Race in Cuba: A Three-Day Dialogue

• In Event: 56.017 - Intersections of Race, Color, Language, and Gender: Investigating Dialogue, Access, and Opportunity in Cuba

Abstract

Introduction
Conversations about race can be difficult. For many people conversations about race never or rarely happen; and when they do they are often had with people who share their particular point of view. Rarely is the case that individuals come together for the express purpose to discuss issues of race, and to do so with those who may not share their same point of view. This is however, at least in part, what took place when a group of United States educators, met with Cuban educators to discuss issues of race in Cuba.

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present major themes that reflect the content and character of our three-day dialogue on race, with a particular focus on illuminating country specific constructions of race, racial prejudice, and racism.

Conference Theme Connection
This paper is relevant to the conference theme, “issues associated with unequal opportunity and the methods used to study them.” Considering recent Cuba-U.S. relations, this paper highlights the challenges and opportunities inherent in broadening our understandings of the ways race is constructed and how those constructions rely, in part, on inequitable educational access and attainment.

Methods/Data Collection
Data was collected through participant observation and audio recordings of the dialogues that took place during a three-day conference, the specific session on Race and Race Relations was led by Black Cuban educators.

Findings/Discussion
Similar to the United States, the topic of race has not always been a welcomed discussion in Cuba. As the literature suggests (De la Fuente’s, 1998, 2008; Fory, 2015), we entered a context of both increased public discourse regarding race and an initial reluctance to speak candidly on the part of our Cuban colleagues. One of the first, notable tensions arose from our different definitions of race, racism, and racial prejudice. During our second session, Cuban educators provided the following definitions and/or commentary:
· Race – the only race is the human race with our only distinguishing factors being the color of our skin. Thus while people have different skin colors, they are not of a different race/racial group.
· Racism – the codified and legally sanctioned mistreatment of different groups of people due to the color of their skin and/or their national heritage.
· Racial prejudice – negative feelings and/or beliefs about a particular group of people that reside within the individual’s heart and mind. All of the researchers spoke of this as being the most difficult aspect of the racial issues to address.


Conclusion
This study found that conversations about race and race related issues are highly contingent upon national context. Specifically, the ways a country defines these constructs create distinct launching points for discourse. Discussing race in this way provides Cuban educators a neutral position from which to teach students, of all ages, the need to remove bias and discrimination from their own beliefs and practices. As such, transnational engagement around such issues should begin with an opportunity for collaborative learning of the various ways each group and/or individuals conceptualize important constructs.

Author

• Teon Donte McGuire, North Carolina State University