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2. Another Angle: Human Football - The Cuban/American Battle
- Collection:
- Black Caribbean Literature (BCL)
- Contributers:
- Culvert,Edward R. (Author)
- Format:
- Newspaper Article
- Publication Date:
- 1999-12-15
- Published:
- Jamaica, NY
- Location:
- African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
- Journal Title:
- New Voice of New York, Inc.
- Journal Title Details:
- 37 : 11
- Notes:
- 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?
3. Black Cubans Are Proud Of Their Dark Skin, Thick Lips, Wide Hips
- Collection:
- Black Caribbean Literature (BCL)
- Contributers:
- Hall,Wiley A.,III (Author)
- Format:
- Newspaper Article
- Publication Date:
- 2000-07-12
- Published:
- Jacksonville, FL
- Location:
- African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
- Journal Title:
- The Jacksonville Free Press
- Journal Title Details:
- 28 : 3
- Notes:
- "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."
4. Racism in Brazil
- Collection:
- Black Caribbean Literature (BCL)
- Format:
- Newspaper Article
- Publication Date:
- 2001-09-12
- Published:
- Nashville, TN
- Location:
- African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
- Journal Title:
- The Tennessee Tribune
- Journal Title Details:
- 39 : 1A
- Notes:
- The carnival image of racial harmony When Brazil became a democracy in 1988, the new constitution specified that they should be given land. But in practice, only a handful have. The local priest in Camburi, Father [Alexander Coelho], urges villagers to unite to demand land. He says that Brazil has a race problem which it is only starting to face up to. "Three hundred years of slavery, 300 hundred years of submission - it's hard to teach people to change that mindset," he says. "In Brazil, there was no discussion about race ... there was a pseudo-equality. When we started to talk about it, we were accused of bringing racism to Brazil," he argues.