IDENTIDADES 1 ENGLISH IDENTIDADES 2 ENGLISH | Page 76

The connection between social and racial condition had penetrated Cuba’s collective imaginary,
and continued in the Cuban mindset for the entire
twentieth century. This brand of colonial associationism produced numerous, republican-era,
black societies, particularly at the end of the nineteenth century. Both the criminalization and repression of African traditions and racial prejudice
pushed an incipient class to socialize itself within
its own circles.
Pioneers in this effort include the Spanish, themselves, and their descendants—Spaniard cum Cubans—who wanted to do this to distance themselves from the commonly applied, pejorative images that circulated. A number of white associations continued existing in the Republic, still relying on the names of their founders’ regions of
origin in Spain to distinguish themselves: Centro
Gallego [Galician Center], Centro Vasco [Basque
Center], Centro Asturiano [Asturian Center], etc.
This is how the Liceo [Lyceum] and Colonia Española [Spanish Colony] are established in Pinar
del Río, during the Republic’s first decade (19021912).
During colonial times, the custom of calling any
slave from the African continent black contributed to a denial of the diversity of ethnic origins
among that imported labor force. It also contributed to a long process of homogenization and acculturation. Nevertheless, it is still noteworthy
that the Crown, with its interest in preserving the
division of slaves for its own benefit, still authorized the creation of cabildos de nación [councils
or brotherhoods], given they were very important
mechanisms for cultural transmission till the early

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twentieth century. They brought together people
who came from the same region of Africa.
The progressive freeing and manumission of
slaves made possible their participation in different sorts of associations, and revealed their capacity for integrating into the country’s emerging
civil society. During the last decades of the nineteenth century, the criteria for access to certain associations already reflected the growing inequalities among that very same population, which by
then was free. If we use a term like abarcador negro [black inclusion] to describe the process by
which an increasingly eclectic population group
was formed in the nineteenth century, this study
would be attempting to break away from the erroneous image of a homogenous population group
with obligatory solidarity.
Their status as citizens permitted blacks and mulattoes to diversify their social positions and in
that way sharpen inequalities amongst themselves. The evolution of the labor market and literacy campaigns during the Republic’s early decades reveal the social ascension of some part of
this community. All the while a definition for Cuban culture was being debated, new clubs with
egalitarian ideas were being created. The contributions of prestigious researcher Dr. Fernando
Ortiz, who took into account all of Cuba’s ethnic
components had a great role in this. The increasing blacks and mulattoes gained to different
spaces for expression, whether political, intellectual or simply associative in nature, not only permitted them to gain their self esteem and some
rights, but also accelerated Cuban society’s internal process of heterogenization.