Racism in Cuba - History

History

Esteban Morales Dominguez has pointed to institutionalized racism in his book "The Challenges of the Racial Problem in Cuba" (Fundación Fernando Ortiz). The book was banned in Cuba according to New America Media, but a report from AfroCubaWeb disputes this.

A survey showed that white Cubans believe that blacks are "less intelligent than whites" (58%) and "devoid of decency" (69%). Racial Politics in Post-Revolutionary Cuba by Mark Q. Sawyer discusses the racial ideology prevalent in the country.

According to anthropologists dispatched by the European Union (EU), racism in Cuban is systemic and institutional. Black people are systematically excluded from positions in tourism-related jobs, where they could earn tips in hard currencies. According to the EU study, black people are relegated to poor housing, were excluded from managerial positions, received the lowest remittances from relatives abroad, and were five times more likely to be imprisoned. Blacks also complained of suffering the longest waits in healthcare.

Esteban Morales Domínguez, a professor in the University of Havana, believes that "the absence of the debate on the racial problem already threatens {...} the revolution's social project". Carlos Moore, who has written extensively on the issue, says that "there is an unstated threat, blacks in Cuba know that whenever you raise race in Cuba, you go to jail. Therefore the struggle in Cuba is different. There cannot be a civil rights movement. You will have instantly 10,000 black people dead". He says that a new generation of black Cubans are looking at politics in another way. Barack Obama's victory has raised disturbing questions about the institutional racism in Cuba. The Economist noted, "The danger starts with his example: after all, a young, black, progressive politician has no chance of reaching the highest office in Cuba, although a majority of the island’s people are black."

Jorge Luis García Pérez, who was imprisoned for 17 years, states that "the authorities in my country have never tolerated that a black person oppose the regime. During the trial, the color of my skin aggravated the situation. Later when I was mistreated in prison by guards, they always referred to me as being black".

As a black prisoner of conscience, Oscar Elias Biscet wrote to Coretta Scott King in January 1999, "They have a very low political, economic, and judicial representation in contrast to the numerous prevailing black penal population. This situation is never publicly manifested by the government but is a component of Communism's subtle politics of segregation." Black Cubans such as Biscet and Jorge Luis Garcia Perez have been allegedly forcefully separated from their families for criticizing Fidel Castro.