Figure 1.-- Cuba at the time of the Revolution was one of the most prosprous countries in Latin America, some place it as the most prosperous. There was a thriving urban middle class, mostly made up of white Cubans. That is not to say that the Cuban whites were all urban residents with typical middle-class jobs. The Cuban peasantry (campesions), at least the land-holding peasantry was mostly white. Plots were commonly very small. This in contrast to the campesino population in much of Latin America which is often an Amerindian or mestizo population. Blacks lived in rural areas, but they were commonly landless agricultural workers. At the time of emancipation, there was no distribution of land. Here we see a peasant family in 1944.

The largest Cuban ethnic group is European whites, primarily Spanish. This mean people primrily from the Canary Islanders, Galicians, Asturians, and Catalans. Until relatively modern times, the Spanish restricted the immigration of Protestants and other Europeans. And Spain retained control of Cuba even after the independence revolutions which swept through South and Central America. Whites are the majority and constitute some 65 percent of the population (2012). Before the Revolution the white population was higher. These ethnic assessments are based on self-identification. DNA data suggests that mearly 10 percent of the whites have other ethnic traces, mostly black. Cuba at the time of the Revolution was one of the most prosprous countries in Latin America, some place it as the most prosperous. There was a thriving urban middle class, mostly made up of white Cubans. That is not to say that the Cuban whites were all urban residents with typical middle-class jobs. The Cuban peasantry (campesions), at least the land-holding peasantry was mostly white. Plots were commonly very small. This in contrast to the campesino population in much of Latin America which is often an Amerindian or mestizo population. Blacks lived in rural areas, but they were commonly landless agricultural workers. At the time of emancipation, there was no distribution of land. Americans tend to classify Cubans as Hispanic. Many of the Hispanics emigrating to the United States from other Latin Ameircan countries, especially Mexico, have mixed Spanish-Native American ancestry, but Cuban whites are mostly of European ancestry. About 10 percent of the Cuban population fled to the United States as a result of Communist oppression and in search of basic liberties. Most were middle-class whites. This permanently reduced the white percentge in the Cuban ethnic mix.

Created: 6:36 PM 2/19/2018
Last updated: 6:36 PM 2/19/2018