FROM AFRO-CUBANS TO BLACK CUBANS. AFRICANITY AND SKIN COLOR IN THE CUBAN SOCIAL IMAGINARY

Abstract

The present research intends to clarify the late African identity all across Latin America and, more specifically, in Cuba. With a historical background, the paper aims to recover the creole identity formation, thus, discovering the genesis of the “Afrocuban” current term. In addition, colonial Cuban history is filled with social structure of racism and segregation to the so-called Afrocubans. Even after independence in the late 1890s the racist social structure prevailed for decades – a heritage from the slavery period that lasted for centuries in the Island. The African identity during the 20th century, however, grew in importance in Cuba as the number of Afrodescendant politicians grew as well in the parliament. But, in sum, the article has its core goal in finding out the cultural identity of the Cuban people, if they identify themselves as only Cubans, or Afrocubans, our, perhaps, first as Cuban then as Afrodescendants, or even the opposite.