The Role of Afro-Cubans in the Formation of Cuba Essay

My cultural ancestry comes from a Cuban and Mexican decent. I have chosen to write about my Cuban side because I can relate to them more than I could with my Mexican side. I was raised around my Cuban family and would occasionally see my Mexican side due to them living so far away. I have spent a lot more time associating with Cubans and have adapted to more of their habits.

After it became officially globally acknowledged that Cuba was in fact a communist state and was being led through a dictatorship run by Castro, it did not take long before powerful enemies and essential allies were formed. The act of seizing all foreign land with none or very little compensation was received with great hostility amongst those who lost in their property through this process, and probably the reaction that had the biggest impact on Cuba’s economy was that of the US. Castro’s communistic policies did not of course help calm this resentment and also took part in leading to the establishment of trade embargos with Cuba from the US. This meant that Cuba would now lose a very valuable buyer of their precious sugar, [5] but they did however gain another one, a powerful nation that shared quite similar Marxist ideals and were quick to form an alliance with the Cubans, the USSR.

economic growth comes from agriculture and exports to and from Europe. Since America has had an embargo on Cuba since 1962 neither countries trade with each other because of many disagreements about governing techniques and Fidel's unwillingness to comply with U.S. instructions. Cuba’s long history and culture has contributed to many economic and social growth through out the world, but Cuba is still struggling to try to stable their economy.

Race in Argentina and Cuba, 1880-1930: Theory, Policies, and Popular Reaction, by Aline Heig; In the Analysis of the writen of Sarmiento, Bunge, and Ingenieros; Heig explain the believe of the racial theory in Argentina and Cuba. She explained about the different treatments during those times in which the social and racial class it was divided. Cuba and Argentina it was characterize by the separation of skin color. The Anglo-Saxon in Argentina and Cuba have the idea of superiority race and inferiority. However, Heig explain that the ideology of the Argentina culture is very similar because they believe in the white superiority and Indians and black inferiority.

The study of race relations in contemporary Cuba indelibly requires an understanding of the dynamic history of race relations in this ethnically pervasive island of the Caribbean. Cuban society, due to its historical antecedents of European colonialism and American imperialism, has traditionally experienced anguished and even tumultuous race relations. Racial disharmony has plagued Cuban society ever since the advent of the Colonial institution of the plantation system. Thus, in order to acquire some understanding of Cuba’s dynamic race relations one must study and investigate the evolution of racial tensions and the quintessential

Some African Americans living today share a Spanish heritage, with their parents or grandparents, or the generation before. This leads to increase to the umbrella group known as “Hispanic”. So eventually, Africans made their way into becoming Hispanic. Shade in the Hispanic group is actual diverse. One can be black, and a Mexican and one can be white and have Spanish backgrounds. Nowadays, though, a Hispanic individual is puzzled as a white person who has Spanish backgrounds. However this is not the circumstance, in various areas of the world, there are African men that have Hispanic backgrounds or heritages, counting the United

They have the leading college completion rate of all the Latino groups in the U.S. The majority of them came during the anti-Castro movement as refugees to the United States. They were generally well educated, had managerial or professional backgrounds, and therefore met with greater economical success than later immigrants (Racial and Ethnic Groups Chapter 9). Fidel Castro has ruled over Cuba for the past 48 years, and there are still people coming to the United States (Miami, Florida) to get their citizenship and running from his reign. As recent as today, some immigrants from Cuba are not accepted well, unless they are outspoken critics of Fidel Castro (Racial and Ethnic Groups Chapter 9). The younger generation is more worried about how the Miami Dolphins are doing than what is going on in Havana these days (Racial and Ethnic Groups Chapter 9).

During the fight for independence the Creoles had may leaders along the way that helped to end the Peninsulares. Some of the leaders were military and religious figures that helped to make independent nations. These leaders lead the Americanos and influenced them to unite them as a nation state. They were doing this because Portugal and other nations were not involved with them and yet they ruled them and the Americanos wanted administrative power from the Peninsulares. The Creoles led the fight for independence in Latin America because they wanted to create a stable government, they needed to have a strong economy and they wanted to unite the people as a nation state.

As a mix of diverse people gave rise to a new social structure and introduced a cultural blending in the Spanish empire, located in Latin America, eventually a growing population of lower-classed non-white people became angered at the privileges of the whites. Being denied the status, wealth and power that were given to whites, the mestizos and the mulattoes resented the Spanish. Masses of enslaved Africans and the many populations that were looked down upon suffered economic misery and longed for freedom, eventually leading revolutions across Latin America. Those revolted were motivated by love for one’s race and freedom, like what Father Miguel Hidalgo says in Document A of the Latin American DBQ, “we are not Europeans; we are not Indians;

They helped keep the area that they were living in running up to par and even the Africans that were militiamen were there to keep the cities safe. “Free mulattoes dominated trades such as shoemaking and tailoring in St. Augustine” (page 89) Juan Bautista Collins gives a good example on how black entrepreneurs could dominate. Collins started out just trading from butter to cattle and horses to slaves in various places in the U.S. and the Caribbean. The Africans in Spanish Florida worked while they lived there, they were not given any breaks but the work that they did either being a cobbler or a fisherman they still gave a great contribution to the group of people living around

These extravagant women were revered by their generation, and according to the Cuban foreign minister in 1958, Andrés Vargas Gómez, "She was a sacred creature and it was her right to have precedence in all things." While the number of professional women in Cuba grew throughout the first half of the twentieth century (lawyers, doctors, businesswomen, journalists, teachers, and musicians), the huge discrepancy between them and the average Cuban woman was not shrinking. The view of women as pura o putas existed, and equality was a long way away. According to Lois M. Smith and Alfred Padula, the long-term deficit of women in times of slavery played a significant role in the construction of sexual relations in Cuba (p 9). During slavery in Cuba, there were very few slave women, and white women only represented ten percent of the Cuban population.

There are currently 150 million Afro-descendants in Latin America who make up nearly 30 percent of the region’s population (Congressional Research Service, 2005). Out of the fifteen Latin American nations that have recently adapted some sort of multicultural reform, only three give recognize Afro-Latino communities and give them the same rights as indigenous groups (Hooker, 2005). Indigenous groups are more successful than afro-descendent groups in gaining collective rights and development aid from international NGO’s. Collective rights important because are closely related to land rights and can become a tool to fight descrimination .I will attempt to uncover the causes for the discrepancy. This study relies heavily on ethnographic

Artistic Resistance In Venceremos by Jafari Allen, the author exposes some inherent contradictions that ultimately prevent full incorporation into society for Afro-Cubans. In order to combat this exclusion, blacks in Cuba began to assert themselves in spaces. It is through cultural and artistic expression that Afro-Cubans were able to establish not only communities of acceptance, but were able to form a movement of resistance towards the marginalization of ones identity that was being waged by the state. By utilizing artistic and cultural expression, such as film and dance, Afro-Cubans were able to take agency and fight against exclusion through the formation of communal spaces, and placing themselves as subjects.

In the early 1900’s, Cuba was a stomping ground for many of the rich and famous from the United States. Many famous movies stars and wealthy business entrepreneurs spend their vacations there along with a substantial amount of money. Trade and commerce between the United States and Cuba flowed freely and abundantly. Even with the Dictatorship-like regime of Batista, the countries benefited from the economic trade between them. This was all about to come crashing down as revolts against Batista occurred and Fidel Castro came to power within Cuba.

During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the island of Cuba was in the process of emerging from a Spanish colony to an independent nation. Freedom from Spain, however, was not the only struggle that Cuba was experiencing at this time. After having been oppressed by slavery for several centuries, Afro-Cubans, who had joined the fight for independence in large numbers, were demanding equality in Cuban society. Nevertheless, whites, especially in the elite, continued to initiate discriminatory practices against them. As a last resort, Afro-Cubans staged an armed protest in response to the outlawing of their political party in 1912. Although valiant, the attempt was