Afro-Asian facts for kids

Afro-Asians or African-Asians are people who have family roots in both Asia and Africa. You might also hear them called Black Asians or Blasians. Throughout history, Afro-Asian groups have sometimes faced difficulties because of how people moved around and how societies changed. The term "Afro-Asian" is often used to describe people with a direct African background.

A Look at History

West Asia and Africa

Long ago, people from Ethiopia traveled to South Arabia in the 2nd and 4th centuries. By 532 AD, they had even taken over Yemen. After this, many more Africans came to South Arabia, often as people who were forced into labor. Men were usually traded, and women often worked as servants for Arab leaders. Children with mixed backgrounds were sometimes seen as more important in South Arabia. Two such children even became Princes of the Abbasid Caliphate.

Around this time, the Arabian army, called the Sabaens, moved into Ethiopia. In Iraq, Africans who spoke Bantu languages were known as Zanj. Many Zanj people were forced to work in very tough conditions in Iraq. This led to a big uprising called the Zanj Rebellion, which lasted for fifteen years (from 869 to 883 AD). African rebels took control of many cities in Iraq. This made some Arabs move to African countries like Kenya, Somalia, and Tanzania. Today, someone with both African and Arab heritage is often called Afro-Arab.

In the 10th century, a former worker named Najah took power. He started the Banu Najah dynasty, which was the first royal Afro-Asian family.

South Asia

As early as 1100 AD, African people were brought to India by Arab traders. These Africans came from parts of eastern Africa where Bantu languages were spoken. They became known as Siddi or Habshi, which is an Arabic word meaning "Black African." Today, the Siddi population in India is smaller due to marriages over time. Someone with both Indian and African family roots is called an Indo-African. In South Asia, there are over 15,000 people who identify as Afro-Asian.

United States

In 1882, a law called the Chinese Exclusion Act was passed in the United States. This law made it hard for Chinese workers who stayed in the U.S. to be with their wives back in China. Many White Americans saw Chinese workers as taking jobs, so Chinese people were often treated poorly. Because of this, many Chinese men settled in black communities and married black women.

Some famous people in the U.S. are Afro-Asian. Tiger Woods, a well-known golf player, has a diverse background. His father is half African American, and his mother is half Thai. R&B singer Amerie is another famous Afro-Asian American; her father is black and her mother is Korean. Hines Ward, a former NFL football player, is also Afro-Asian. He played for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

According to the census in 2000, there were 106,782 Afro-Asian people in the United States.

The West Indies

In the 1860s, Chinese people were brought to the West Indies for work and trade. It became common for Chinese men to marry black women because there were more black women than Chinese women there. A census in 1946 showed that 12,394 Chinese people lived in Jamaica and Trinidad. Of these, 5,515 were Chinese Jamaican, and 3,673 were Chinese-Trinidadians.

In Guyana and Haiti, there is also a small number of people who have Asian heritage. Haitian painter Edouard Wah was born to a Chinese father and a Haitian mother.

United Kingdom

The UK has a large population of people with mixed heritage. About 1.4% of the population, which is around 850,000 people, are mixed race. The biggest groups are people with mixed White and Black backgrounds, and mixed White and Asian backgrounds. However, there are over 70,000 UK citizens who are mixed race but don't fit these descriptions. A large number of these are Afro-Asian. Famous Afro-Asian Britons include Naomi Campbell and David Jordan.

Images for kids

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  Malagasy ethnic Merina children

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  Cape Coloured school children of South Africa

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  A Haitian Marabou man

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  Afro-Japanese-American enka singer Jero

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  English model, actress and singer Naomi Campbell is of Afro-Chinese-Jamaican descent.

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  The Siddis have partial South Asian and Zanj ancestry.