Recitation #7: ¿El Color No Importa? (all) From Survival of the Fittest to Survival through La...
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Transcript of Recitation #7: ¿El Color No Importa? (all) From Survival of the Fittest to Survival through La...
Recitation #7: ¿El Color No Importa? (all)From Survival of the Fittest to Survival through La Lucha
Prof. RolandThe Caribbean in
Post-Colonial PerspectiveANTH 1115
Remember the Maine?
Warship explodes in 1898 U.S. enters Cuba’s decade’s long War for Independence Treaty of Paris (btwn Spn and US) transfers Cuba (etc) to U.S.
sphere 1902 Platt Amendment makes Cuba a U.S. protectorate
Cubans frustrated Patriot José Martí’s warnings
Cultural Clashes in the Neo-Colony
L. Am. Cultural Evolutionism
Anglo-Am. Social Darwinism
• Hierarchically ranked cultures can be made equal
• Racial Democracy▫ "El color no importa"▫ Ideal that all racial
groups are politically, economically, socially equal
• Races are separate and should never mix
• Segregation/"Separate but Equal"▫ Today's U.S. from Boas
Cultural Relativism Cultures are equal and
should be understood on their own terms
Cuba as U.S. Neo-Colony▫ Puppet presidents
support U.S. interests Gen. Fulgencio
Batista props/downs administrations
Platt Amendment abrogated under Batista in 1934
1940 Constitution is a point of pride
Batista's Coup of 1952
▫Fidel Castro on the ballot for Senate
Revolutionary Beginnings
• July 26, 1953, Fidel Castro and followers try to overthrow Batista
• January 1, 1959 Batista flees beginning the Cuban Revolution
Questions/Comments?
From Lukewarm to Ice-Cold:U.S. and the Revolutionaries
• Fidel begins nationalizing U.S. properties▫Labeled communist
• U.S. imposes sanctions
• "Chess match until 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion
• May 1961 Cuba aligns with USSR▫Revolution declared
socialist
Socialism v. Communism
•Forging a New Society of Hombres Nuevos▫Sacrifice for the revolution▫Morally incorruptible▫Utopic
•Cultura and the Remnants of Race▫Knowing social rules/how to act▫Generosity▫Cycles of giving/receiving▫Conversation▫Colored tinge
Living through La Lucha in post-Soviet Cuba•1980s fall of the USSR
•Widespread hardship
•Saving socialism with $$
•Luchando to survive
•Tourism revisits race
Questions/Comments?
Cuba Today and Tomorrow
President Raúl Castro (2008) Increasing reforms
President Barack Obama (2008) Nominal changes to U.S. policy
End of Esperar?
Questions/Comments?