IDENTIDADES 1 ENGLISH IDENTIDADES 5 ENGLISH | Page 29

also white.The Assembly is made up of
35 delegates, 4 of who are black and 2
of whom are mestizo (17.14%). The
Administrative Council, with its different functions—Health, Education, Culture, Commerce, Food Production,
Transportation, Agriculture, Community Services, Waste and Potable Water
services, and others, has only one black
official serving on it.
To definitively end this game of black
and white tiles, we find that the First
Secretary of the local Communist Party
council, Arelis Marrero, and the remaining seven members of the Municipal
Board, are white. In the many popular
organizations here, there is one black
woman who occupies a leadership position at the Association of Cuban Revolutionary Combatants (ACRC). She was
chosen for the position because she is a
graduate of the Military Academy.
Thus, one can truly see that the principal leaders and functionaries in Antilla’s leadership structure are preferentially white. The white tiles dominate the
game table from one end to the other,
and have guaranteed their victory as if
in a game of dominoes. This is what
makes it necessary to allude to this
phrase that players energetically shout:
“Capicú! The game is going to be
blocked on either side by double whites.
There’s nothing for anyone else. We are
what we are!”
There is a lot of greatness in blacks and
whites; I estimate that in order for the
government to be successful, there
should be union and respect for people’s
values. There shouldn’t be any distinctions based on political or religious motives, or specific sympathies or racial
exclusion. This last item is extremely
important, since Afro-descendants have

been marginalized, humiliated and alienated to the point that they have few
possibilities for achieving these highlevel, leadership positions.
The Citizens’ Committee for Racial
Integration (CIR) formulated as its principal objectives to promote and push for
a broader, deeper, more open and unprejudiced discussion about the history,
present and future of interracial relations in Cuba in social, cultural, academic and institutional spheres, and any
particularity regarding the lives, concerns and development of Afrodescendants in our country.The CIR
took on the job of promoting and supporting actions, measures, initiatives
and plans for guaranteeing Afrodescendants their own voice and place.
It has counted on the conscious support
of all Cubans sensitive to the issue to
accomplish this.
Cuba needs legal reforms to protect the
people and, especially Afro-descendants
as a very marginalized group in today’s
Cuban society. It is our responsibility to
support all citizens—both in Cuba and
abroad—who fight peacefully and legally for equality for all, and for the most
complete integration of all citizens,
without regard for race or skin color.
It is very important to eliminate all the
errors and negative tendencies that have
deteriorated and destroyed different
spheres in our society, be they economic, political or cultural. This scourge had
worked contrary to the fundamental
ideas upon which the Cuban nation was
founded. As José Martí said: “Everything that divides men, everything that
specified, separates or pens them, is a
sin against humanity. Whey you say
‘men,’ you have already imbued them
with all their rights.”

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