Cubanidad: Maintenance of the Cuban Self in America

The migration of Cubans to the southeastern United States was an event beyond the control of most of the emigrants. With the July 26th movement came a change in political atmosphere that was unpalatable for most Cubans, forcing many to a land of opportunity and democracy. With these newcomers came new ideas, cultural values, and social conventions. This influx of the Cuban people and ideas can be characterized with the word cubanidad, which refers to the Cuban identiy or "Cubanness." Cubanidad resulted from a sudden flood of Cubans into a new political and social environment and led to the acceptance of Cuban Americans as members of the unique niche in the United States. An analysis of Cuban Americans in their new environment illustrates how cubanidad had existed in the United States through several social institutions: "Little Havana," municipios, and the exile press.

The central business district of Miami came to be known as "Little Havana" because of the large concentration of Cuban emigrants and the integral parts these immigrants played in the city's makeup. The investment put into the American economy by the Cubans was unique and very strong; many Cubans embraced the exile life, working heavily in the garment and domestic service industry as well as starting up small shops and groceries called bodegas. These little shops showed the Cuban culture in an American economic landscape that allowed a very accessible way of entering everyday American life.

But the entrance into American culture was not flawless or fully supported by non-Cuban Americans. Dade County was an epicenter of controversy and change with Cuban Americans becoming a major contributor to population and economic numbers. Many residents of Dade County did not seem to favor having all of these new community members living amongst them, mostly because of a perceived refusal by Cubans to speak or learn the English language. Another reason for this animosity was the strain on resources for the county, which was already overpopulated for the resources at its disposal. But these reasons did not derail many of the immigrants, as the overwhelming presence of Spanish speaking residents allowed for the creation of bilingual schools and an academic curriculum that included English and Spanish.

Beyond the economic ramifications of the Cuban immigration to the United States, there was a need for further social structures that would support a new generation Cubans and generations to come. The term municipios referred to townships in Cuba but was used to refer to social organizations created in Cuban populations in the United States that were to serve their constituent populations. The tasks of these organizations were to provide information and limited funding to Cuban families who had just been exiled as well as providing an overriding sense of leadership and paternalism for Cuban families. Municipios allowed Cubans to become members of American society but did not forsake them by forcing them to become indebted to the federal government for aid. While these immigrants did receive a significant amount of local, state, and federal aid, these organizations were much more responsive and allowed more freedom for immigrants.

Cubans did not forsake their religious and spiritual aspects, which were prominent in their homeland before the July 26th movement. Two ceremonies in particular stuck with the Cuban immigrants. One ceremony, called quinceaneras, is a celebration of a young girl's fifteenth birthday as a right of passage into adulthood. These ceremonies helped spur the creation of facilities in which Cuban traditions could be celebrated freely without the limitations of public spaces. Such events were meant to show off the new wealth of the Cuban immigrants and were a means, indirect as they were, to showing the place of Cubans in America.

Not all ceremonies were as acceptable to American tastes, however. The religious practice of santeria, which included animal sacrifice, was brought over with many of the other Cuban traditions. Unlike these other traditions, santeria was criticized because of taboo uses of animals for sacrifice and a presumed belief in witchcraft. After ordinances disallowing such practices, followers of santeria took the case to the Supreme Court and won their right to religious freedom in practicing their faith. This shows that these new found ideas would receive protection of the law, as any citizen and their values should.

The Cuban community, like any other community, created a media to allow freedom of speech and discussion that they had lost in Cuba. These media outlets typically took form as periodicals, or periodiquitos. These newspapers and magazines showed an array of political and social views, but most shared the view that Fidel Castro's revolution went too far and that there as a need to preserve Cuban lifestyles in their exile communities. One example of a non-partisan, and very effective, periodical was the magazine Zig-Zag. This periodical showed politics in a much more facetious sense, poking fun at Castro (illustrated as an unkempt woman pursued by Nikita Khruschev) as well as at American politics (Uncle Sam as a senile, elderly man passed by in time). Unlike most periodiquitos, this humor magazine lasted a long time because of its non-partisan views and its unique take on the Cuban view of politics. The exile media became very important to getting views across but also providing entertainment and satire in politics, a far cry from more conservative American media at the time.

The elements of the watchdog municipios, the creation of "Little Havana," the preservation of Cuban cultural and religious traditions, and the Cuban exile media all contributed to a new sense of self in America. This "new" sense probably wasn't very original but more likely a fusion of Cuban values and thought and the American structures of social organization that allowed Cubans to make the transition into the United States. Cubanidad was not all Cuban or all American but was a mixture of the two that was found to be effective for Cubans in allowing themselves to become American citizens. As Cubans and other groups continue to come to the United States, it will be seen that there will be more searches for identity amongst immigrant groups. The foundations for these searches, however, can be drawn from the example of Cubans and cubanidad. Cubans shaped their identity in a unique blend of immersion and traditional, as will many other groups to follow.