Discusses representations of the 'Afro-Cuban-occupied house' in Cuban-American autobiographical narratives of a 1990s return to Cuba. A trope in which island Afro-Cubans inhabit houses once owned or lived in by white Cuban-Americans, the Afro-Cuban-occupied house appears repeatedly in Cuban-American literary and film texts during the period. The article argues that the trope, more than another example of 'literary Afro-Cubanness,' discloses Cuban-American whiteness and its constitutive element, privilege, thus inviting Cuban-American literary and cultural studies to engage in conversations along the lines of a critical Latino whiteness studies.
Journal Article, Examines the experiences of Afro-Cuban immigrants in non-traditional settlement sites in the Southwest. Drawing on 45 interviews with Afro-Cubans in Austin, Texas and Albuquerque, New Mexico, the authors explore how respondents position themselves relative to the local Mexican-origin population. Specifically focuses on the implications of 'Hispanic' identity in these cities as a category that is heavily tied to Mexican origin, 'brownness,' and the suspicion of illegality. As Afro-Cubans, respondents face a different racialization process than many non-black Latino immigrants, in that their blackness marks them as outside the bounds of regional constructions of Hispanic identity.
