IDENTIDADES 1 ENGLISH IDENTIDADES 9 ENGLISH | Page 21

Race, Class and Gender

Cubans of African
descent
Rolando Tudela Iribar
Former political prisoner and
independent unionist
Guantánamo, Cuba

C

uba by the Cubans and for the
Cubans. This slogan would be
quite genuine for any outsider
who does not know the truth behind the
scenes of everyday life on the island
and swallows the reality sold and still
on sale by the government.
Every achievement of the revolution is
based on tons of debris poured over
every accusation against the dictatorial
regime. The latter has lasted for over
half a century. Among its marketed
achievements —such as public health,
well known because it is free and
generates plenty of solidarity, as well as
many others: education, sports, culture
and social welfare— social equality is
quintessential.
Since the very beginning, the
Revolutionary Government indicated
many benefits in terms of racial
equality, such as equal access to studies
for all, regardless of the skin color.
Racial discrimination would have no
place in a socialist society adv ancing to
communism. Everything seemed to
work fine until a body of evidence
surfaced for proving that something was
wrong, for instance, the prisons are
mainly populated by people of African
descent.
However, the repressive guard at the
prisons were also mostly of African
descent. Everything seems so clear and
so dark at once. It is clear that the
government has given so a sweetened

version of the inclusion of black people
in all social areas; but it´s also very dark
the desire to wash the face of
discrimination by putting the blame of
the violence on both compromised
sides.
It is no coincidence that things are not
happening as the official media narrate.
Ethnic equality is preached, but the
political discourse does not match the
statistics from the harsh reality of a
racial abyss visible, for example, in the
marginalized neighborhoods.
If something is wrong, it is neither the
skin color nor the genealogical roots,
but the cultural, political and economic
situation, which requires ethical and
moral analysis. It does not matter the
color or the wealthy or humble origin. It
should only matter the truth, the
goodness, and the love of neighbor.
Why it is not so and what would be the
solution?
Firstly, the socioeconomic problem
exerts great influence. The marginalized
neighborhoods are composed almost
entirely of houses in poor conditions,
where low income families live with the
minimal expectation to get better jobs.
To leave such habitats behind, we must
return to the origins: the lack of
resources, which is not consistent with
the opportunity for all repeated and
repeated again by the government the
propaganda. To have the problem

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