TheAfro-Romani are people who are descended from both theRomani people and theAfrican diaspora. Notable Afro-Romani communities exist in Louisiana, United States and Cuba. There are also Romani andDom communities throughout Africa.
An Afro-Romani population exists in centralCuba. The Afro-Romani community in Cuba emerged due to intermarriage of enslaved and formerly enslaved Black and Romani people.[1]
EnslavedBritish Romani people were sometimes sent toJamaica during colonial rule. Some freeBlack Jamaicans owned Romani slaves and reports exist of Romani people as young as eleven being used for sexual purposes by both African and European slave owners.[2] John Atkins, a British slave owner and merchant, wrote in 1722 that the "Creoles" he visited in Jamaica spoke in "a kind of Gypsy gibberish that runs smoothest in swearing."[3]
Some of the earliest Romani people to arrive in the United States were brought to Louisiana in the 1500s.[4] An Afro-Romani community exists inSt. Martin Parish, Louisiana. Afro-Romani people in Louisiana are descended from both Black and Romani enslaved people. Between 1762 and 1800, the Spanish sent Romani slaves from Spain to theLouisiana colony inNew Spain.[5] The Afro-Romani community of St. Martin Parish formed through the intermarriage of formerly enslaved free Black and Romani people.[6]
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| Secondary Afro-American diaspora |
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