Brigadier General James Monroe Williams

Afro-Arubans are Arubans who have predominantly African ancestry. Afro-Arubans are a minority ethnic group in Aruba, although many Arubans may have African ancestry.^[1] They speak Papiamento, an Afro-Portuguese language spoken in the ABC islands. The language dates back at least 300 years and is based on African linguistic structures combined with vocabulary from Portuguese, Dutch, and Spanish.^[2] Like other Arubans, Afro-Arubans also speak Dutch, Spanish, English, as well as other languages.

While Aruba had enslaved Africans,^[3] most Afro-Arubans descend from nearby islands and nations such as Sint Maarten, Dominican Republic, Suriname, Haiti, Jamaica, Curaçao, Saba, Sint Eustatius, the Lesser Antilles, and/or South America.^[4] Many Afro-Arubans live in Aruba's second largest city, San Nicolaas, located on the southern tip of the island.^[5]

History

Africans were brought to Aruba by Dutch settlers during the colonial era.^[6][7][8]

Many brought an English Creole to Aruba in the early 20th century.^[9]

Notable people

• Eric Abdul
• Xander Bogaerts, baseball player
• Gregor Breinburg
• Niesha Butler
• Virginia Dementricia, rebel slave
• Denzel Dumfries, football player
• Boy Ecury, resistance fighter
• Euson, singer
• Lolita Euson, writer and poet
• Bobby Farrell, dancer and singer
• Ronald Gomez
• Javier Jimenez
• Joshua John, football player
• Jim Jones (rapper)
• Gene Kingsale, baseball player
• Matthew Lentink
• Nickenson Paul
• Jonathan Ruiz
• Jurriën Timber
• Quinten Timber

References and footnotes