The Cuban regime has been very effective in rallying support around the world. Although of late more and more people have been able to witness, thanks to tools like You Tube and Facebook, the ugly face of Castro-communism there are still segments like the African Americans in the US for which the image of Robin Hood remains vivid.
Castro's smart move of staying at hotel Theresa in Harlem as well as his flirting with the American civil right movement made his regime palatable to scores of black Americans unhappy about segregation here at home. While there's a history of communication between the NAACP and the Cuban black organizations before 1959; the regime's claim of having solved the racial problem and the consequent forced dissolution of all independent social organizations created a void and all African Americans heard from then on were the talking points of the government in the island. The official rhetoric from Cuba and the struggle for racial integration at home were more important than verifying the accuracy of rumors regarding abuse of human rights in the island first because the demographics of those opposed to the regime since day one was largely white, and second because the Cuban government wasted no opportunity to show support for the black cause not only the in US but in Africa as well.
The vast majority of the Cuban exiles in Miami and other American cities were white and they brought the prejudices that prevailed in Cuba, which did very little to create a link with the African American community. It was not difficult for most of the socially aware black Americans to side with Castro instead of the "racist far right white Cubans in Miami", as the first waves of exiles were commonly labeled. There appears to have been little or no effort on the part of the refugees from the island to reach out to black America even though in the early sixties some pioneer exiles claim the segregation signs in restaurants and bars read: "no blacks, no dogs, no Cubans" (we are still trying to prove the accuracy of this statement).
Trying to find who to blame would prove a useless exercise and would bring no improvement in the relationship between the people of African descent here and in the island. It is imperative for all Cubans committed to break free from the yoke of totalitarianism to learn the lessons of the civil right movement in the US and appeal to those whose skin color kept them from accessing the opportunities on this promised land at one point or the other. Civil and social organizations must not have governmental entities as counterparts; the dialogue needs to be reoriented through the normal channels of the people to people contact cutting the Castros and their cohorts off the equation. Easier said than done; but the first step needs to be taken.
Castro's smart move of staying at hotel Theresa in Harlem as well as his flirting with the American civil right movement made his regime palatable to scores of black Americans unhappy about segregation here at home. While there's a history of communication between the NAACP and the Cuban black organizations before 1959; the regime's claim of having solved the racial problem and the consequent forced dissolution of all independent social organizations created a void and all African Americans heard from then on were the talking points of the government in the island. The official rhetoric from Cuba and the struggle for racial integration at home were more important than verifying the accuracy of rumors regarding abuse of human rights in the island first because the demographics of those opposed to the regime since day one was largely white, and second because the Cuban government wasted no opportunity to show support for the black cause not only the in US but in Africa as well.
The vast majority of the Cuban exiles in Miami and other American cities were white and they brought the prejudices that prevailed in Cuba, which did very little to create a link with the African American community. It was not difficult for most of the socially aware black Americans to side with Castro instead of the "racist far right white Cubans in Miami", as the first waves of exiles were commonly labeled. There appears to have been little or no effort on the part of the refugees from the island to reach out to black America even though in the early sixties some pioneer exiles claim the segregation signs in restaurants and bars read: "no blacks, no dogs, no Cubans" (we are still trying to prove the accuracy of this statement).
Trying to find who to blame would prove a useless exercise and would bring no improvement in the relationship between the people of African descent here and in the island. It is imperative for all Cubans committed to break free from the yoke of totalitarianism to learn the lessons of the civil right movement in the US and appeal to those whose skin color kept them from accessing the opportunities on this promised land at one point or the other. Civil and social organizations must not have governmental entities as counterparts; the dialogue needs to be reoriented through the normal channels of the people to people contact cutting the Castros and their cohorts off the equation. Easier said than done; but the first step needs to be taken.
