[O]f the 32 states that make up the Mexican republic, 7 states have a population of people of African descent of $1.5 \%$ to $6.5 \%, 19$ states
have a $0.1 \%$ to $0.8 \%$ and 6 states have no population of African descent. So of $64.3 \%$ of the population, there is acknowledgement of the presence of people of African descent and of Indigenous persons.
(Sergio Peñaloza, unpublished presentation, 2016)
Despite these figures, and the fact that this survey followed the formal recognition by two states of their black presence - Oaxaca in 2013 and Guerrero in 2014 - Afro-Mexicans who live in those two states continue to be marginalized. Ironically, Oaxaca and Guerrero have not followed through on any of their stated intentions, despite publicly announcing that they embraced the rights of blacks to be recognized as legitimate members of the states. Sergio Peñaloza, the current President of Mexico Negro, has this to say:  
All our collective rights (economic, social, cultural, civil and political) have been violated or rather, we do not exist. We are not the recipients of any rights, and, as a consequence, we are the subject of exclusion, marginalization and governmental and social discrimination.
[T]o date they have not drafted the secondary laws that would allow the benefits of constitutional recognition to become a reality. If we are not recognized, we have no part in the development plan of the Mexican State at the three governmental levels. No specific public policies have been designed for the Afro-Mexicans neither are we included in census-taking.
(Sergio Peñaloza, unpublished presentation, 2016, Kingston) ${ }^{2}$  
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