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Showing posts from February 1, 2010

Al Jazeera English - Focus - 'Race still an issue in Cuba'

Al Jazeera English - Focus - 'Race still an issue in Cuba': "Esteban Morales: Despite the radical nature of the process that got underway in 1959, the country's social policies failed to take skin colour into account. In terms of social policy, after the triumph of the revolution, all poor people were treated equally, without differentiating between whites and blacks. But this was something that needed to be done, because the colour of one's skin in Cuba is a significant variable in social differences.

White people came to Cuba by their own free will, as colonisers, with goals that they very often achieved. Black people were brought here by force and turned into slaves. These are very different starting points that cannot be forgotten or ignored, and that continue to have an impact today.

Despite the fact that everyone's living standards improved and black Cubans achieved a more favourable position over the last half century, the profound differences did not dis…