AFRO-NETS> RFI: sickle cell anemia in Mexico through African heritage

[Ted Vincent <Fsln@aol.com>]

RFI: sickle cell anemia in Mexico through African heritage
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Dear Afro-Nets:

Are there reports of sickle cell anemia in Mexico?

For a decade I have studied the heritage of the estimated 300,000 Af-
rican slaves brought to colonial Mexico. Some people don't want to 
acknowledge an African heritage in Mexico. A friend recently received 
an e-mail from an irate Mexican lady who claimed, "All the talk of 
Africans in Mexico is a fraud. There is no sickle cell anemia in Mex-
ico, so that proves there were no Africans." She did not back up her 
claim that there is no sickle cell.

(By the way, speaking of blood tests, an international organization 
seeking bone marrow donors took blood samples from a large number of 
Mexican citizens in Tijuana and another group in Ciudad Juarez. The 
data, yet to be made public, found that nearly 70% of the people 
tested had, at least, 132nd African heritage, according to one of the 
testers).

Perhaps you could help me, even if you have no knowledge of Mexico 
and sickle cell, by referring me to someone who might have done Latin 
American or Caribbean based studies of the disease.

Thank you,

Ted Vincent
Author, The Legacy of Guerrero: Mexico's First Black Indian President 
mailto:Fsln@aol.com

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