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| Beer and Pizza Tea Party Immigration Racism |
The Cuban census reports that 65% of the population is white while foreign figures report an estimate of the number of whites at anywhere from 20 to 35 percent.[1][2][3] The Economist states that, although the population is now mainly black or mulatto and young, its rulers form "a mainly white gerontocracy"…
A
survey[year needed] showed that white Cubans believe that blacks are "less
intelligent than whites" (58%) and "devoid of decency" (69%).[3]
Racial Politics in Post-Revolutionary Cuba by Mark Q. Sawyer discusses the
racial ideology prevalent in the country.[5]
According to
anthropologists dispatched by the European Union (EU), racism in Cuban is
systemic and institutional.[1] Black people are systematically excluded from
positions in tourism-related jobs, where they could earn tips in hard
currencies.[1] According to the EU study, black people are relegated to poor
housing, were excluded from managerial positions, received the lowest
remittances from relatives abroad, and were five times more likely to be imprisoned.
Blacks also complained of suffering the longest waits in healthcare.[1]
Esteban
Morales Domínguez, a professor in the University of Havana, believes that
"the absence of the debate on the racial problem already threatens {...}
the revolution's social project".[6] Carlos Moore, who has written
extensively on the issue, says that "there is an unstated threat, blacks
in Cuba know that whenever you raise race in Cuba, you go to jail. Therefore
the struggle in Cuba is different. There cannot be a civil rights movement. You
will have instantly 10,000 black people dead".[6] He says that a new
generation of black Cubans are looking at politics in another way.[6]
Barack
Obama's victory has raised disturbing questions about the institutional racism
in Cuba.[1] The Economist noted, "The danger starts with his example:
after all, a young, black, progressive politician has no chance of reaching the
highest office in Cuba, although a majority of the island’s people are
black."
