Racism within a Biblical/Theological Framework: Cuban Americans

In dealing with the Cuban-American community as part of the larger Hispanic-American community in the U.S,A., we find a very interesting situation.  While the vast majority of Latinos/as that came to the U.S.A. from different Caribbean, Central and South American countries for economic reasons, the presence of Cuban immigrants in the U.S.A. is for the most part, for a different reason.  The vast wave of Cubans who came to the U.S,A. after 1959, came to flee from what they considered to be a ¨dictatorship¨ imposed by Fidel Castro, who subsequently, after overthrowing the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista, declared himself a ¨Communist.¨ And because there was acrimony and hostility between the Cuban and American governments at the time, the U.S.A. welcomed Cuban refugees who, some of whom later on would be involved in an American plot to overthrow the Castro regime.

When Fidel Castro took control of Cuba in 1959, his revolutionary regime welcomed middle-of-the road politicians and citizens, a large number of whom viewed him as a democratic reformer with an honest, clear-cut agenda to rein in the widespread corruption and mis-management in Cuba´s government, and get on with the island´s constitutional democracy.  In a matter of time, however, Castro began implementing socialist reforms, which included the confiscation of privately-owned land and industries.  As early as 1961, he publicly declared , ¨I have been a Marxist-Leninist all along, and will remain one until I die.¨ Castro proceeded to align himself with the then Soviet Union, both economically and politically, in effect, from some standpoints, handling the island over to Soviet premier Nikita Khruschev (Himilce Novas:  Everything You Need to Know about Latino History, p. 187).

Whether Castro, had indeed, been a Marxist-Leninist ¨all along¨ as he stated is a matter of debate.  And whether he aligned himself with the Soviet Union after being rejected by the U.S.A. for financial help, is also debatable. Some would argue that the refusal of the U.S.A. (Batista´s benefactor) pushed him into the embrace of the Soviet Union, not so much out of conviction, but rather from economic and political expediency.  That perspective is one among several others.

By 1960, a large wave of Cuban immigration to the U.S.A. had been unleashed. Most of those who came were white middle class Cubans, who fled the island, especially for the U.S.A, especially Miami, where the U.S. government welcomed them as refugees (Novas, p. 187).

Another wave of Cuban immigration to the U.S.A was unleashed in 1980, when Castro lifted his seven-year ban on emigration and declared that every Cuban wishing to leave the island, should report to the port of Mariel, where Cuban-American families could pick them up by boat.  At least 11,000 Cubans showed up and got this second wave moving.  Castro then flung open the doors of his prisons, and between April 21 and September 26, 1980, allowed Cuban-Americans from Miami to load nearly 125,000 Cubans, approximately 1.3 percent of the Cuban population at that time, onto shrimp boats and over vessels, dubbed the Freedom Flotilla. The Cuban refugees, known as ¨Marielitos¨ because they departed from the port of Mariel, were boatlifted to Key West.  On May 11, 1980, alone, 4,588 Cuban refugees sailed to the U.S.A, breaking the the record for the most arrivals in a single day.  A good number of these refugees were convicted criminals, and people with mental health issues.  Unlike the refugees of 1960, the vast majority of these refugees were poor and black.

The way the U.S. government dealt with the first group of refugees and with the second group, raises questions of racial preference.  Why is it, for example, that the first wave was accepted with open arms, and treated with more dignity than was the second wave?   Why is it that white Cubans do not consider themselves to be treated as ¨second-class citizens¨ in America, while black Cubans identify with their black sisters and brothers in the African-American community and with blacks from other countries?

Once again, the issue or racism and racial preference within the framework of the community of faith comes into play.  How would you as a member of the Church or other community of faith respond to the rampant racism in our society, especially as to how it affects the Hispanic community?  Your input is much appreciated.

In the Name of the Creator, Liberator, and Sustainer. Amen.

Dr. Juan A. Carmona