Figure 1.-- The two primary ethnic groups in Cuba are whites and blacks. The mullato mix between them constitutes a third group. One of the few achievements of Fidel Castro's Communist Revolution was elimate the status of blacks as a povery stricken sub-culture. This photograph is unftm but looks like the 1960s. Today in Cuba, race continues to be a very sensitive issue. Any instance of racial bigortry or black nationlism can result in serious criminal charges. Blacks continue, however, to be largely excluded from important posts, except in the military. It is unclear why this is occuring. It could be unarticulated racial prejudice or black children my not do as well in schools.

Cuba is composed of two basic ethnic groups (whites and blacks) and the mulatto mix of blacks and white. . The indignous population was two Native American groups, Caribs and Arawaks. They were virtually destroyed by the Spanish early in the colonial era. The primary factor was European diseases, but mistreatment and slavery were also factors. The same process occurred throughout the Caribbean. Some Native American DNA may survive in the gene pool, but there is no significnt surviving Native Americam population. The largest group is European whites, primarily Spanish. Until relatively modern times, the Spanish restricted the immigration of Protestants nd other Europeans. And Spain retained control of Cuba ecen fter the independence revolutions which swept through South and Central America. They are the majority and constitute some 65 percent of the population. Americans tend to classify Cubans as Hispanic. Many of the Hispanics emigrating to the United States have mixed Spanish-Native American ancestry, but Cuban whites are mostly of European ancestry. About 10 percent of the Cuban population emigratd to the Uited States as a result of Communist oppression. Most were middle-class whites. This reduced the white percentge in the Cuban ethnic mix. Blacks constitute nearly 10 percent of the population. They are the ancestors of the captive Africans brought to Cuba as slaves to work on the sugar plantations in eastern Cuba. With the death of Native Americans, the Spanish needed workers and thus purchased captive Africans. The Cuba history is different than most of the Caribbean. The Spanish lost much of the Caribbean to other Europeans. And unlike the other Europeans, the Spanish were late to adoptthe highly lucrarive sugar cultivation. Sugar plantations did not appear in Cuba until the 19th century. This is when large numbers of captive Africans were imported. They worked under apauling conditions. They and Puerto Rican slaves were the last slaves in the America to be emancipated (1886). Even a after independemce (1903) they became a poverty stricken underclass, work on sugar plantations. Cuban sources report Afro-Cubans returning to Africa (Nigeria and Equatorial Guinea) during the colonia era and African emigrating to Cuba after the Revolution (1959). We have no information on this and do not know if these movements are of any importance. Mulattos are an ethnic mix of whites and blacks. They constitute about 25 percent of the population. They are primarily decended from African slave women who enpregnated by white masters. They experienced better treatment and living condition and as a result they and their children had a much better chance of surviving than the planration field worker slaves. They are the largest mulatto group in the Caribbean and are relatively well integrated into Cuban society. Racism exists in the country, but it has been significantly diluted by both the flight of the white middle class and the social ideology of the Revolution. The Communist Party strictly prohibits the open public discussion of race issues. Any expression of racial hatred or black nationalism is sunject to severe repression. Reducing racial inequities is one of the few success of the Revolution. That said, Cuba is not a color-blind utopia. Blacks in Cuba are routinely denied access to top decesion making positions and have generally lower income levels than whites. The highest levels blacks we have noted are in the military. Blacks tend to be among the most fervent supporters of the Revolution because of the efforts to integrate them into Cuban society.

Native Americans

The indignous populations of the Caribbean is generally described as two Native American groups, Caribs and Arawaks. THe Cubans generally described the primartu group as Tainos. These people migrated from northern South meric up the Catinnean chain. There appears to have been a third group in Cuba. The Guanahatabetes dominated western Cuba. They seem to have come from Florida (around 2000 BC). The Native Americans were virtually destroyed by the Spanish early in the colonial era. The primary factor was European diseases, but mistreatment and slavery were also factors. The same process occurred throughout the Caribbean. Some Native American DNA survives in the white gene pool, but it is very small. Less than 1 percent of whites show Native American traces. Interestingly this is basiclly among the families related to the earliest generation of Spanish colonists, the conquistadores. (Native American traces are absent in black DNA because the Native Americans had beelargely eliminated by the time blacks began to be imported.) There is only a very small surviving Native American population and we have not seen any actual estimates. The small number who identify as Native American live in eastern Cuba. Some North American Indians living in Spanish missions (Georgia and Florida) were evacuated to Cuba along with fleeing Spanish settlers as Spanish Florida was transferred to the United States. The descendants of the Calusa, Tequesta, Timucua and other indigenous Florida tribes are now assimilated into the Cuban population.

European Whites

The largest 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. 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 plce it as rhe most prosperous. There was a thriving middle class, nistly made up of white Cubans. That is not to say that the Cuban whites were all urban residents with typivl middle-class jobs. The Cuban peasantry (campesions), at least the land-holding peasantry was motly white. Plots wwere commi=only very small. This in contrast to the campesino population in much of Latin America which is often a Amerindian or mestizo population. Many blacks lived in rural areas, but thy were commonly kandless agricultural workers. 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.

Blacks

Blacks constitute nearly 10 percent of the population. They are the ancestors of the captive Africans brought to Cuba as slaves to work on the sugar plantations in eastern Cuba. With the death of Native Americans, the Spanish needed workers and thus purchased captive Africans. The Cuba history is different than most of the Caribbean. The Spanish lost much of the Caribbean to other Europeans. And unlike the other Europeans, the Spanish were late to adopt the highly lucrative sugar cultivation. Sugar plantations did not appear in Cuba until the 19th century. This is when large numbers of captive Africans were imported because of the large number of workers needed. . They worked under apauling conditions. Caribbean sugar plantations were essentially death camps. They and Puerto Rican slaves were the last slaves in the America to be emancipated (1886). Even after independemce (1903) they became a poverty stricken underclass, work on sugar plantations. Cuban sources report Afro-Cubans returning to Africa (Nigeria and Equatorial Guinea) during the colonial era and African emigrating to Cuba after the Revolution (1959). We have no information on this and do not know if these movements are of any importance.

Mulattos

Mulattos are an ethnic mix of whites and blacks. In Latin America the primary racial mix is mestizo. There is no substabtial mestizo group in Cuba and the Caribbean in genral because the Ntive merican were lsrgely exterminated by the Spanish, primarily by expoure to Europan diseases. In Brazil and some Caribbean areas, because of slavery, mulattoes are an important group. On many Caribbean islands, mulattoes are not very important because whites were a small part of th island popultions, demogrphically overwelmd by the importation of cptive Africans to work the sugar plantations. Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico were different. The sugar industry was dveloped later than the smaller islands an there was a substantial population of Spanish colonists not involved with sugar. Spanish officials in Cuba as more captive Africans were brought to Cuba to work in the new sugar plantations, interracial marriages were forbidden (mid-19th century). The result was that many mixed couples lived together and had children without getting married. Mulattoes today constitute about 25 percent of the population. They are primaroily decended from African slave women who enpregnated by white masters. They experienced better treatment and living condition and as a result they and their children had a much better chance of surviving than the plantation field worker slaves. They are the largest mulatto group in the Caribbean and are relatively well integrated into Cuban society, especially since the Revolution.

Racial Integration

Racism exists in the country, but it has been significantly diluted by both the flight of the white middle class and the social ideology of the Revolution. The Communist Party strictly prohibits the open public discussion of race issues. Any expression of racial hatred or black nationalism is sunject to severe repression. Reducing racial inequities is one of the few success of the Revolution. That said, Cuba is not a color-blind utopia. Blacks in Cuba are routinely denied access to top decesion making positions and have generally lower income levels than whites. This is something the Cubans are not allowed to openly discuss and as far as we know there is no available data. As a result of the Revolution there has been a leveling of Cuban society. Black incomes and and access to government services have increased. At the same time white incomes have been very sharply reduced. The highest level blacks we have noted are in the military. Blacks tend to be among the most fervent supporters of the Revolution because of the efforts to integrate them into Cuban society. In the United States, Civil Rights groups point to numerical disparities in crimimal encarceration, drug use, education, elected office, government appoitments, housing, jobs, and other areas as evidence of descrimation. In Cuba, open discussion of this issue is not permitted.

Created: 3:18 PM 2/18/2018
Last updated: 5:53 PM 2/19/2018