Castro and Racism
Racism: The Ugly Side of Cuban American Relations
By Daniel G. Jennings
There’s an ugly factor in Cuban American relations that’s long been ignored: racism, both American and Cuban. Racism has poisoned relations between the neighboring nations and formed the basis of the career of one of the world’s most loathsome dictators – Fidel Castro.
Race affected Cuban American relations from the beginning during the 19th Century slaveholding Southerners often dreamed of invading Cuba so they could expand their peculiar institution to that nation. Unfortunately Americans didn’t need to export slavery to Cuba, the island’s Spanish settlers had been running plantations using African slaves for centuries. Once the Civil War destroyed American slavery, American interest in invading and annexing Cuba disappeared.
Then came the Spanish American War of 1898, American forces fought Spain for the cause of Cuban independence. Unfortunately, Cuba wasn’t ready for independence the island’s administration was in the hands of largely incompetent Spanish immigrants. The result was American occupation but not annexation of Cuba as an American territory or Commonwealth.
American annexation of Cuba would have led eventually to American statehood for Cuba something that would have been of immeasurable value to the Cuban people. Unfortunately American racists wanted nothing to do with the racially mixed Cubans who were mostly Catholic. American racists afraid that Cuba would pollute America with racially inferior mulattos (people of mixed race) and Republicans who were afraid that Catholic Cubans would vote Democratic scuttled that idea. What could have been a valuable addition to the American Union was allowed to become a Banana Republic because of mindless prejudice.
In the first five decades of the Twentieth Century Cuba underwent incredible economic growth and unbelievable political turmoil. The government was weak and inept even as the economy was vigorous. Cuba’s economic growth was staggering over one million people from Spain immigrated to Cuba as did 65,000 Americans that’s right at one time Americans moved to Cuba in search of economic opportunity. By the 1950s the average income of Cubans was double that of Spaniards and Japanese.*
This astounding economic situation was marked by political turmoil and incompetent government particularly that of Fulgencio Batista, Cuba’s dictator of the 1940s and 50s. Batista, a former army sergeant was black the son of former slaves who had worked in the sugar fields, much of his backing came from the largely black Cuban army. Although he was no democrat, Batista was hardly an egomaniacal tyrant. His rule was limited he allowed a great deal of economic freedom, refused to resort to death squad tactics to deal with his political enemies (something a lot of Cubans today regret, bullets in the brains of Fidel Castro, his brother Raul and Che Guevera back in 1956 would have spared their nation a lot of suffering), allowed a free press and even pardoned his worst enemy, Castro. Castro himself described his time in Batista’s prison as a vacation. Batista was also very friendly to the US allowing large amounts of US investment and respecting the property rights of American business in Cuba.
Yet Batista was disliked by both Cuba’s Spanish European elite and the United States. Even though he was Cuba’s president and very respectful of their interests Cuba’s good old boys network wouldn’t let Batista into their exclusive Havana Yacht Club. Even though he protected US interests and property, the United States refused to help Batista in his war against Fidel Castro’s guerrilla movement. The US refused to provide Batista with weapons or military advisors or American officers to lead his army. There are even claims that in the late 1950s the CIA may have helped Castro with money. Even though Castro was obviously a Communist, both US ambassadors to the Cuba in the 1950s warned Washington that Castro was a Communist sympathizer (but not a party member) his brother Raul was an open party member who had received training in Eastern Europe. At the same time the American press including The New York Times glorified Castro and portrayed him as a modern Robin Hood.*
So why did Uncle Sam hang Batista out to dry and give a green light for Castro’s takeover of Cuba? Here’s a disturbing and reason, Castro is white and Batista was black. So ingrained was racism in the minds of 1950s Americans that many of them favored a white man over a black man, even though the white man was America’s sworn enemy. National interest and national security took a back seat to American prejudice, the media portrayed Batista as a vicious bloodthirsty tyrant (he was not) and Castro (who was and remains a vicious bloodthirsty tyrant) as Robin Hood. Castro, the son of a millionaire who had attended law school and once applied to Harvard, was portrayed as the man of the people. Batista the self made man as the enemy of the people.
The media didn’t seem to notice that Castro and his revolutionary army were almost all white. Castro had strong backing from the white Spanish elite in Cuba, he was after all one of them. There was a strong element of putting the blacks back into their place in Cuba in Castro’s revolution under Batista blacks served as president, president of the Senate, commander of the army, and minister of agriculture.* Today the highest ranking black official is the chief ideologist, a ceremonial position. Meanwhile 80 percent of Cuba’s prison population is black,* even though only 11 percent of the island’s population is black.**
Obviously a lot of Americans including a great many self-proclaimed liberals who claim to believe in racial equality sympathized with this development. In the years since Castro’s “revolution,” this hypocrisy is compounded by prominent American liberals black and white who troop to Havana to sing Castro’s praises. They did this even after Fidel allied himself with America’s worst enemies and pointed nuclear missiles at American cities. Many talk about the wonderful way Fidel treats Cuba’s black population (notice that American liberals talk of Cuban blacks as if they were Castro’s property or slaves). They sing the praises of black cultural figures in Cuba but fail to notice that the only black face at Fidel’s table is on the man clearing the dishes away.
If Americans persist in believing that Cuba is a paradise for blacks ask them this? Why do black Haitian immigrants take a long and dangerous boat ride to reach the racist USA even though Fidel’s wonderland is only a short trip away? Could the poor black working people of Haiti know who the real racist is?
Now just imagine how American liberals would react to a right wing regime that removed a black leader and replaced him with a ruthless white dictator who suppressed the rights of blacks? They’d be up in arms demanding that embargoes be established and the Marines sent in, the hypocrisy here is disturbing and disgusting.
Until Americans of all beliefs acknowledge the way in which racism has poisoned their nation’s relations with Cuba we’ll never have a realistic picture of Castro and his regime. In particular, American liberals need to learn that not all racists drive pick up trucks with shotguns in the back window. Some racists wear military fatigues, smoke cigars and have shaggy beards, others sip lattes and hold professorships at universities and claim they are enemies of racism. Nor will we be able to deal with the Cubans as human beings rather than stereotypes. Perhaps then we can learn that the Cuban people black and white alike, deserve freedom and dignity rather than the b movie antics of a pompous buffoon in a silly costume.
*For a realistic view of Cuba before Fidel’s revolution and see the Cuba Before Castro chapter in Humberto E. Fontova’s excellent book “Fidel: Hollywood’s Favorite Tyrant” Washington DC Regnery Publishing, 2005. This is also the source of the figures about Cuban prisons.
** According to the CIA World Fact Book found at www.cia.gov Cuba’s racial composition is as follows 36 percent white, 1 percent Chinese, 11 percent black and 51 percent mulatto (mixed race). Note these figures are one percent off, so presumably there is another 1 percent of the Cuban population that doesn’t fall into these groups, who they are I don’t know. Native Americans, perhaps?
*** I don’t use the term African to describe Cuban blacks because the majority of non-black Cubans are of partial African descent.
By Daniel G. Jennings
There’s an ugly factor in Cuban American relations that’s long been ignored: racism, both American and Cuban. Racism has poisoned relations between the neighboring nations and formed the basis of the career of one of the world’s most loathsome dictators – Fidel Castro.
Race affected Cuban American relations from the beginning during the 19th Century slaveholding Southerners often dreamed of invading Cuba so they could expand their peculiar institution to that nation. Unfortunately Americans didn’t need to export slavery to Cuba, the island’s Spanish settlers had been running plantations using African slaves for centuries. Once the Civil War destroyed American slavery, American interest in invading and annexing Cuba disappeared.
Then came the Spanish American War of 1898, American forces fought Spain for the cause of Cuban independence. Unfortunately, Cuba wasn’t ready for independence the island’s administration was in the hands of largely incompetent Spanish immigrants. The result was American occupation but not annexation of Cuba as an American territory or Commonwealth.
American annexation of Cuba would have led eventually to American statehood for Cuba something that would have been of immeasurable value to the Cuban people. Unfortunately American racists wanted nothing to do with the racially mixed Cubans who were mostly Catholic. American racists afraid that Cuba would pollute America with racially inferior mulattos (people of mixed race) and Republicans who were afraid that Catholic Cubans would vote Democratic scuttled that idea. What could have been a valuable addition to the American Union was allowed to become a Banana Republic because of mindless prejudice.
In the first five decades of the Twentieth Century Cuba underwent incredible economic growth and unbelievable political turmoil. The government was weak and inept even as the economy was vigorous. Cuba’s economic growth was staggering over one million people from Spain immigrated to Cuba as did 65,000 Americans that’s right at one time Americans moved to Cuba in search of economic opportunity. By the 1950s the average income of Cubans was double that of Spaniards and Japanese.*
This astounding economic situation was marked by political turmoil and incompetent government particularly that of Fulgencio Batista, Cuba’s dictator of the 1940s and 50s. Batista, a former army sergeant was black the son of former slaves who had worked in the sugar fields, much of his backing came from the largely black Cuban army. Although he was no democrat, Batista was hardly an egomaniacal tyrant. His rule was limited he allowed a great deal of economic freedom, refused to resort to death squad tactics to deal with his political enemies (something a lot of Cubans today regret, bullets in the brains of Fidel Castro, his brother Raul and Che Guevera back in 1956 would have spared their nation a lot of suffering), allowed a free press and even pardoned his worst enemy, Castro. Castro himself described his time in Batista’s prison as a vacation. Batista was also very friendly to the US allowing large amounts of US investment and respecting the property rights of American business in Cuba.
Yet Batista was disliked by both Cuba’s Spanish European elite and the United States. Even though he was Cuba’s president and very respectful of their interests Cuba’s good old boys network wouldn’t let Batista into their exclusive Havana Yacht Club. Even though he protected US interests and property, the United States refused to help Batista in his war against Fidel Castro’s guerrilla movement. The US refused to provide Batista with weapons or military advisors or American officers to lead his army. There are even claims that in the late 1950s the CIA may have helped Castro with money. Even though Castro was obviously a Communist, both US ambassadors to the Cuba in the 1950s warned Washington that Castro was a Communist sympathizer (but not a party member) his brother Raul was an open party member who had received training in Eastern Europe. At the same time the American press including The New York Times glorified Castro and portrayed him as a modern Robin Hood.*
So why did Uncle Sam hang Batista out to dry and give a green light for Castro’s takeover of Cuba? Here’s a disturbing and reason, Castro is white and Batista was black. So ingrained was racism in the minds of 1950s Americans that many of them favored a white man over a black man, even though the white man was America’s sworn enemy. National interest and national security took a back seat to American prejudice, the media portrayed Batista as a vicious bloodthirsty tyrant (he was not) and Castro (who was and remains a vicious bloodthirsty tyrant) as Robin Hood. Castro, the son of a millionaire who had attended law school and once applied to Harvard, was portrayed as the man of the people. Batista the self made man as the enemy of the people.
The media didn’t seem to notice that Castro and his revolutionary army were almost all white. Castro had strong backing from the white Spanish elite in Cuba, he was after all one of them. There was a strong element of putting the blacks back into their place in Cuba in Castro’s revolution under Batista blacks served as president, president of the Senate, commander of the army, and minister of agriculture.* Today the highest ranking black official is the chief ideologist, a ceremonial position. Meanwhile 80 percent of Cuba’s prison population is black,* even though only 11 percent of the island’s population is black.**
Obviously a lot of Americans including a great many self-proclaimed liberals who claim to believe in racial equality sympathized with this development. In the years since Castro’s “revolution,” this hypocrisy is compounded by prominent American liberals black and white who troop to Havana to sing Castro’s praises. They did this even after Fidel allied himself with America’s worst enemies and pointed nuclear missiles at American cities. Many talk about the wonderful way Fidel treats Cuba’s black population (notice that American liberals talk of Cuban blacks as if they were Castro’s property or slaves). They sing the praises of black cultural figures in Cuba but fail to notice that the only black face at Fidel’s table is on the man clearing the dishes away.
If Americans persist in believing that Cuba is a paradise for blacks ask them this? Why do black Haitian immigrants take a long and dangerous boat ride to reach the racist USA even though Fidel’s wonderland is only a short trip away? Could the poor black working people of Haiti know who the real racist is?
Now just imagine how American liberals would react to a right wing regime that removed a black leader and replaced him with a ruthless white dictator who suppressed the rights of blacks? They’d be up in arms demanding that embargoes be established and the Marines sent in, the hypocrisy here is disturbing and disgusting.
Until Americans of all beliefs acknowledge the way in which racism has poisoned their nation’s relations with Cuba we’ll never have a realistic picture of Castro and his regime. In particular, American liberals need to learn that not all racists drive pick up trucks with shotguns in the back window. Some racists wear military fatigues, smoke cigars and have shaggy beards, others sip lattes and hold professorships at universities and claim they are enemies of racism. Nor will we be able to deal with the Cubans as human beings rather than stereotypes. Perhaps then we can learn that the Cuban people black and white alike, deserve freedom and dignity rather than the b movie antics of a pompous buffoon in a silly costume.
*For a realistic view of Cuba before Fidel’s revolution and see the Cuba Before Castro chapter in Humberto E. Fontova’s excellent book “Fidel: Hollywood’s Favorite Tyrant” Washington DC Regnery Publishing, 2005. This is also the source of the figures about Cuban prisons.
** According to the CIA World Fact Book found at www.cia.gov Cuba’s racial composition is as follows 36 percent white, 1 percent Chinese, 11 percent black and 51 percent mulatto (mixed race). Note these figures are one percent off, so presumably there is another 1 percent of the Cuban population that doesn’t fall into these groups, who they are I don’t know. Native Americans, perhaps?
*** I don’t use the term African to describe Cuban blacks because the majority of non-black Cubans are of partial African descent.
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