The news media showed pictures of the immediate family and family friends. What I found amazing is that it appears that only light-skinned Cubans are trying to escape from their homeland. I saw the Cuban basketball team in the late Olympics. I have also seen pictures of Cubans in a television special one by Harry Belafonte. What I saw were dark-skinned Cubans having the time of their lives. It made me wonder, in light of what I have been told by African people living in Florida, that the light-skinned Cubans are more racist that some southerners. What is really going on in Cuba, and what is this Elian Gonzales issue about? The more I got into thinking this way, the more questions were raised. Why are most of the people trying to escape from Cuba light-skinned? Why are the majority of the athletics in the Olympics dark-skinned? The women's basketball team and the volleyballs teams were the bomb. They were some big, pretty sisters. I also thought of the Haitians. Why are Haitians sent back to Haiti and Cubans allowed to stay in America? They are both supposedly oppressed people. The Haitians are dark and the Cubans, who are trying to escape, light. Is there something more than meets the eye?
"You must understand that we are very different in Cuba," insisted Gabriel Molina Franchossi, director of Gramma newspaper, the official organ of the communist party in Cuba. "To Afro-Cubans, big lips and big backsides are objects of beauty. To us, such images represent the feminine ideal." Afro Cubans also seem naive. Cubans are fond of saying that Fidel Castro abolished racism when he came into power 40 years ago, as though this can be accomplished by a simple decree. What they really mean, of course, is that Castro outlawed discrimination And again, who am I to say he hasn't? In the United States, discrimination didn't become illegal until the mid-60s when Congress passed a series of civil rights laws effecting voting rights, equal employment, and fair housing. By 1968, Richard Nixon was ending a wave of white backlash into power and the process of undermining those gains began. Blacks appear to have had a different experience in Cuba, where better than 40 percent of the population is either Black or mestizo (mixed) and where a fair percentage of those who are considered "white" acknowledge some degree of African or mestizo blood in their heritage. "We in Cuba are not so easily categorized as in the United States," said Reynaldo Calviac Lafferte, director of the International Press Center. He pointed to a wall in his office. "In the same family, there are some who are as white as that wall." Then he slapped his patent leathers. "And there are some who are as black as my shoes. For us, race is not an issue like it is for you."
Protesters gathered at the corner of 64th Street and 22nd Ave., carrying yellow placards reading "Stop Using Black Men as Target Practice," and "Free Haitian Refugees." "If we can't vote people in the positions to do the right thing then we have no other alternative than to protest," said [Lorraine Goddard], who held a sign that read "No Justice, No Transit Tax." "We demand that the police who have been guilty of killing our youth be prosecuted and put in jail," said Mel Reeves, an organizer with the coalition. "We also demand that they free the Haitian refugees who are being held in the Chrome detention center."
Arbitrary detention of Haitian refugees should not be part of U.S. foreign policy. Minors should not be held captive, nor should any of the refugees be denied due process or the right to legal representation. In the past, all Haitian refugees were considered economic refugees. Today, even the president of Haiti, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, is claiming that he is being persecuted. While the U.S. Special Forces and the State Department are busy chasing Al Qaeda fighters in Afghanistan, on the island nation of Haiti, a powerful and deadly drama is unfolding. Mob killings of reporters and shootouts in broad daylight between mayors and congressmen have become common occurrence.
These articles mostly concerned [Castro]'s cracking down on terrorism and crime committed against tourists in Cuba. In reaction to incidents of hotel bombings, and in one case, the murder of an Italian tourist, Castro's government had passed a series of strict new laws to deter crimes that would further injure the country's leading source of foreign currency - tourism. One evening in Santago de Cuba, I was discussing the race issue with a few Cuban friends, among whom was a loyal Castro supporter who had fought for four years in Angola with the Cuban army. He argued that what was happening in his country wasn't so much a problem of racism as it was an honest attempt on Castro's part to protect the country's main source of revenue, tourism, upon which the U.S. embargo had made Cuba dependent. Although the once-again blatant debasing of my friend's civil rights incensed me, I did understand his point. Most of the tourists now coming to Cuba are from predominately white European countries, or they are upper-class whites from Latin America. Most of the tourists now coming to Cuba are from predominately white European countries, or they are upper-class whites from Latin America. Most of these white tourists come to Cuba with racism ingrained in them from their own cultures. In fact, it is unofficially acknowledged that a large percentage of the foreign currency in Cuba comes from sex tourism, which generally comprises white men drawn to Cuba by the lure of "exotic" mulatto women.
"It was shocking to see the changes made," [Marleine Bastien] told The Times. "The U.S. does not have the capacity to detain all persons that make it to this country. This policy mainly targets Haitians." The U.S. Department of Justice released a statement which said, "Rumors of successful entry into the United States have fueled migration surges, and any perception of a relaxing U.S. immigration policy could cause future migrations at sea ... "Miami Immigration and Naturalization Services Chief of Staff John Shewairy said the revisions have been designed to deter large numbers of Haitians from migrating to the U.S. He told The Times that detention of the asylum-seekers who arrived by boat on Oct. 29 is an effort to thwart "smuggling" of migrants from Haiti.
Let me say this again: The Haitian community is not going anywhere. Instead, the Haitian community is looking ahead, to move forward to a better community. We welcome people from different ethnic backgrounds to come and join us in our efforts to move forward. If you don't want to or cannot help the Haitian community to overcome the economic adversity we face, at least don't spread rumors trying to create a false division between the Haitian and Black American communities.
It's clear that most Cubans living in South Florida were those who oppressed the working classes in Cuba, resulting in the class discrimination of white Cubans against Black Cubans. Many of the Cubans controlling South Florida today are heirs to the chicanery, corruption, organization of crime and prostitution, and money laundering practiced by the ruling class when they held power in Cuba. Before the revolution that put [Fidel Castro] in power, Cuba was one big resort, the preferred spot, for the U.S. mafia to spend their free time and take a little vacation. Let me make it clear to everyone that I'm not a communist person and I'm not a member of any communist political party whatsoever. I believe, as a citizen of the world and a conscious Black man, that I have the right to praise anyone that I choose. I have the right to say that the Blacks in power in Cuba would not want the racist Cuban dictators in South Florida to go to the island and contaminate their nonracial environment. When they were in power during the [Fulgencio Batista] regime, the situation for Black people was deplorable. And now, any Black from Cuba who sides with Castro is labeled as a "Communist" or a "traitor". South Florida needs to wake up and ring the bell of freedom in the face of dictatorship. South Florida needs to let the Cuban dictators ruling South Florida know that the practice of censorship is over. We know the problem of the Cubans in South Florida. The real problem is not truly Fidel Castro, but rather the living presence of Black people in power in Cuba and the rapidly growing Black population in Cuba. Today we are going to sing a new song; the title of this song would be "We Know Your Problem". We have recognized the problem for years and now is the time to sing that song.
Last May, President Bush signed an Executive Order allowing the Coast Guard to immediately turn back Haitian boat refugees without checking to determine if they were fleeing political persecution. Before that, thousands of Haitians had crowded into unsafe boats to try to get away from their dangerous homeland. The U.S. tagged them "economic" rather than political refugees. "The fact is our government has turned a blind eye to Haitians," said Wade Henderson, director of NAACP's Washington bureau. I have a dream that I intend to make a reality. I'm calling on African Americans and Haitians here in Miami to come together to sit down, talk and work out a plan to help Haitians. But I'm also asking that Hispanics, Jews, Anglos -- everyone -- pitch in to help.
Amid the flurry of designations by the media, law enforcement officials, and advocacy organizations--terms ranging from "migrants" to "asylum-seekers" to "economic refugees"--one thing was clear. The people aboard that boat had fled desperate conditions for safe harbor in the U.S. What awaited them when they touched land was then, and remains, a matter of great contention. When asked about the implications of the designation "migrant," Miami field office INS public relations officer Barbara Gonzalez said that in the context of INS policy, "There is really no such thing as a migrant." She said, "Many use the word," when the correct terminology for what they intend is "non-immigrant." How about the terms "alien" and "refugee?" Amnesty International notes that the term "alien" has been used in U.S. legislation to describe various types of non-citizens, including those Amnesty would call "asylum-seekers." Similarly, the INS describes an alien as any non-citizen or national of the U.S.
