Afro-Colombian integration in mestizo cities

Bogotá is a city of around 8 million inhabitants, composed of migrants from across Colombia, but mainly descendants from Spaniards or mestizos. Black or Afro-Colombian residents represent just 1.5% of the urban population. Increasingly, larger numbers of Afro-Colombians are migrating to the city for different reasons: internal conflict (internally displaced people) or the search for economic opportunities (economically displaced people), among others. Though racism in Colombia is not considered a social problem, in fact, racial discrimination persists in the imaginary of a large segment of the population, making the urban integration of Afro-Colombians a stressful and difficult process. As a result, many black settlements have emerged across the city, creating zones that separate them from the rest of the city, and stress the cultural traits and ethnic identity of their inhabitants. This paper tries to assess the urban dynamics that might explain the living conditions and the modes of insertion of Afro-Colombian residents in large cities like Bogotá that are both racially diverse and racially segregated.