brazzilrace.com

[Mr.S14]

This article was written by Joe Ryan, and first appeared in the September 1994 issue of Socialist Action newspaper....

Despite all the propaganda about how hard life is in Cuba, an article in the Aug. 21 Los Angeles Times revealed that there was certainly one section of the population that unconditionally stands by the revolution – Cuba’s Black population. And nearly 60 percent of the population in Cuba today is either Black or Mulatto (self-defined).

“Everything I have, I owe to the revolution,” Andres Castillo told L.A. Times correspondent Ingrid Peritz. “Blacks, especially of my generation, know we were made by the revolution. So we’re willing to put up with hardships now.”

Castillo, whose father was an illiterate country salesman, is the editor of a Cuban science magazine. All the gains that Blacks have made in Cuban society since 1959 – in terms of equality and an end to racial discrimination – he credits to the revolution.

Even a superficial examination of the demographics of who leaves Cuba confirms who the big winners were. Over 95 percent of Cubans who fled after the 1959 revolution were white. For the rich elite, and the prosperous, overwhelmingly white middle class, the revolution the curtain on a life of privilege. For the overwhelming working-class Black population, the triumph of the Cuban Revolution signified an end of centuries of racism, discrimination, and repression.

The history of Cuba is basically a history of revolutions, and Black Cubans played a decisive and influential role in all of them.

Similar to the historical experiences of Black Americans, race relations in pre-revolutionary Cuba were based on the legacy of slavery, an institution that was only abolished in 1886.

Blacks and Mulattoes played significant roles in the wars for Cuban national liberation, constituting a large proportion of the fighters in liberation armies that fought for independence from Spain in 1868-78, and later, in 1895-98.

After the United States intervened in 1898, robbing Cubans of what would have been a military victory over their Spanish occupiers, the liberation army was disbanded by U.S. authorities and replaced by the Havana police and a Rural Guard. Both of these police organizations were strictly white in composition.

Racism and repression institutionalized

In the ensuing years, Cuban homegrown racism would be nurtured, refined and “improved” by the strong U.S. presence on the island.

Black Cubans were denied the equality they fought and died for during the liberation war of 1895-98. Demobilized Black liberation fighters were excluded from important administrative appointments, denied access to government jobs, and became targets for discrimination and racism under the new regime. Although they attempted to fight for their rights through the existing political parties, they got nowhere. In 1908, they organized an association of Black voters called the Colored Independence Party.

When an election “reform” law, enacted in 1910, prohibited the organization of political parties along racial lines, Black Cubans were forced to take up arms against the administration of Jose Miguel Gomez.

The ensuing race war in 1912 resulted in thousands of Blacks being killed in pitched battles, race riots, and massacres. Known as the “Little War of 1912,” it led to a nationwide extermination campaign against Blacks that reached near-genocidal proportions. The Cuban Black community never fully recovered from its defeat in the race war of 1912.

This laid the basis that enabled Cuban capitalists to establish an insidious pattern of job discrimination against Blacks that lasted right up to the 1959 revolution.

One Cuban historian gives a graphic description of the conditions faced by Black working people in pre-revolutionary Cuba:

“Blacks could not be tramway conductors, salesmen in department stores, . . . or employees of commercial and foreign (U.S.) enterprises. The found the doors closed to jobs as nurses, typesetters, hat makers, etc. Even in industries such as tobacco, the best paid jobs were closed to Blacks. For him, the only jobs – such as dockworkers – and the most menial positions such as bootblack, newspaper sales, . . . etc.”

However, the Black population was able to make some modest gains as a result of the nationalist revolution of 1933. The law that at least 50 percent of all jobs in commercial, industrial, service, and foreign-owned enterprises had to go to Cuban citizens. Black Cubans used this new law to create some cracks in the systematically-erected barrier of institutionalized job discrimination.

Repression of Blacks also extended itself to political representation. While Blacks and Mulattoes represented nearly 30 percent of the Cuban population in the 1930s, ‘40s and ‘50s, they occupied only 5 percent of the seats in the Cuban House of Representatives.

“Jim Crow” racism, enforced through unwritten laws, restricted Blacks to specific beaches, parks, “walk-throughs,” neighborhoods and schools. They were disproportionately represented at the bottom of the economic scale, had a higher illiteracy rate, and a higher rate of unemployment.

Blacks, Mulattoes and poor whites were effectively excluded from a decent education through underfunding of public schools and a proliferation of private schools that catered to the educational needs of the rich. In Havana, upper-class social clubs excluded Blacks as a matter of policy.

Like their counterparts in the United States, Cuban capitalists denied the existence of racism and discrimination and conveniently avoided every bringing up the subject. They would hypocritically point to the platitudes of rights and equality in the Cuban constitution, and call attention to individual Blacks who occupied official government and military positions. Meanwhile, a brutally repressive police apparatus was always standing by to make sure that the victims of racism were never permitted to organize protests against institutionalized inequality.

All this changed with the victory of the Cuban revolution in 1959.

One of the first symbolic acts that indicated a new day was coming in Cuba occurred one the first day Fidel Castro’s army entered Havana – tanks crushed the fences that had been erected on Havana’s hotelfront beaches to designate where Blacks couldn’t go.

Making racism illegal

In March 1959, only two months after the conquest of state power, Castro broke the conspiracy of silence on racism in Cuba by confronting it head on. In a speech given in Havana, Castro stated:

“One of the battles we must prioritize more and more everyday . . . is the battle to end racial discrimination at the workplace. . . . There are two types of racial discrimination: One is the discrimination in recreation centers and cultural centers; the other, which is the worst and the first one we must fight, is racial discrimination in jobs.”

But Castro didn’t stop there. His speech was aimed like a dagger at the old, racist structures of Cuba that had created two separate societies – one white, one Black. His first step was to abolish the old private school system and establish a well-funded public school system that was completely integrated.

“There is discrimination at recreation centers,” Castro said. “Why? Because Blacks and whites were educated apart. [But now] at the public grade school, Blacks and whites are together. At the public grade school, Blacks and whites learn to live together, like brothers. And if they are together at the public school, they are later together at the recreation centers and all places.”

Economic and social conditions for Blacks improved dramatically when the revolutionary government decreed the Agrarian Reform and Urban Reform Laws, which gave the land to small farmers, and lowered rents in the cities by 50 percent. Laws were enacted and enforced prohibition discrimination in jobs, schools, housing, and medical care. In Cuba, race prejudice would be a punishable offense.

A study by sociologist Maurice Zeitlin of industrial workers in Cuba in 1962 illustrates how quickly Black working people embraced the revolution. He found that 80 percent of Black industrial workers expressed enthusiastic support for the revolution versus 67 percent of white industrial workers.

Black workers, Zeitlin noted, frequently referred to the impact of the revolution on race relations in spite of the fact that no question was raised by the interviewer about this issue.

One outcome of the revolution has been the accelerated process of inter-marriage between the races. As Los Angeles Times writer Ingrid Peritz observed, “Cuba’s racial profile has turned several shades darker since 1959.”

Numerous inter-racial couples can be seen strolling the streets of Havana. Observers see this as the “most foolproof index [available] of a qualitative change in a society that in the past was based on a color-class system.”

The Cuban government has also essentially conducted a campaign to increase the number of Blacks, Mulattoes, and women in the mass organizations of the revolution.

In 1977, Blacks represented 36 percent of the membership of the National Assemblies, 400 percent increase over the level of Black and Mulattoe representation in state institutions before the revolution.

In 1986, as part of a “rectification” campaign to combat bureaucratic deformations, Castro launched an affirmative action campaign to increase the number of Blacks, Mulattoes and women on decision-making bodies in the Cuban Communist Party.

At a seminar of the London based Minority Rights Group, Black Cuban social researcher Lourdes Casal presented a balance sheet of what was accomplished in Cuba to end racism and discrimination.

“It can be unhesitatingly affirmed that racial discrimination has been solidly eradicated from Cuban society. Nobody is barred from access to jobs, education, social facilities of any kind, etc., for reasons of their skin color.

“The egalitarian and redistributive measures enacted by the revolutionary government have benefited Blacks as the most oppressed sector of the society in the pre-revolutionary social system.

“This does not imply that all forms of prejudice have been banned or that the consciousness of all the people has been thoroughly transformed. . . . The difference is that there is a tremendous cost in expressing such prejudicial opinions publicly.”

It should come as no surprise that Black Cubans are indeed the staunchest supporters of the Revolution. For them, the socialist revolution in Cuba represented a profound triumph for their democratic and economic rights. They won’t relinquish these conquests without a fight to the finish.

Replying to a question about what it would be like if the revolution was defeated, Andres Castillo told the L.A. Times, “It would be like it used to be. More discrimination, more hunger. Blacks would simply be worse off. And we don’t want to go backward.”

Blacks in the United States can certainly testify to what that would be like.

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[Mr.S14]

And here is a more up to date report on racism in the island...

Dr. Johnnetta Cole, "The Cuba Report," TransAfrica Forum January, 1999

The TransAfrica Forum delegation, comprised of fifteen prominent African-Americans, arrived in Havana on January 2, 1999, to begin a five day "fact-finding" visit which concluded with a three hour meeting with Cuban president Fidel Castro.

In addition to Dr. Cole, the delegation included Drs. Alvin and Tina Poussaint, author Walter Mosley, actor Danny Glover and Randall Robinson, President of TransAfrica Forum. The visit was described as a "watershed" event.

It's no surprise the Dr. Cole would be "impressed" by her meeting with Castro. The American left are overwhelmingly impressed by Castro, to a fault. In the Cuba Report that followed the visit, TransAfrica praised the Cuban government for it educational system, its universal health care, its low infant mortality rate. That was to be expected. There was not one word of criticism of the Castro regime, that was also to be expected.

Following close on the heels of the TransAfrica visit, a six member delegation from the Congressional Black Caucus, led by CBC chair Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) arrived in Cuba on February 17, for its own five day fact finding tour.

"We have come with our minds open to study the impact of the embargo on the Cuban population," Waters said. "We hope to exercise some leadership, even a modest amount, in the future debates on a resolution about U.S.-Cuban relations." On February 19, the CBC delegation met with Castro for six hours.

As with TransAfrica, the CBC delegation saw what Castro wanted them to see, talked with whom Castro wanted them to talk , and came away with the "facts" that Castro wanted them to know.

In the July 1999 issue of "Essence" magazine Randall Robinson authored a rather weak, simplistic and biased article titled "Why Black Cuba Is Suffering." He lambasted the U.S. government embargo, saying it was the sole blame for the plight of Afro Cubans. There was no mention of the role the Cuban government plays in that suffering, and they do indeed play a part. Castro is invariably portrayed as victim but Castro is also victimizer but that's a fact that Robinson and most of the left prefer not to acknowledge.

This time Robinson offered a qualified criticism of Castro's Cuba:
While Cuba has a one-party system and suppresses dissent, it still has a better record with respect to human rights than many Latin American governments the United States has steadfastly supported.


What kind of convoluted reasoning is that? I would imagine the political prisoners languishing in Cuban jails would find little comfort in that statement. The same people that go ballistic over human rights abuses in China, go mute when it comes to Castro's human rights abuses in Cuba.

Cuba has a population of over 11 million people. Approximately 60% are Black. However, while the Cuban constitution declares everyone equal, Cuban society is stratified by race and color of skin. Viewed as a pyramid, White Cubans are at the Apex, mulattos or mixed race are in the middle and Afro-Cubans are at the bottom. The same position they occupied before the revolution.

There are virtually no Afro-Cubans found in the hierarchy of the Cuban government. And they are not found anywhere else in anything close to their numbers in the population. When it comes to addressing Cuba's entrenched racism Castro plays the American left like a fiddle. He knows that all he has to do is acknowledge the sorry fact and that will be enough to impress the left. That Castro has done nothing to correct it is overlooked.

The truth is, the Black majority is being ruled by the White minority. If that wasn't acceptable in South Africa, why is acceptable in Cuba? Indeed, that's one reason the Castro regime is so strongly opposed to democracy. There's the very real possibility that, for the first time in the history of Cuba, White Cubans would no longer be in control.

In 1994 I spent seven days in Havana with the U.S. organization "Queers For Cuba." I was not a member of the group but went as a reporter and later wrote a series of articles about the trip that ran in several U.S. newspapers, both Gay and straight. QFC was the official guest of the Federation of Cuban Women (Federacion De Mujeres Cubanas). We stayed in the Federation's guest house in Vedado, one of Havana's nicer neighborhoods.

First, I could never quite grasp the concept of "White" Cubans. I know African Americans that are several shades lighter than many of the Cubans that were claiming to be "White." What was worse, they felt that gave them some privilege. That they were better than the Afro-Cubans, for no other reason but the color of their skin. And if they couldn't quite make the White argument because they were too brown, then they were "mulatto." Anything but Black. What it speaks to is the insidious pervasivness of White Supremacy.

The Federation had arranged meetings and outings for the group but we also had a lot free time to explore Havana on our own. I went to a restaurant inside one of the hotels. It was not at all busy. Perhaps four or five other people in the room, including a trio of Afro-Cubans, two men and one woman, sitting a couple tables away from me.

There were three White Cuban waiters on the other side of the room. After waiting several minutes I thought the service was slow but I was not paying much attention at that point. It was my second day in Havana and I was checking out the surroundings. Several more minutes pass. Then, a European couple walks in and sits down. The waiters immediately rushed over with menus, water, napkins. The works. I remember cocking my head to the side and saying to myself, "What's this?"

Then it occurred to me, I was being deliberately ignored. I was furious. Here I was, in Cuba, being treated like a nigger, by "White" Cubans. I walked over to the waiter station and said, "I was here before them," and pointed at the European couple, "why are they being served before me?" I didn't shout but I spoke loud enough to turn heads. At that point the waiter realized I was not an Afro-Cuban. There was an immediate change of attitude. "I'm sorry," he said apologetically, "have a seat. Someone will be right over."

Now, they were so solicitous. They couldn't do enough. I was not mollified. When he returned with my order I asked about the trio of Afro-Cubans who were still sitting there, unserved. "Why haven't they been served?" I asked. "They were here before me." It was only then the waiter went to their table. That was first but not the last time I would see racism in Cuba.

The hotels are entirely staffed by White Cubans. I saw no Afro-Cubans workers in the hotels. When I asked one official why was that the case. His response was, the hotels were European owned and they did the hiring. He said they had no control over who they choose to hire. Excuse me? I was incredulous. He was telling me Europeans could come to Cuba and discriminate against Afro-Cubans and the government couldn't do anything about it. Take note Randall Robinson, one of the reasons Black Cubans are suffering is the jobs are going to the White Cubans.

It was then I began to ask the types of questions the Cuban officials, and the members of QFC who were quite enough of me, found uncomfortable. Such as: What percentage of those 64,000 doctors in Cuba are Afro-Cuban? What percentage of the students at the University of Havana are Afro-Cuban? What percentage of the employed population are Afro-Cuban? What percentage of government officials are Afro-Cuban? What percentage of the prison population are Afro-Cuban? What percentage of the residents of Havana's poorest neighborhoods are Afro-Cuban?

The next time TransAfrica Forum, the Congressional Black Caucus, or anyone else, trots down to Cuba for a "fact finding" excursion, ask Castro those questions. Next, bypass the Castro sponsored tour and go to the Black barrios of Havana and talk to the Afro-Cubans. Then come back and tell the rest of us THOSE facts.

The American left correctly castigates the United States government for its misguided policy towards Cuba. But the American left wrongly turns a blind eye and a deaf ear to the blatant inequities between Black and White Cubans, inequities the U.S. government did not create and does not sustain. Castro does that. By the time I left Cuba I was disappointed, disillusioned and angry. I fell for the propaganda that, except for the U.S. embargo, Cuba would be a success story. Two words: Bull Shit. That's a lie if there ever was one. In every way, by whatever standard, White Cubans are better off than Black Cubans. The people whom the revolution benefited the most are White Cubans and given the present social structure of Cuba, if the embargo was halted tomorrow it would be White Cubans who would benefit the most.

Believe it or not, I am not anti-Castro. I am pro-Black. Cuba is but a variation of the same old theme, White people getting over on Black people, and that is the biggest failure of the American left. They stand by and let it happen. They are so in "awe" of Castro. They are so "impressed" by Castro. They need to get over it and get on his case because Castro's shit is raggedy. And until they are willing to do that, the left, in particular the African American left, are complicit in the suffering and subjugation of the
Afro-Cubans