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CUBA
NEWS
The
Revolution and Racism
Despite claims of equality for all, inequities
persist, many Cubans say
By Dakarai Aarons. Posted on Mon,
Sep. 21, 2003 in The
Miami Herald.
In a section of Habana Vieja, a 20-something
man sits at the base of the Catedral de La Habana
dressed in red and black. A black knitted hat
with "Canada emblazoned on it covers his
fuzzy cornrows. Alan dresses his best to look
the part of a tourist. But it doesn't fool the
armed policemen who routinely pass by to make
sure he isn't talking to tourists.
In the warm January sun, Alan, who asked that
his last name not be used, laughs with his friends,
who, like him, sit outside the cathedral every
day after work, looking for tourists with whom
they can practice their English.
When the conversation turns to race, however,
the black electrical technician stops laughing.
"We are not free, he says. "Listen
to me when I tell you that.
When President Fidel Castro's revolutionary regime
took over in 1959, the government changed laws
to curb Jim Crow-style practices that had kept
Cuban black and mixed populations on the fringes
of society. Several Cuban officials and citizens
say that, as a result, racism in Cuba is an issue
of a distant past.
"We don't have problems with racism, said
Pedro Alvarez, chairman and CEO of Alimport, Cuba's
importing arm.
But others tell a different story. To them, racism
is alive and well in Cuba. They say being black
in Cuban society means being singled out for mistreatment
because they are perceived to cause many of the
country's problems.
''We have practically apartheid in this country
sometimes,'' said Rogelio Polanco Fuentes, director
of the Communist Party-owned Juventud Rebelde
newspaper.
Nevertheless, Cuba has what many consider one
of the most integrated societies in the world.
Interracial marriages are common and not the contentious
issue they often are in the United States. Indeed,
mixed couples mingle freely everywhere in Cuba,
on the streets, on the beaches and in parks.
Still, many Cuban citizens are reluctant to discuss
the matter. And some government officials also
don't want to address it, or they become uncomfortable
when pressed.
Said Ricardo Alarcón, president of the
National Assembly of People's Power, Cuba's parliament:
"Unfortunately, these things [disparities
in the treatment of blacks and whites] are very
common in Cuba.
It is a situation exacerbated, he said, by the
introduction of capitalism into Cuba's socialist
society by the country's burgeoning tourism industry.
Polanco Fuentes, Juventud Rebelde's director,
said racism is deeply rooted in Cuba's history
and will not disappear overnight.
"It is not something you can solve by decree,
he said.
While the constitution guarantees Cubans the
right to stay in any hotel and be served at any
public establishment, several black Cubans said
that right exists only on paper. The reality,
they say, is that black Cubans won't be served.
(Cubans in general say they are barred from places
frequented by tourists, regardless of race.)
"As a policy, we blacks never go to hotels,
said Juan, a tourism employee who asked that his
real name not be used.
Alan said even dollars don't guarantee service.
"[Hotel security doesn't] let you take your
break in the hotel, he said. "If you don't
have foreign friends, you can't sit down and be
waited on.
The discrimination goes beyond the hotels into
the streets, where black Cubans say they are constantly
asked to show their national identification cards
and are generally harassed hy police.
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