Roberto Zurbano, Esteban Morales and my own negritude
By Jorge Morales
From the blog La Joven Cuba
MATANZAS – Recently, I read a Spanish translation of the letter written by Roberto Zurbano to The New York Times. With some of his comments, I disagree; others, I consider right on target.
Zurbano has every right to express himself wherever he pleases, and it is well known that he is more than capable of knowing what he expresses and how he expresses it.
He has delighted us with his words at various times and has become one of our most representative black intellectuals in the mass media (I say black because all of us are colored; I don’t know any translucent Cubans.)
I totally disagree with him when he says that the Revolution has not yet begun for blacks. I do so because in the 1950s my grandfather lived near Vidal Park in Santa Clara and blacks couldn’t walk on the sidewalk, because it was reserved for whites.
I disagree because my grandmother, a household servant, could not eat in the house of her white employers – and not because the dishes and cutlery were for special occasions.
I disagree with Zurbano because the Revolution has tried hard to eliminate racism in Cuba, and I say “tried” because it has not eliminated it.
I agree with Zurbano that the debate on racism has a long way to go in Cuba, where people think that by not talking about this phenomenon it will go away as if by magic. That is, to say the least, naive.
While we blacks are the majority in jails and decaying barrios, we are the minority in universities. This phenomenon must be acknowledged and debated seriously. We need to tackle seriously the issue of race in Cuba and denounce racist acts whenever they occur. It is hard to suffer racism and not be able to denounce it because there are no spaces for complaints.
In his numerous essays, Esteban Morales has never dealt frivolously with the topic of race in Cuba. I believe that he is a much better point of reference than Zurbano, and I say this based on what both writers have published. (*)
Esteban Morales can speak with great ease about blacks, whites and nonwhites. He makes us understand that the things that most enriches us as Cubans are our diversity and unity, that we, as a country, must learn to coexist with our own “racialness.”
Racism exists, even if a certain percentage of jobs is set aside for blacks or nonwhites.
Zurbano said some things that I reject and some that are right on target, but I defend his right to express his opinion wherever he wishes. I do not know why he was removed from his post, but I hope the reason is not directly related to the aforementioned article. Do we slap someone for sincerely saying what he believes?
We should fear those who remain silent and avoid saying what they think. Such attitudes conceal opportunism and other human miseries. Zurbano may have erred, but he speaks frankly about our reality and that’s something we need to acknowledge and respect – his errors notwithstanding.
If we fired every Cuban functionary who has made a mistake, we wouldn’t have any leaders by now. In Cuba’s entire political pyramid, there is not a single politician who hasn’t erred. We must give our mistakes their own margin of error.
And these are my thoughts, the thoughts of a young black Cuban.
(*) Esteban Morales Domínguez (no relation to the writer of this article) is one of Cuba’s most prominent black intellectuals and a leading authority on the race question. His blog can be accessed at
http://estebanmoralesdominguez.blogspot.com/
