The article describes representations of Afro-Argentine identities and its interaction with the hegemonic discourse of a national and cultural Argentine identity, referring to Afro-Argentine texts form the 19th century Buenos Aires. Departing from a brief summary of the construction process of the Argentine nation as an imagined community of white, male citizens, it shows how the black porteño elite on the one hand inscribes the Afro-Argentines in the hegemonic discourse and, on the other hand, establishes certain forms of counter discourse, both to affirm and legitimize their status as members of the national community.