By Nathan ‘Jolly’ Green. July 01, 2020.

All
those Cuban doctors and nurses arriving in the Caribbean are
predominantly white. So where are the black doctors and nurses? The
population of Cuba is 65% black, yet blacks have the worst housing,
and the worst jobs, and are a minority in the Communist Party of
Cuba. According to official Cuban figures, the black section of the
population is only about 9%. With just over 1 million Cubans
described as black, while 2.9 million considered being "mulatto"
or "mestizo". It is not unusual for Cuban figures to be
massaged to suit the government; it happens in all sections of
government.

The
Economist states that, although the population is now mainly mulatto
and black, its rulers form "a mainly white gerontocracy".

Ref: The Economist. December 30, 2008.

There
were 900,000 African slaves brought to Cuba compared to 475,000 taken
to America. The blacks in Cuba have suffered racism from the moment
their ancestors arrived, even after abolition, and right up until
2020, today they still suffer the indignities of systematic and
institutional racism. Slavery ended late in Cuba; it was abolished in
1886, on a Royal Order by Regent Queen María Cristina of Spain.

The
police in Cuba treat the black person differently from how they treat
white people. The police always hurl racist comments at blacks, if
you are black you even stand a good chance of being beaten by the
police and there are recorded incidents of deaths of blacks in police
custody.

According
to anthropologists dispatched by the European Union, racism in Cuba
is systemic and institutional. Black people are systematically
excluded from positions in tourism-related jobs, where they could
earn tips in hard currencies. According to the E.U. study, black
people are relegated to poor housing, were excluded from managerial
positions, received the lowest remittances from relatives abroad, and
were five times more likely to be imprisoned. Blacks also complained
of suffering the longest waits in healthcare.

Ref: "Obama Effect' Highlights Racism in Cuba". New America Media. December 15, 2008.

Esteban
Morales Dominguez has pointed to institutionalised racism in his book
"The Challenges of the Racial Problem in Cuba" (Fundación
Fernando Ortiz). The book, which was published by Fundación Fernando
Ortíz, a Cuban official publishing house, is allegedly banned in
Cuba according to New America Media (even though it is featured in
Fundación Fernando Ortíz's website as item #29 of their collection
La Fuente Viva, and is also called an "official document"
by Carlos Moore, which would strongly indicate it is available in
Cuba). A report from AfroCubaWeb disputes this claim about the ban on
the book. Ref: afrocubaweb.com/jamesearly.htm

In the
1960s Cuba's leader Fidel Castro was quoted as saying: "One of
the most just battles that must be fought, a battle that must be
emphasised more and more, which I might call the fourth battle—the
battle to end racial discrimination at work centres. I repeat the
battle to end racial discrimination at work centres. Of all the forms
of racial discrimination, the worst is the one that limits the
coloured Cuban's access to jobs. “Castro pointed to the distinction
between social segregation and employment while placing great
emphasis on correcting the latter.

In
response to the large degree of racism in the job market, Castro
issued anti-discrimination laws. Besides, he attempted to close the
class gap between wealthy white Cubans and Afro-Cubans with a massive
literacy campaign, among other egalitarian reforms in the early and
mid-1960s. Two years after his 1959 speech at the Havana Labour
Rally, Castro declared that the age of racism and discrimination was
over. In a statement given at the Confederation of Cuban Workers in
observance of May Day, Castro said that the "just laws of the
Revolution ended unemployment, put an end to villages without
hospitals and schools, enacted laws which ended discrimination,
control by monopolies, humiliation, and the suffering of the people".
Some sources consider the claim to be premature. But none of that
worked, and today racism is as bad as it has ever been.

A survey
showed that white Cubans believe that blacks are "less
intelligent than whites" (58%) and "devoid of decency"
(69%). Racial Politics in Post-Revolutionary Cuba by Mark Q. Sawyer
discusses the racial ideology prevalent in the country.

Ref: Mark Q. Sawyer, Racial Politics in Post-Revolutionary Cuba, Cambridge University Press, 2006. ISBN 0-521-84807-5, ISBN 978-0-521-84807-7

On 18
April 2018, Díaz-Canel was elected as the new president succeeding
the Castro’s. Him being elected was not so difficult as he was the
only candidate He was confirmed by a vote of the National Assembly on
19 April and sworn in on the same day. Since coming to power the
Communist Party colour mix has got a little better, a few more blacks
in parliament.

The
world has been following the treatment of blacks by some U.S. polices
officers. Blacks have died at the hands of police in much-publicised
events. The world has protested about that.

But the
same thing has happened recently in Cuba, and no one can mention it,
or complain, and least of all, protest. The world ignores the plight
of the black Cubans.

2020,
June 30, HAVANA (Reuters) - A raft of Cuban dissidents, artists and
journalists said on Tuesday that state security agents had staked out
their homes to prevent them from attending planned protests over the
killing by police of a young Black man.

At least
40 dissident activists were also detained by police, according to
exiled rights group Cubalex, with some later released.

Those
included performance artists Tania Bruguera in Havana and the leader
of Cuba's most active opposition group, Jose Daniel Ferrer, who had
been under house arrest in the eastern city of Santiago de Cuba.

Cuba
does not usually comment on the detention of dissidents, which would
give them more publicity. The government did not immediately reply to
a request for comment.

No
would-be protesters appeared able to make it to the site of what was
supposed to be the main demonstration in Havana which was full of
security forces. Some said state telecoms monopoly ETECSA had cut
their mobile internet service overnight.

Protests
against the state are rare in a country where public spaces are
tightly controlled, and Communist authorities are quick to crack down
on dissent.

The
calls for protests on Tuesday were triggered by news last week that
police had shot and killed a 27-year-old unarmed Black man, Hansel
Hernandez.

A woman
who identified herself as his aunt denounced the killing on social
media and called for justice, grabbing attention amid protests
against police violence and racism in the United States.

For
three days, authorities did not comment. But on Saturday, Cuba's
Interior Ministry issued a statement saying police had been chasing
Hernandez, who had done jail time previously for other crimes.

Hernandez,
who had committed an act of vandalism, started throwing stones at
police as they chased him and hit one officer in the shoulder,
throwing him to the ground, the statement said.

The
officer shot Hernandez after firing off two warning shots, the
statement said, adding that he acted in self-defence and without the
intent of killing him. [perhaps the truth is three shots were fired,
two misses, one strike]

The
Interior Ministry said it lamented his death.

Critics
have denounced the government for not holding the police to account
by launching an investigation, especially given how quick officials
have been to condemn U.S. police brutality, with extensive coverage
in state media of the Black Lives Matter protests.

They
also accuse the government more broadly of allowing police brutality
and failing to address racism in Cuba adequately.

Cuba's
government prides itself on having improved the lives of Black Cubans
by officially eliminating racial segregation after its 1959
revolution and providing universal access to education and
healthcare.

But
anti-racism activists say that by acting as if the issue of racism
were resolved and suppressing debate over it, the government has
prevented the steps needed to eradicate it.

Read the whole story here - https://www.reuters.com/article/us-cuba-racism-protests/cuba-prevents-protest-over-police-killing-of-black-man-idUSKBN2413R5

Before I
end, my two-penneth worth question, is why do Caribbean leaders of
predominantly black countries align themselves with a state that acts
in such a way against blacks and give their whites in that population
privileges, Why?

Ralph
Gonsalves is a white leader of a predominantly black country, you
rarely if ever see or hear of white people being beaten by the SVG
police, but it is common for black people to attend court with
bruised faces and black eyes. Gonsalves is the Cubans biggest asset
in the Caribbean, has officially announced that he has taken over the
work of Maurice Bishop. The Cuban revolutionary communist who brought
the Marxist revolution to Grenada. Ref:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLPFeuQLwBs

It is
default procedure for Blacks to be beaten by the police in Saint
Vincent, yet I have never heard or read of Ralph Gonsalves demanding
it stops. There are dozens of recorded cases.

https://www.iwnsvg.com/2019/08/11/police-allegedly-beat-handcuffed-man-resulting-in-injuries/

I
recently asked if Ralph Gonsalves is a member of the Cuban Communist
Party, he nor the Cubans have replied to that. [the lapel badge?]

Every Vincentian online news site has been frightened to publish my articles, despite them being published far and wide by others. It is such a shame that online editors run scared of the Gonsalves regime, and I must rely on editors in most other countries in the region posting what I write. I am not sure if it is cowardice, if they are in bed with him, or if they quite simply are terrified of his wrath and fear the destruction of their companies. Perhaps a little of all the above.

END

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