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AfroCubaWeb
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| Articles on Cuba | BlackLight online
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"Racism in Cuba and The Failure of the American Left by Sidney Brinkley
"
http://www.blacklightonline.com/cubaracism.html
Lisa Brock has written a knowledgeable response to this article: Response
to Sidney Brinkley's article entitled "Racism in Cuba and the Failure of the American
Left."
Feedback from one brother in Cuba: "Some very true points that hurt us all, but it
becomes boring when they blame Castro for everything. Seems to me the author is obsessed
with Fidel. Nevertheless; there are things there that should be said."
Reality in Cuba is far more complex than what is presented here, but perhaps as the site
matures and the authors gain more experience with Cuba, they can make a deeper
contribution towards resolving the issues there and especially those here that impact
Cuba. For example, racism is reviving in Cuba thanks to the money that comes in from
foreign sources and goes to the lighter skinned Cubans, thereby creating inequalities,
intense social stress, and a blame the victim psychology. Money is pouring into Cuba from
Spanish sources into Spanish Cuban organizations such as the Asociacion Catalan and the
Sociedad de Andalusia, which in itself is not a bad thing, but does lead to social
stress. The largely white Cuban American exiles in Miami and elsewhere send
over $800 million/year. Blacks have no such foreign support, leaving the government
to foot the bill and try and balance the inequalities. The author might want to look into
why so many African Americans don't even know anything of the demographics of Cuba or of
its intense African culture and perhaps then do something about that. Even in
Florida, African Americans, who suffer from the extreme racism of the Miami Cuban right
wing, do not know that Cuba has a Black majority and their elected representatives vote
for the genocidal embargo.
Before accusing the Cuban government of being all-white, the author should at least be aware that 6 of 24 politburo members are black, as are the first secretaries of the Party in Havana and Santiago.
One of the main diatribe in the article is directed against a situation where some waiters ignored the author in a restaurant but rushed to the aid of some whites who came in. The author does not understand the class basis for this action, but even reports that the waiters thought he was AfroCuban, as most folks there do when someone is Black as there are so few Black tourists. They ignored him as they would any Cuban, since there would be no tip in it for them.
However, the author is entirely correct in his assessment of the absence of AfroCubans in the tourism industry -- there is major discrimination by the eurotourism firms and there is no reason for the government to tolerate this, nor does it ina number of hotels not owned by large euro organizations nor does it on some occasions when it becomes egregious. On others, nothing is done, but then the pace of development of this industry means that it is playing catch up in a situation where the eurotourism firms are taking the lead.
For more on the issues around racism in Cuba, see our Race & Identity section.
"Gay Cuba Then and Now: A Talk with Gisela Arandia Covarrubia"
http://www.blacklightonline.com/cubagisela.html
A brief interview dressed up with information from AfroCubaWeb. The author does not
build on the issues which he has Gisela Arandia brings up, such
as the fact that homophobic attitudes in Cuba have to do with both hispanic and caribbean
culture. In Jamaica, for instance, gays are killed and the murder is not even
investigated by the police. While we are not aware of murders of gays in Cuba (there could
well be some), they would certainly be investigated. Cuba has a far lower crime rate than
Jamaica and other Caribbean islands and a murder there is still a shocking event much
discussed instead of the routine event it has become elsewhere. This digression
aside, we have it on reliable authority that the interview was not made directly with
Gisela Arandia and so if they are quoting her it was via some third party where words may
have changed!
"Havana in the 1990's: No Longer Choosing Between Thieves or Faggots"
by Amaury Fernandez Lopez
http://www.blacklightonline.com/cubahavana.html
A translation into English of a relatively recent article, apparently from Cuba. Gives a
good street view of life in Cuba today. Seems to say that Cuba is exceptionally
homophobic, but goes on to describe a number of expressions of the gay life in Havana
today... expressions which would certainly not be tolerated in some other Caribbean or
Latin countries!
"The Issue of Race in Love and Sex"
http://www.blacklightonline.com/cubarace.html
More sabroso street comments.
"The Queens of Cuba"
http://www.blacklightonline.com/cubaqueens.html
Brief article with photos.
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