In the series “Black in Latin America,” one episode discusses the country of Cuba, one known for its history of dictatorship over five decades. However, like America, Cuban citizens have had to wage their own war for racial equality in similar and different ways. Cuba had always had close proximity with Black slaves, yet in later years, it always painted a picture of a sophisticated system of dominance for Black Cubans. There were realized social alignments in the post-Civil Rights Era for Black Cubans as well as African-Americans, formed after historical relationships of abolitionists forming organizations, journalists, poets and novelists having focused work on Cuba, and trade unions and leftists working toward sociopolitical goals.
Black leaders, to begin, played a significant role in the push for independence from Spain, but leaders like Quinton Banderas and Antonio Macedo were soon erased from history and paid little attention to, likely because of the color of their skin. These leaders were some of the most influential, and were assassinated, along with their followers despite their work in fighting for independence. Such massacres may have been carried out by the U.S. government as a move of superiority and authority over the Cuban government. Unfortunately, Cuba had always been seen as lesser than by the U.S., making race relations fraught in both countries. Citizens and governments wanted to quell any inclination of anything black, which was “immoral, ugly and bad.” Just as in the United States, Blacks in Cuba were not treated any more fairly and faced repression, oppression and discrimination. Cultural and social traditions were banned, even by law. More than 6,000 Spaniards were brought into Cuba to erase and oppress the presents of Black people and Black culture, from its festivals to its dance to its music, which was called “jungle music.”
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What I took to be very important in this video is the rampant anti-blackness that is not limited or confined to the United States. Cuba has its own long, sordid history about how it attempted to repress everything about Black Cubans and their culture, just as it was done in America, both subtly and explicitly. Another important and interesting fact is the formation of the Black Cuban identity and the disctinct ways in which Cuba and other Latin America countries treat race and identity. From my knowledge, it is pretty common to engage in the social practice known as “passing.” In the context of Latin America and the idea of “racial fluidity” or ambiguity, passing is quite easy and it does not require a break from family and friends. In attempting to assert their position in a “higher” racial category, people may go to great lengths physically and emotionally to distance themselves from the self that was of a “lower” social caste.
However, in the United States, it is much less common now than it was in the decades following slavery and before the Jim Crow era of legislation and society. Unlike Brazil, Cuba is not a “racial paradise” and the race relations between the U.S. Cuba and Blacks in both countries continues to be muddled, yet prideful and representative. Prejudice has never gone away, nor will it ever go away. It and racism will continue to be pervasive and the silent, racist attitudes toward Blacks in Cuba means that the country in its entirety will have to reconcile with the history of the country and how it has treated Blacks throughout its entire history. It will take an honest criticism of such behaviors and hard work to eradicate the implicit and explicit nature of prejudice and racism in every part of Cuban society, from economics to politics and beyond.
