Skip to main content
Support

By Lourdes Casal

This paper was presented at an August 14, 1979 colloquium of the Latin American Program, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.

Summary

This paper surveys the controversy and available evidence concerning the current status of Blacks in Cuba and the changes brought about by the Revolution. The main thesis attributes the controversy, particularly as it has emerged among U.S. Black scholars and activists, to the different perspectives of Marxism and Black cultural nationalism. The need to develop an adequate theory and practice of superstructural transformations during the period of transition to socialism is stressed. The "relative autonomy" of the superstructure, with its own mechanisms of reproduction (such as family transmission, etc . ), necessitates a frontal attack at this level. A survey of Cuban practices since the Revolution finds remarkable progress in all areas, when compared to the pre- revolutionary situation of Blacks, although the scarcity of contemporary as well as baseline data makes fully satisfactory comparisons impossible at this time. Racial discrimination has been wiped out, although prejudicial attitudes and the remnants of historically based differences have not been completely eliminated. The Cuban official position has rejected the open implementation of "affirmative action" or similar programs, and in general it has shied away from a direct attack against vestigial racism. The rationale for this position is the expectation that as the socio- economic bases for racism are eliminated in Cuban society, and as all discriminatory practices are also eliminated, vestigial prejudicial attitudes will disappear in due time.

Tagged

Related Program

Latin America Program

The Wilson Center’s prestigious Latin America Program provides non-partisan expertise to a broad community of decision makers in the United States and Latin America on critical policy issues facing the Hemisphere. The Program provides insightful and actionable research for policymakers, private sector leaders, journalists, and public intellectuals in the United States and Latin America. To bridge the gap between scholarship and policy action, it fosters new inquiry, sponsors high-level public and private meetings among multiple stakeholders, and explores policy options to improve outcomes for citizens throughout the Americas. Drawing on the Wilson Center’s strength as the nation’s key non-partisan policy forum, the Program serves as a trusted source of analysis and a vital point of contact between the worlds of scholarship and action.  Read more