A black shadow with variegated nuances: black people in The colonial Antioquia

Abstract

T he colonial period in the Hispanic world was a hierarchical order in its social organization. The few elites had as a priority the segregation by making clear the differences in order to legitimize their power and authority over the inferior lineages. It was indeed how these elites maintained the “statu quo” which was a particular privilege in the social pyramid. It was through this unequal order the Hispanic elites created a gap between the ones in the higher position and the indigenous and the mix-raced groups, especially in relation to the black ones who were facing the slavery. From these segregated groups was possible to claim an ideal society throughout their discourses, and by dominating not only with weapons but also with the language. T his unequal social distribution turned the black man into “something” at hand to be manipulated, mistreated and even exploited. It was by making the black a “thing” the white elites legitimized the social differences, and the supremacy over the others, particularly the back ones, who were nothing but a shadow over their owner.