Cuba and the Cold War Racial Politics and Discourse In Revolutionary Cuba Karen Michels Resident Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies New York University January 31, 2011

Racial Politics •  Spanish Rule •  Republican Period 1898 - 1959 •  Revolutionary Cuba 1959 - today

Cuba •  Last country in the hemisphere –  Gain independence from Spain (1898) –  Abolish slavery (1886)

Haitian Revolution of 1804

Haitian Revolution •  Produced “The Black Fear”

Haitian Revolution

•  Led to soaring sugar prices •  Positioned Cuba to make large profits •  Transformed Cuba into a replacement for Haiti as one of the biggest sugar producers in the world

CHARLES DeWOLF BROWNELL (1822-1909)"

Sugar Profits

• Led to the Entrenchment of – Slavery – Slave trade – Spanish imperial control

Sugar’s Vast Labor Requirements •  Between 1763-1862 –  750,000 slaves were introduced to Cuba

•  By 1827 –  Slaves constituted 40% of Cuba –  Slaves and free people of color reached 56% of the population

•  Slave deaths exceeded births –  10-12% annual death rate

•  As many as 75% of slaves in Cuba were African born (Louis Perez Jr., Cuba Between Reform and Revolution)

Afro Cuban Participation in The Wars of Independence 1868-1898 •  Afro-Cubans –  Constituted 70% of armed forces –  Fought simultaneously for •  Emancipation from slavery •  Independence from Spain

–  Mobilization meant the shut down of plantations/economy –  Advocated terms of emancipation •  Against Cuban agrarian elite “Cuba was better Spanish than African” •  Against white abolitionists who supported “gradual transition”

General Antonio Maceo “Bronze Titan”

Jose Marti

Articulated a “color-blind” ideal of the Cuban nation

Jose Marti “There is no danger of war between the races in Cuba. Man means more than white man, mulatto or black man. The souls of white men and negroes have risen together from the battlefield where they have fought and died for Cuba.” “In Cuba, there will never be a racial war. The Republic cannot go backwards.” -Patria, April 16, 1893

Myth of Racial Democracy •  “There were no blacks or whites but only Cubans” Antonio Maceo (Ada Ferrer, Insurgent Cuba)

U.S. Involvement in Cuba –  Joined Cuban forces in the Spanish American War –  Negotiated Cuba’s independence in 1898 –  Occupied Cuba until 1902 –  Built a base in Guantanamo Bay –  Imposed Platt Amendment allowing the US •  "the right to intervene for the preservation of Cuban independence, the maintenance of a government adequate for the protection of life, property, and individual liberty...”

U.S. Racial Politics in Cuba during the Republican Period •  Promoted Segregation –  in military and private accommodations

•  Helped impose 1902 immigration law –  banning black and Chinese immigration (Mark Q. Sawyer, Racial Politics in Post Revolutionary Cuba)

Racial Politics in the Republican Period •  Constitution of 1901 –  Granted equality to all males –  Did not mention race or ethnicity

•  Segregation enforced through private organizations managing •  Beaches, Schools and Parks

Repression of Black Political Organizing •  1910 Morua Law banned black political parties •  200 leaders of the Partido Independiente de Color were arrested •  1912 massacre of P.I.C. protests in Oriente killing 4,000 (Sawyer)

Afro-Cuban Discrimination and Inequality •  Earned lower wages •  Systematically barred from some occupations and economic sectors •  Suffered greater job insecurity •  Disproportionately unemployed •  Barred from hotels, resorts, social clubs and restaurants •  Majority in Havana’s tenements •  Disproportionate represented in prison population •  30% of blacks over 20 were illiterate •  Excluded from private school education (Louis Perez Jr.)

Causes of the 1959 Revolution •  Political dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista •  US economic domination (sugar, cattle, utilities, railroads, hotels, casinos) •  Economic disparity •  Social Inequality •  Unemployment (665,000 in 1958) •  Chronic underemployment •  Poverty

1959 Revolution •  Triumph of Fidel Castro’s 26th of July Movement •  Hundreds of thousands of people mobilized •  Mounting pressure for dramatic action

Your Task •  Serve on a revolutionary committee •  Advocate government policy to reduce racial discrimination and inequality •  Using specific examples primary documents