Cuba: How NOT to do!

    Mark Sawyer suggests in his article “Comparative Perspectives on the African American Experience, What We Can Learn from Cuba” that regardless of perception of Cuban racial politics being very removed from racial politics of United States a connection exists. He further suggests that analysis of Cuban experience could show parallels as well as consideration of certain aspects of Cuban experience, if applied, could change the course of current approach to racial politics in United States.

            Post-revolutionary Cuba’s and United States approaches to racial politics vary significantly. Cuba’s approach is based on Marxist view, which is backed by countries communist regime. Three distinct trends are identified during the post-revolutionary period: Latin American Exceptionalism, Marxist School of Thought, and Black Nationalism. All three trends provide different views on racial politics from within Cuba during the same time period.

     Latin American Exceptionalism proponents suggest that Latin American, and Cuban in particular, “history of intermarriage and race mixing” resulted in much more “fluid societies” (P65). On the other hand racial differentiation and racism are more pronounced in United States based on its long history of segregation. The proponents also argue that based on the fact that historically racial distinction in Cuba was only superficial and real distinction was based on ownership of property and lack of “institutionalized segregation in post-emancipation era” provided the groundwork for creation of “racial democracy”.  Further, the communist revolution ideology of everyone being entitled to equal political, social, and economic opportunities provided new opportunities for Afro-Cubans. Critics of the Latin American Exceptionalism however emphasize that the lack of institutional segregation does not imply that racism does not exist. This view is very prominent among Cuban exiles residing in United States; “they argue that Castro discusses racism merely to endear himself to the Blacks in the country”(P66).
            Second, and most institutionally powerful theory is the Marxist School of thought. The main argument in this theory implies that post-revolutionary socialism has “wiped away any vestiges of racial discrimination” (P.69). The presence of racial discrimination is being attributed to United States “importing racism to the island” to continue to exploit the labor of black workers (P69). This approach makes discussion of racial issues obsolete and provides the government with justification for its lack of address for the issues on hand. Following Marxist School of thought implies construction of a unified national identity, however, the reality differs from this assumption. There is evidence of racial discrimination and lack of official discussion is preventing the racial issues from being addressed and consequently improved or resolved. Marxist School of thought’s major issue is the fact that the racism still exists in Cuban society. As Roberto Zurbano’s article “For Blacks in Cuba, the Revolution Hasn’t Begun” published in New York Times describes: “Black Cubans have less property and money, and also have to contend with pervasive racism” (New York Times). http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/24/opinion/sunday/for-blacks-in-cuba-the-revolution-hasnt-begun.html?_r=0.

            The Black nationalist is the third school of thought. Black nationalists argue “Cuban society was fundamentally racist before the revolution and remains so even after the revolution”(P.17). Black nationalists state that the Cuban government failed to promote black leadership and development and continues to ignore the racial identity of Afro-Cubans resulting in suppression of racial issue discourse within Cuban society.

            Cuban racial politics approach mainly consists of ignoring the fact that racial differences exist despite the deeply rooted racial discrimination within Cuban society. United States took a different approach based on its historically established segregation. A series of laws have been enacted to protect and provide equal opportunities for minorities as can be seen on United States Department of Labor homepage (http://www.dol.gov/dol/topic/hiring/affirmativeact.htm). The critics of United States approach argue that the existence of affirmative action is one of the main reasons for discrimination and racial divide within the nation. Lack of United States government focus on racial politics can be interpreted as an assumption that diversity in the society makes the need for affirmative action somewhat obsolete. This could result in future policies similar to Cuban. However, based on Cuban example we can clearly state that ignoring the issue and racial discrimination will not result in its extermination. United States should learn from Cuba instead of repeating their mistakes and continue to actively participate in nations racial politics.

Image source: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/04/22/a-lack-of-affirmative-action-isn-t-why-minority-students-are-suffering.html

Works Cited

Mark Sawyer (2003): Comparative Perspectives on the African American Experience, Souls: A Critical Journal of Black Politics, Culture, and Society, 5:2, 63-80