Maymester Study Abroad in Cuba

In May I was to Cuba for 11 days. While we were there, we studied the parallels between African American and Afrocuban culture within their respective countries. Mainly, this learning came from museums, lectures, and touring historical parts of the country.

One of the most profound takeaways I had from this trip w

as understanding what a mixed nation looks like. Cuba has several different races prominent in its culture, and the racial distribution in the nation is more balanced than in the United States. As someone who isn’t white, it was fascinating, and comforting, to be in a country which had a majority of non-white citizens. I learned that I feel more comfortable in expressing myself, and I’m generally calmer, in environments where most people look like me.

With that said, I have also learned to appreciate the wealt

h of information that I’m allowed in the United States. Most Cubans didn’t realize the horrors of slavery in their own country, nor the plight of their non-white citizens. Racism was denied by every color of Cuban, but it is obvious that it exists both institutionally and culturally. This denial and misunderstanding is a testament to the Cuban government’s propaganda, as well as a general unwillingness to confront racial issues in the nation. Although America may have more issues with race than Cuba, race is at least openly talked about in American dialog, and there is a more accurate representation of slavery in the US.

As I mentioned earlier, being in a majority non-white nation left a mark on me. This is the first nation like this that I have been to, and it was interesting to observe how this was different than majority white—but still mixed—nations, like Canada or the US. I thought that it was beautiful to see that people of any color would interact with each other familiarly, without holding anything back because their skin was a different color. Cuba declared itself a raceless nation decades ago, and although this declaration has come with several problems, it feels incredibly liberating that Cubans I spoke to told me stories about how they would never think about the race of friends they have had for years until someone pointed it out to them.

Because Cuba officially denies race, yet still has institutional and cultural racism, it was interesting observe race in Cuba, as well as speaking to Cubans about issues of race. For example, the head of the Afrocuban museum in Havana was white. This seemed strange to me—something that wouldn’t fly in America—but in Cuba it wasn’t remotely an issue. Additionally, most of the lectures we went to with black academics in Cuba were frustrating because they romanticized racism and slavery to some degree. They communicated ideas to us that would’ve given them the label of Uncle Tom’s in the United States. This primarily made me grateful for the education and freedom of information that I have received in the United States about black history and black issues worldwide.

Perhaps as a cumulative takeaway from a lot the experiences I had in Cuba was the importance of the influence of the government in citizens lives of a country. Although people in America love to be political, not many are truly nationalistic—not many truly love their country. In Cuba, it felt like every person that I interacted with loved their country. I think that nationalism has a bad connotation in the United States, but the pride and love that I saw displayed for Cuba, and the resulting comradery between all Cubans, was obviously a good thing.

These changes are important because I understand how differently a country can be from America or Canada, yet still function well. I truly feel that Cubans are happier than Americans, even though the country is less economically developed and has a different government. Also, now that I understand what it means to be black and mixed in other countries better, I feel like it is my duty to be a better representative of non-white people in America. I know that I need to accurately represent our history, culture, and art. Otherwise, issues with race will persist in the nation.