Panama’s National Census day is this weekend, Sunday May 16, and for the first time will include a question “Does any one in this home consider themselves to be black or Afrodescendant.” 

While some have objected to the inclusion of the question, others like Carmela Lowe de Gobern, publisher of Panama Cyberspace News welcome it as a step towards raising public awareness of black identify.
Lowe, who is on the board of SAMAAP (Society of Friends of the West Indian Museum of Panama ) sees it as “a positive step for us as a people” in raising “awareness of our identity”.

The question is expanded to ask if the respondent is “Colonial Black, West Indian Black or other.
Lowe writes: “Colonial Blacks can trace their ancestry to the African slaves who accompanied the Spanish colonizers to the Isthmus from the 15th Century.
“West Indian Blacks usually identify our ancestry with our forefathers who came to the Isthmus during the construction of the Isthmian Railroad (1850-1855), during the French Canal effort (1880-1889) and during the construction of the Panama Canal (1904-1914).
She adds “We need to show evidence of how many we are in our country. We need to be counted. We need to make ourselves and our socio economic condition more visible.”

During the census taking no one can leave their home until they have been counted and public social activities, movies, casinos, horse racing will be suspended. Liquor outlets will be closed from 3 a.m. to 7 p.m. {jathumbnail off}