Race , Class and Gender
Perception of Occupational Discrimination Against Black Women in El Tropical ( San Miguel del Padrón )
Marthadela Tamayo González Vice President of the Platform for Cuban Integration Member of Progressive Arch Antilla , Holguín
S
everal studies related to inequalities and racial disparities in the labor market have given great importance to the racial problem in its historic evolution , to the social equity and to the economic changes as fundamental challenges while dealing with poverty and inequality . The current economic reforms raise also important issues as how to reconfigure the labor spaces and to minimize the impact of the economic transformations undertaken since 1990 . The economic reforms has caused undesirable social effects on the Cuban society . For instance , they are deteriorating the quality of life among the population , broadening the socioeconomic differences and equity gaps , and increasing poverty . While equity is maintained as guiding principle of the social policy , diverse inequalities and inequities became noticeable among certain human groups , especially on the basis of gender and skin color , as well as in specific areas : income , consumption , employment , housing and habitat , public services and aids , citizen participation ... Such inequalities and inequities are articulated with historical , conjunctural , material , cultural , subjective and symbolic phenomena and processes that take place at different scales , but with strong synergies with each other . The entry of the Cuban society in the so- called process for updating the economic model occured just with the imprint of such effects . Through a broad project of community work , as a human rights activist in the Citizens ' Committee for Racial Integration ( CIR ), a civil society organization that seeks to amplify racial problems in the public sphere , I conducted a survey of perceptions among the women residing in the settlement El Tropical ( Havanan municipality San Miguel del Padrón ). Therein inequality and poverty are vivid along with severe social disadvantages , mainly for women . In this settlement , blacks and mestizos count for the 95 percent of the population , mostly women ( 3820 in total ), who carry the burden of being the main labor force and the household head . Many of them come from the eastern provinces , primarily Guantanamo and Santiago de Cuba . They came in pursue of better ways of life , but the State is not willing to help in such a way that the residents can get out from their detrimental and marginal situation . In addition , machismo is substantial . Men spend most of their time at home , waiting for the women who take to the streets to make a living and to seek the basic income in order to support the family . This indicates gender discrimination and inequality , as well as intense feminization of poverty .
15