Martín Morúa Delgado
1856-1910

An AfroCuban leader after whom the ibero spanish named the Ley Morúa, which outlawed the Independents of Color and lead to the the 1912 Massacre:

"No se considerará en ningún caso, como partido político o grupo independiente, ninguna agrupación constituida exclusivamente por individuos de una sola raza o color, ni por individuos de una sola clase con motivo de nacimiento, riqueza o título profesional".

The Ley Morúa was an early example of the practice of accusing people of African descent of practicing racism when they are defending their rights as it outlawed parties that built their membership based on race, thereby targeting the Independents of Color, who actually had white members, but were largely composed of AfroCuban veterans of the wars of liberation from Spain. Given that Liberation Army members was 85%+ of African descent, their marginalization after independence led to politics that were naturally anchored in racial identity.

It should be noted that some observers, including Eugene Godfried, have called for a re-evaluation of Morúa's role. He is best known for having drafted the Ley Morúa, but he was also very active in other spheres.

"Martín Morúa Delgado was a friendly rival to Juan Gualberto Gómez in the "Afro-Cuban intelligentsia," putting forth the idea that mulattoes belonged to a new race, distinctly different and "midway" between blacks and whites.

Aline Helg in Our Rightful Share: The Afro-Cuban Struggle for Equality, 1886-1912; "Although he denied establishing a hierarchy among individuals based on the "external accident" of skin color, he nevertheless implied that there was a positive evolution from the full black to the mulatto. If Afro-Cubans continued to refer to themselves as the raza de color, he thought, they would acknowledge the inferior condition that was imposed upon all of them during slavery." -- www.historyofcuba.com/history/race/Delgado.htm

Monument in Cienfuegos dedicated to Morúa Delgado with this plaque:

Don Martín Morúa Delgado, proclamado "Ciudadano Eminente" por la ley No.6 del 13 de junio de 1956. La Comisión Nacional del Centenario. El alcalde municipal, el ayuntamiento y el pueblo le erigen este busto de consagración histórica. Las naciones se consolidan por el recuerdo. Sus grandes hombres, la historia manda. Palmira, 17 de agosto de 1957.


There is as of 2011 no comparable bust or monument to any leader of the Independents of Color.

It can be noted that it is still fashionable today, among both dissidents and some highly placed Cuban officials, to characterize the Morúa amendment as a move against racism in Cuba which was being fed by US Southern Segregationist practices. Quite simply, this denies the historical context of the legislation, which was part of a series of moves against the Independents of Color that resulted in their massacre.

Por cuanto: la forma republicana establecida por la Constitución instituye al gobierno del pueblo para el pueblo, sin distinción por motivos de raza, nacimiento, riqueza o título profesional;

Por cuanto: los partidos políticos tienen la indeclinable tendencia a constituir por sus propios miembros el gobierno que desarrolle en el país sus doctrinas políticas y administrativas;

El Senador que suscribe considera contraria a la Constitución y a la práctica del régimen republicano la existencia de agrupaciones o partidos políticos exclusivos por motivos de raza, nacimiento, riqueza o título profesional, y tiene el honor de proponer al Senado la siguiente Enmienda Adicional al Artículo 17 de la Ley Electoral.

No se considerará, en ningún caso, como partido político o grupo independiente, ninguna agrupación constituida exclusivamente por individuos de una sola raza o color, ni por individuos de una clase con motivo de nacimiento, la riqueza o el título profesional.

Senado, once de febrero de mil novecientos diez. Martín Morúa Delgado".