Race and Class in Cuba

Dr. Gayle McGarrity is a prominent sociocultural and medical anthropologist, who has written extensively on populations of mixed racial descent in Latin America and HIV/AIDS programs in South Africa.

She recently wrote a self-reflective and analytical article entitled "Race and Class in Cuba," which was published today by the Jamaica Observer.

Dr. McGarrity sets the premise:

"When I first returned to the United States in 1982, after living for a year and a half in Cuba, I was eager to share with my 'comrades' on the left the extent to which racism and class divisions were still a glaring reality in 'Revolutionary Cuba.'"

Then recalls:

"Young idealistic black militants from the United States, who fled racism in their homeland, looking for a more racially just society in Cuba, were treated in a hostile fashion by immigration and other government authorities on the island. These militants, many of whom were hijackers, were firmly immersed in ideas of socialism and world revolution, so it is not as if the government could, in all fairness, categorize them as counter-revolutionaries. However, when I lived in Cuba, and even today, anyone who does not agree with the regime´s policies is branded counter-revolutionary and a danger to national security. I met several of these black Americans while I was living in Cuba and was deeply disturbed by the way in which their spirits had been wounded and their idealism challenged by their treatment at the hands of the Cuban government."

And makes the following important observation:

"I have been motivated to write this article by the words of a black Cuban supporter of the Revolution, Esteban Morales . The latter, in a statement refuting what an influential group of 60 African-Americans were saying about the government's failure to protect the civil rights of blacks on the island, claimed that many blacks lived in inferior situations because they did not know how to transform their situation. "No saben como aprovecharse de las oportunidades que la Revolucion les ha dado" (They don't know how to take advantage of the opportunities provided by the Revolution). My position is that the blacks are perfectly able to take advantage of opportunities when they are presented to them. I know too many well-educated blacks, particularly those who studied languages and other careers connected to the tourist sector who have been unemployed for years. It is a well-known fact that the best jobs, in fact almost all of the jobs in the tourist sector, are reserved for whites. When I was visiting the island frequently in the 90s, the argument was that white Cubans had to limit the number of non-whites in the tourist sector because the Spaniards and other Europeans did not like to see them. I would argue quite the contrary, that it is white Cubans who do not want to see them."

To read in its entirety, click Part 1 and Part 2.