IDENTIDADES 1 ENGLISH IDENTIDADES 6 ENGLISH | Page 27

embarrassing position of trying to
theoretically validate something that
negates everyday practice. A thorough
analysis of contradictions such as these
looks bad for the government, which is
why it resorts to mediating the anti-racist
conversation, halting its most loyal
activists, condemning those who dare to
disrespect the limits, and indolently
stirring up rancor among them, pitting
them against one another. Official media
and historiography, as well as the
researchers, academics and intellectuals
who work on the subject of anti-racism

within the State’s parameters, the “leftist
anti-racist fighters,” in other words, find
themselves playing a role (an
uncomfortable one, I suppose). They
must distort history in order to find
justifications and circumvent rather than
conclusive truths. Of course, it is their
responsibility not to get into this power
game, but doing so publicly means
becoming a revisionist, if not rightwing,
which the government stigmatizes as
bands of enemies of both Cuba and
socialism.

In the twilight of the Cuban revolution,
racism continues being a shameful chain
that we began to drag behind us ever
since the nation’s earliest foundations.
This two-sided division of its most
notable proponents seriously affects the
anti-racist struggle. It is absurd split
motivated by the political interests of
those in the country’s leadership.

It renders the struggle subjectively and
hinders a harmonious co