Transnational Race and Political Attitudes Among Black Cuban Migrants

• In Event: Racism and Political Attitudes in Latin America

Abstract

Scholarship on the relationship between race and political attitudes in the United States has primarily been studied among native residents of a particular country, most often in the United States. Among immigrants and the second generation, how do race, experiences with racism and political attitudes in the home country influence attitudes in the United States? Moreover, how does Blackness among Latinos influence partisanship and political attitudes? This paper examines racism and political attitudes in Cuba toward the revolution among Black migrants and the second generation and the transformation of these attitudes as they travel across borders and through generations. How do racial considerations and experiences transform or remain consistent transnationally and how much of racial politics in the home country influence one’s politics in the U.S.? Using over 100 oral histories collected in 2020 and 2021, this paper will discuss how Blackness can influence positions toward the Cuban Revolution and the importance of race when considering Latino immigrant political attitudes in the United States. I find that although the Cuban population is more likely to vote Republican when compared to other Latino groups, scholarship and polls have not yet taken race into consideration. Black Cubans’ partisanship is highly influenced by race both as a function of how racism operates in Cuba and the United States showing a far different narrative than what exists thus far.

Author

• Danielle P. Clealand, University of Texas at Austin