Reflecting on Cuba's African Diaspora
- Mya Brown
- Feb 13, 2024
- 2 min read
Updated: Feb 17, 2024
Wk of Feb 11-17th
Cuban Culture:
Natural beauty
Charming area
"Cubanidad" - the concept of Cuba's culture
Important Notes:
Cuba held onto its slave system until 1886 (21 yrs after the U.S. abolished its institution)
Santiago was the blackest part of the island (similar to Brazil's Bahia). However, some believe it's in Havana and Matanzas).
In 1962 Castro declared that racism in Cuba had ended, and he closed the subject from further discussion.
My contribution to this weeks discussion board focused on the Ten Years War between Cuba and Spain and how the U.S. then came and essentially became another imperialist nation.
What particularly interests me about Cuba's fight against Spain was their use of slaves as military might in what became known as the Ten Years War. While reading I was thinking about how strange that must've been to be given weapons by the very person enslaving you and expecting you to defend and fight for them. The white Cuban landowners and merchants were the primary leaders of the revolt, however eventually multiple black people rose in rankings as leaders of the military. Despite their being initial concern about the slaves rebelling like in Haiti they actually worked along with the white people. Fighting as Cubans rather than racially segregated people like in the U.S.
This is an Image of Lt. General José Antonio de la Caridad Maceo. Maceo was of a mixed race, the child of Marcos Maceo, a free mulatto, and an Afro-Cuban woman. He joined the war in 1868 as a common soldier and was promoted extremely fast, rising to the rank of major general in 1878. As mentioned above, there was some concern about him because he was a person of color. Maceo rose to be a hero for all of Cuba no matter race. Spain was the primary one trying to stir trouble and divide the Cuban people.
Later the U.S. then came in and contributed to the hostility by attempting to bring their segregation laws once they helped Cuba defeat Spain. This is common of the U.S. to look out for its own interests throughout history. For example, I remember learning about Franklin D Roosevelt and walking silent but carry a big stick saying.
Hey Mya,
That was the interesting part of the read to me too, where the slaves were expected to fight along beside and for the people that had enslaved them. You are right, they were given guns and ammunition and expected to use it against their slave master's enemy and not their own enemy, the slave master. The surprising part was that they did it. They did it so well that the war lasted ten year's on the backs of enslaved people slowly gaining the rich white landowners their freedom from Spain. The United States seems to have done nothing for anyone in the past without personal gain. In this case, their gain was securing Cuba as an ally and…
Its interesting to see people say that Cuba "held onto" slavery. Then theres this question of whether or not there was slavery but no racism or if racism and slavery went hand in hand. In my opinion, I don't believe they went hand in hand. Slave owners were willing to free their slaves in order to gain an independence. Racism wasn't preferred, I believe it was enforced, especially when America tried to enforce it in Cuba.
Hello Mya,
I also found it interesting that African slaves had to fight the war against Spain. They were given their freedom but at what cost? Their lives? I wouldn't have been surprised if they ended up revolting like in Haiti but the fact that they did fight was a bit shocking.
Hi.
I will be back to check out your blog for this week. Thx