Precarious Freedoms: Intergenerational Divisions within the Black Family in Postcolonial Córdoba, Argentina

Abstract: This article explores the intergenerational dynamics within the Black family in postcolonial Córdoba, Argentina. It delves into the difficult reality that Black emancipation did not define freedom. Instead "free" status remained a precarious existence to which some free and free(d) Black parents clung by differentiating themselves from the enslaved population. Through the examination of marriage dissent court cases that featured African-descended families as plaintiffs and defendants, this article demonstrates that the maintenance of a social hierarchy that discriminated against the enslaved did not only emanate from external influences, such as governing authorities and policies, but the African-descendant population also internalized and upheld it.