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Book Review and Analysis: Race and Identity in Cuba
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Kaifa Roland’s Cuban Color in Tourism and La Lucha: An Ethnography of Racial Meanings is delving into the issues that have been affecting Cuba for such an extended time. The book reflects upon Cuba as a socialist nation and the effects that different elements of globalization have in the country. Application of personal experiences of her visits to Cuba helps the author to unmask different issues in the Cuban society that have continued to test the character of the country over the years. Tourism in Cuba has gone through different phases that have challenged its economy. Roland also reviews the effects that tourism has had on the country, especially in the years when tourists would not be allowed to interact with the locals. Therefore, the book is a revelation of the struggles (La Lucha) that the Cuban people are going through. The book also explains how these struggles are all related to societal issues such as class, gender, poverty and race in the Cuban society.
Class, as a theme, is quite important in the book. Class is an issue that has enhanced division among many people in Cuba. As Roland explains, class is a problem that has resulted in the issue of ‘belonging’ and identity crisis that relate to tourists and the Cuban population. The issue of ‘belonging’ in the Cuban society is experienced by the people of Cuba, as well as those people who visit the country. When people are divided according to their wealth limitations or abilities, their status in society also changes. Class is quite evident in the book in the manner in which tourists and locals exist in separate spheres. Tourists are considered to be wealthy. Their wealth is believed to be the reason they are visiting the country. The two worlds, in which the locals and tourists exist, enhance the notion of inherently disproportionate dimensions that enhance other issues in the society such as race and gender differentiations. Therefore, class is an issue that defines the question of identity in the country as Roland explains. She goes further to describe that actions that enhance class differentiation in the Cuban society are fueled by politics and general philosophy of governance of the country.
The Cuban society is male-dominated. For this reason, the theme of gender is enhanced by Roland to show the disparities that the Cuban society is experiencing. Gender differences in Cuba have gone on for a long time where the role of the woman in society has been limited to domestic work. On the other hand, the man is given the role of the protector and giver of the family. As much as the Cuban Constitution has granted men and women equal rights in terms of employment and responsibilities, the cultural sexist behavior that traditionally segregates women is still present. As Roland explains, gender disparities in Cuba, just like race, are a result of social constructs that have been developed through the formation of gender stereotypes in the Cuban society. In this regard, women are meant to be seen and not heard while men are meant to be strong and aggressive.
Race became a stinging issue in the Cuban society after the segregation policies of the US were institutionalized in the country in the early twentieth century. Currently, the concept of race in Cuba is a social construction of perceptions and marginalization. The author explains that these social constructs have been drawn directly from the cultural Cuban comprehension of color and identity in the society. The book clearly demonstrates that issues that surround the state of belonging to the society and shows that racism in Cuba is not just about skin color. In the long run, an individual’s skin color is only one form of racial understandings in Cuba. Other aspects such as identity, class and gender enhance the race aspect in the society. She explains these aspects in relation to issues of tourist interaction with locals, globalization and how they have changed the governance strategies in the country. The main idea proposed by Roland in the theme of race is the fact that differences among individuals in the society in class and gender facilitate the construction of race as a variation in the community.
After reading Cuban Color in Tourism and La Lucha: An Ethnography of Racial Meanings, several things about Cuba and its people became clearer to me than they were before. My perception of Cuba was based on the grounds of emigration rates that have marked the post-revolution Cuba. In addition, my impression of Cuba was also founded on the cases of human rights violations that have been reported in the country. The strained relationships between Cuba and other countries in the world also necessitated my negative perceptions of Cuba and its people.
One of the aspects that became clearer after reading the book is the issue of apartheid tourism. I have finally understood that it is not the people of Cuba who are against interactions between locals and tourists. My idea about the people of Cuba was that they did not interact with tourists to discourage cultural erosion. There have been many cases of cultural erosion as a result of tourism in other parts of the world. Therefore, I conceptualized that the people of Cuba used apartheid tourism as a defense mechanism to protect their cultural beliefs and values. However, reading Roland’s book made it clear that it is a misconception that many people have developed. Reading the book made it clear that the people of Cuba are willing to interact with tourists whenever they want to. In the places that Roland visited, there were some people who wanted to interact with her but would get scared that the police were nearby. They were scared that they would become harassed and tortured for speaking to a foreigner. Roland had to convince them that the police could not possibly tell if she was a foreigner or a local citizen. This interaction between Roland and the locals shows that the people of Cuba are willing and ready to interact with foreigners. Therefore, the fear of getting harassed by the local police is what prevents them from interacting with foreigners. Otherwise, those people who got close to Roland interacted with her at the personal level; inquiring about her family, work, and life in the US.
The book also made it clear that traditional gender stereotyping is still common in Cuba. Since the country is male-dominated, Roland found it hard to interact freely with the men in the places she visited. She was limited to interacting with women because of the societal demands. Even though the Constitution has given men and women equal rights, men in the society still believe they are the superior gender.
Additionally, it became clear that race and class are issues that are brought about by differences in various aspects of the society, as Roland explains in her book. Racial issues are a social construct of perceptions and marginalization. Race issues are not about skin color but are constructed through the differences that are developed by control, hierarchy, physical alignments and variations, class, and power. From the book, the locals did not fail to interact with Roland because of her skin color. If race were about skin color, then she would have become a victim of racial issues like many other foreigners. Her familiarity with their language of communication (Spanish) made her more recognizable among the locals. There were no differences constructed by power, control or hierarchy. Blending into the cultural system of the locals enabled them to give her a sense of belonging and as such exclude her from the social constructs of the race. Therefore, the people of Cuba are friendly and interactive. However, they are limited by the differences in class and race that have been created by their society and government. On the other hand, class is enhanced by segregation policies embedded in the society. Locals only interact with people whom they believe are in the same class as they are.
However, after reading the book, my conception about Cuba has not changed significantly. I have realized that the modern socialist Cuba is still holding the same principles of encouraging segregation in tourism before the revolution. The government continues to ensure that prerevolutionary practices are still being carried out in different sectors, especially tourism. This method, as seen in the book, turns out to put pressure on the people of Cuba and prevent them from experiencing cultural integration with the people who come into the country as tourists. Roland’s book also makes it clear that government practices are ensuring that issues such as race and class continue to be held in high regard in society.
In summary, as Roland explains, different societal constructs such as race, class and gender are developed by the actions and practices of the government in Cuba. It is through these actions that social identity has become relevant in society. Roland’s discussions have enabled me to clear several things about Cuba as a country and its people as well. The text in the book has given me the realization that the people of Cuba are limited by the actions and hierarchical power that their government has over them, especially regarding interactions with tourists. However, my stand on Cuban government encouraging race and class as social constructs has not changed.
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