Jump to content

Talk:Afro-Caribbean history

Page contents not supported in other languages.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

21st Century: Persistent racial inequality

[edit]

I added citation needed to the last claim about persistent inequality, though I agree with it (it just needs a reference), and removed incorrect example of Cuba. On Cuba: while the refusal of the revolutionary project to directly confront race and the exacerbating influence of economic reforms during and after the "Special Period" have limited racial equality in Cuba, it is not a good example. For a balanced but clear explanation of this, see this op-ed by Harvard University Professor of Afro-Latin American Studies Alejandro de la Fuente: "...in comparison to other multiracial societies in the Americas, the Cuban occupational structure was significantly less unequal according to race. On top of that, salaries in the massive public sector (over 90 percent of employment at the time) were regulated by law, so income differences were also extremely low. I do not mean to claim that the Cuban revolution had created a socialist paradise in the tropics. Cuban society had numerous and profound problems. My point is that, in terms of what Gutting calls the “deeper issue” behind racial problems and divisions, Cuba had advanced a great deal, dismantling key pillars of inequality and providing more or less egalitarian access to education, health, employment and recreation. Yet the Cubans were not able to go past their own “outrage on race.” Despite the massive changes discussed here, blackness continued to be associated with negative social and cultural features." Isaaccurtis (talk) 20:43, 4 February 2015 (UTC)[reply]