engaged in
interracial dating and relationships, a practice mostly embraced by the local
society. As a result, a number of Japanese miners fathered children with native
Congolese women. However, most of the mixed race infants resulting from these
unions died, soon after birth. Multiple testimonies of local people suggest
that the infants were poisoned by a Japanese lead physician and nurse working
at the local mining hospital. Subsequently, the circumstances would have
brought the miners shame as most of them already had families back in their
native Japan. The practice forced many native Katangan mothers to hide their
children by not reporting to the hospital to give birth.
Today, fifty Afro-Japanese have formed
an association of Katanga
Infanticide survivors. The
organization has hired legal counsel seeking a formal investigation into the
killings. The group submitted official inquiry to both the Congolese and Japanese governments, to no avail. Issues
specific to this group include having no documentation of their births, since
not having been born in the local hospital spared their lives. The total number
of survivors is unknown.
Equatorial Guinea
The mid-19th century saw about 500
Chinese laborers and indentured servants, along with a handful from India stealthily
imported to the island of Fernando
Pothrough the once Portuguese occupied Macau.
While most of these servants returned to their homelands at the end of their
servitude, a few remained, settling and marrying into the local population. One
example is immigrant East Indian laborer Franciso
Kashu who remained in Moka after the death of his last living
relative. He married the daughter of one of the last Bubi kings, producing several
Indo-Equatoguinean children.
Kenya
Zheng He's fleet
In 1999, Nicholas Kristof of
the New York Times reported
a surprising encounter on the island of Pate, where he found a village of stone huts. He
talked to an elderly man living in the village who said that he was a
descendant of Chinese explorers who were shipwrecked there centuries before.
The Chinese had supposedly traded with the locals, and had even loaded giraffes
onto their ship to take back to China. However, the Chinese ran aground on a
nearby reef. Kristof found evidence that confirmed the man's story. Such
evidence included the Asian features of the people in the village, plus
Asian-looking porcelain artifacts. These descendents of Zheng He's fleet occupy both Pate and Lamu Islands.
New immigration
New interest in Kenya's natural
resources has attracted over $1 billion of investment from Chinese firms. This
has propelled new development in Kenya's infrastructure with Chinese firms
bringing in their own male workers to build roads. The temporary residents
usually arrive without their spouses and families. Thus, a rise of incidents
involving local college-aged females has resulted in an increased rate of
Afro-Chinese infant births to single Kenyan mothers.
Madagascar
The population of Madagascar is
primarily a mixture of various degrees of Austronesian and Bantu settlers
fromSoutheast Asia (Borneo) and Southeast Africa (primarily Mozambique), respectively.
Years of intermarriages created the Malagasy people. They primarily speak Malagasy, an Austronesian language
with Bantu influences.
In the study of "The Dual Origin
of the Malagasy in Island Southeast Asia and East Africa: Evidence from
Maternal and Paternal Lineages" shows the Bantu maternal origin to be 38%
and Paternal 51% while the Southeast Asian paternal to be 34% and maternal 62%. In the study of Malagasy, autosomal
DNA shows the highlanders ethnic group like Merina are
almost an even mixture of Southeast Asian and Bantu origin, while the coastal
ethnic group have much higher Bantu mixture in their autosomal DNA suggesting
they are mixture of new Bantu migrants and the already established highlander
ethnic group. Maximum-likelihood estimates favour a scenario in which
Madagascar was settled approximately 1200 years ago by a very small group of
women of approximately 30. The Malagasy people existed through intermarriages
between the small founding population.
Intermarriage between Chinese men and
native Malagasy women
was not uncommon. Several
thousands Cantonese men
intermarried and cohabited with Malagasy women. 98% of the Chinese traced their
origin from Guangdong more specifically Cantonese district of Shunde. For
example, the census alone in 1954 census found 1, 111 "irregular"
Chinese-Malagasy unions, and 125 legitimate, i.e., legally married. Registered
by their mothers under a Malagasy name.
Mauritius
Approximately 68% of the population is
of Indo-Pakistani origin. About 25% of the population is Creole (of mixed
French and African descent), and there are small numbers of people of Chinese
and Franco-Mauritian descent.
Nigeria
Since the 1970s, Nigeria has seen a
slow, but steady, increase in the immigrant Filipino population
drawn by the oil industry. Established in 1973, the Philippine Barangay Society
of Nigeria addresses issues specific to over 1700 Nigerized Filipinos living in the country. This
acculturation has resulted in a small, but growing, number of biracial
Nigerian-Filipinos births. Most of these children are parented by Filipino
mothers and Nigerian fathers.
Réunion
The native Kaf population has a diverse range of
ancestry stemming from colonial Chinese and Indian peoples. They also descent
from African slaves brought to the island from countries like Mozambique, Guinea, Senegal, Madagascar, Tanzania and Zambia.
Seychelles
More than 70% of native population has
Afro-Asian ancestry stemming from African, Malagasy, Indian and Chinese
peoples, combined with additional French and British origins. However, the
demographic is specifically proud of their African/Malagasy heritage
and have formed an institute promoting their identity and cultural tolerance.
South Africa
The Cape Coloured population
descend from indigenous Khoisan and Xhosa peoples; European immigrants;
andMalagasy, Ceylonese and South-East Asian (primarily
Indonesian) laborers and slaves brought by the Dutch from
the mid-17th Century to the late 18th Century. The majority of Coloureds,
particularly in the Western Cape and Northern Cape, speak Afrikaans as
a first language, while those in other parts of South Africa tend to speak English as
well. Coloureds with Javanese or
other Indonesian ancestry
may often be regarded as Cape Malay and
are primarilyMuslims, while the majority of Coloureds are Christian (generally Protestant) or agnostic. Due to similar social adversities
experienced under the Apartheid regime
from the late 1940s to the late 1980s, Coloured and Indigenous South African
communities generally fall under the Black social
category when it comes to employment and affirmative action policies.
DNA of South Africa's ethnic
The mtDNA study of ethnic people from
South Africa shows substantial African genetic mtDNA contribution in both theCape Malay and South African Indians.
mtDNA of cape Malay shows 10% African mtDNA contribution in their gene pool
including 20% (1 in 5) of South African Indians, there appears to be no African
Y-DNA contribution detected but this could be due to the fact that the sample
size was small. mtDNA study also revealed that about 1 in 10 South African
Black people have mtDNA lineages derived from Eurasian (3.0%) and Asian of Indian
origins (7.1%)
Cape Coloureds
There is significant genetic mixture of
East/Southeast Asian, Indian, African and European DNA in the modern ethnic
group of Cape coloured. The highest genetic contribution to
the Cape coloured are from African maternal mtDNA displaying a very high
frequencies at 79.04% followed by African Paternal Y-DNA frequencies at 45.18%.
European Genetic contribution is the second highest after Africans with a high
frequency of 37.72% from European Y-DNA but with low contribution of European
mtDNA at 4.26%. The Indian genetics also displayed significant frequencies, the
mtDNA contribution stands at 13.85% and Y-DNA at 9.65%, and lastly the
East/South East Asian Y-DNA in the Cape coloured also displayed a significant
frequency at 8.54% but with a very low contribution of Southeast East Asian
mtDNA at only 1.6%, some of the Southeast Asian contribution from the Cape
colored gene pool may have partially derived from both Southeast East Asian and
Malagasy who both also exhibit haplogroups O1a and O2a and B4a, B5a, F1c. The
only acception of the completely East/Southeast Asian lineage in Cape coloured
are haplogroup O3-M122 (3.58%) and K-M9 (1.32%) both which are found among
Chinese and Southeast Asians but not among the Malagasy.[3]
Asia
China
Contemporary China
Currently, Afro-Asians births are on
the incline resulting from the arrival of African-American students to cities
like Nanjing, Hangzhou and Shanghai. Another contributing factor is the
strengthened trade relationships between Africa and China which has invited an
influx of African immigrants into China, primarilyNigerians who
have formed a small, yet progressive, community in the country. In October
2010, Chinese officials estimated about 500 mix marriages between African and
Chinese. In places such as Guangzhou, a
progressive population of about 10,000 African entrepreneurs continue to
thrive.
China's new emerging population of
Afro-Asians, also, includes Pate and Lamu Island descendants of ancient
shipwrecked Chinese explorers. Awarded Chinese citizenship by the
Chinese government, many students have been provided full scholarships to
Universities in China. Among China's most famous Afro-Asian natives are Shanghai born Lou Jing who,
in 2009, garnered national gossip as she rose to fame competing on popular
reality TV showDragon TV's Go Oriental Angel, and half Chinese and half South
African volleyball player Ding Hui.
India
Slave trade and colonial era
The more recently emerged Afro-Asian
population, the Siddi,
result from the slave trade during Muslim, Portuguese and British occupation in
India between the 7th and 19th centuries. Under a slightly different slave
system from that of the Atlantic slave trade,
slaves usually worked as domestics, tradesmen or
military personnel and were encouraged to assimilate and intermarry within the
existing population. With their own unique cultural identity, the population is
about 50,000 strong. About a third of the Siddi reside in the state of Karnataka.
New hybridization
Very recently evolved out of
geographical and social isolation, the Andamanese people of the Andaman and Nicobar
Islandscurrently face a high degree of genocide and exploitation.
Many sub-clans and ethnic dialects have been driven into extinction in a short
period of time. This has resulted in ethnic and cultural dilution with a high
rate of interbreeding and intermarriage within the mainland Indian population
resulting a growing, unique, population.
Japan
In recent history, the hike in the
Afro-Japanese population has been linked to the American occupation of Japan
following the end of World War II, where Afro-Japanese children were
born through either rape, or legally binding marriage. Thus, over the years, an
increased number of African-American male/Japanese female unions has produced a
culturally hybrid Black Japanese-American population living in Japan. Once
given preferential treatment during the American Military presence in Japan,
the currently biracial population faces severe public backlash and marginalization
due to the reemergence of ethnic-based nationalism in Japan. These unions
between American GI's and Asian women have also contributed to the increase
Afro-Asian population in the United States as many Asian wives accompanied
their husbands in returning and settling in the U.S. Subsequently, many
Afro-Japanese are products of unions between native Japanese and continental
Africans due to the increased numbers of immigrant Africans, As well as Afro
Latin Americans mostly Brazilians.
Notables
Notable Afro-Japanese include American author and playwright Velina Hasu Houston who was born in territorial waters off
the coast of Japan to an African-American father and a native born Japanese
mother of partial Japanese ancestry. Popular American-born enka singer Jero was born into a multi-generational
Afro-Japanese-American family and immigrated back to the birth country of his
grandmother. He has become one of the most famous Black/African descendants in
the country. There are also native born wrestler Aja Kong, former professional basketball player Michael Takahashi and pop/r&b singer Thelma Aoyama who
were all born to African-American fathers and Japanese mothers.
Afro-fusion in Japanese media
Other resident Black African
descendants famous in Japanese media include native born ethnic
African-American-Korean pop singer Crystal Kay and
American born, ethnic African-American, actor Dante Carver and
Beauty Queen Ariana Miyamoto.
Malay Peninsula
The aboriginal Negrito population
of the Malay Peninsula arrived
before the Common era. Their specific genetic ties are
uncertain, but they are thought to genetic ties to the Aeta peoples of the
Philippines. This would make them, at least partially per scientific
definition, Australo-Melanesians.
Ancient migration
The first wave of African migrants
arrived on the Andaman and Nicobar
Islands over 70,000
years ago. Present day descendants of these ancient arrivals, the Andamanese people, had been fully isolated from Indian society and the Western
world only until a few decades ago. The ethnic group carries genetic traits
linking them, directly, to continental Africans as well as fellow aboriginal
Asian populations from countries such as Tibet and Japan.
The most notable Great Andamanese is that late Boa Sr. who
died in 2010 as the last speaker of the Aka-Bo language which
was specific to her sub-clan. Arriving thousands of years ago, aboriginal Negrito inhabitants,
along with other Australo-Melanesians, arrived thousands of years ago. Today, aboriginal
Negrito populations are distributed across Asia alongside other Asian
populations.
New immigration
Most Afro-Asians in the Philippines are
products of foreign military occupation, mainly resulting from African-American
GI parentage. However, in 2011 the The
Nigerian Family Association notified
the Republic of the Philippines Department of Foreign Affairs of its formation,
opening membership to a growing number interracial
Nigerian-Filipino/Filipino-Nigerian families, and their children, living in the
country.
Among the country's most recognizable
Afro-Asians are half African-American/Filipino r&b singers Jaya Ramsey, Mau Marceloand Luke Mejares.
South Korea
Currently, South Korea has the largest
Afro-Asian population in the Far East. The U.S. occupation in South
Koreabetween 1950 and 1954 resulted in a multitude of Afro-Asian
births, mostly between African-American servicemen and native South Korean
women. While many of these births have been to married Black/Korean interracial
couples, others have been born out-of-wedlock through
prostitution. Already facing the dilemma of 85,000 children left homeless
throughout the country after the Korean War, South Korea saw a spike in orphaned
Black-Korean infants. Often, the Afro-Korean orphans were purposely starved, as
the society deemed mixed-raced children less worthy of food needed by non-mixed
Korean children. In some areas, the mixed-raced youth were even denied
education. In 1955, the U.S.
State Department made
a public plea asking American families to open their doors to the ostracized
youth and in 1956 the Holt Adoption Programlaunched
a gateway for Christian faith-based adoption of children of G.I.
soldiers that also
included Eurasian offspring. However, in addition to the race-based
discrimination faced in their country of birth, Afro-Korean orphans were still
picked over by adopting American families based on skin color preferences.
Adjacently, there is, general, stigma placed on Afro-Koreans based on
illegitimacy, low socio-economic status, low educational attainment and
aesthetics.
Seoul, Korea houses
a non-ethnic Korean, and non-Asian, descended (albeit, mostly hybridized in
ancestry) African/Black descended population. Native-born, migrant and
immigrant, most in this group have ties to the United States or to the United States Armed
Forces. As a result, some have deeply rooted family ties in South
Korea, for several generations. The population also includes Black continental
African immigrants. Many work in the South Korean education system as foreign
language teachers, mainly teaching English.
One of South Korea's most notable
Afro-Asians is R&B singer Insooni who
was born to an African-American father and Korean mother.
Notable Koreans of Black American
descent:
·
Insooni
Sri Lanka
The Sri Lanka Kaffirs are an ethnic group in Sri Lanka who
are partially descended from 16th century Portuguese traders
and Bantu slaves
who were brought by them to work as labourers and soldiers to fight against the Sinhala Kings.
They are very similar to the Zanj-descended
populations in Iraq and Kuwait, and are known in Pakistan as Sheedis and
in India as Siddis. The Kaffirs spoke a distinctive creole based
on Portuguese,
the Sri Lanka Kaffir
language, now extinct. Their cultural heritage includes the dance styles Kaffringna and Manja and their popular form of dance music Baila.
The term Kaffir is said to mean
'non-believer'. It does not hold the same meaning in Sri Lanka as it does in
countries like South Africa, where it is used as a racial slur.
Vietnam
During the Vietnam War, African-American servicemen
had children with local Vietnamese women.
Some of these children were abandoned by the Vietnamese family, or sent to
orphanages. Many orphans and children were airlifted to adopting families in
the United States in 1975 during "Operation Babylift"
before the fall of South Vietnam. The Afro-Vietnamese (or Afro-Amerasian)
children suffered much discrimination in Vietnam at that time. There was also
some controversy as to how these orphaned Afro-Amerasian children were placed
in new homes in the United States.
Pakistan
The Siddis or Makranis are an ethnic group
inhabiting India and Pakistan. Members are descended from Bantu peoples from
the African Great Lakes region. Some were merchants, sailors
and mercenaries. Others were indentured servants,
but the vast majority were brought to the Indian subcontinent as slaves by Arab and Portuguese
merchants. The Siddi community is currently estimated at around 20,000–55,000
individuals, with Karnataka, Gujarat and Hyderabadin India and Makran and Karachi in
Pakistan as the main population centres. Siddis are primarily Sufi Muslims, although some are Hindus and others Roman Catholic Christians.
Narang et al. (2011) examined the autosomal DNA of Siddis in India. According to the
researchers, about 58% of the Siddis' ancestry is derived from Bantu peoples.
The remainder is associated with local Indo-European-speaking
North and Northwest Indian populations, due to recent admixture events.
However, Guha et al. (2012) observed few genetic differences between the Makrani
of Pakistan and adjacent populations. According to the authors, the genome-wide
ancestry of the Makrani was essentially the same as that of the neighboring
Indo-European speaking Balochi and
Dravidian-speaking Brahui.
Reference:
https://en.wikipedia.org/
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