August 09, 2007
A New Direction
Tuesday’s shockingly offensive bigot-fest on Bob Norman’s blog, The Daily Pulp, certainly prompted a deluge of angry responses from the Cuban community. Let it be known that from here on out, I won’t be referring to Cubans living abroad as “exiles.” Over the course of the last few decades, that term has been used as a tool by fidelistas across the globe to divide our community, to present the exile as having absolutely nothing to do with our beloved island. I’m not about to buy into that divide-and-conquer trap.
The responses typed out by non-Cubans on the forum accelerated in their hatred and arrogance as the thread developed, with one user dubbed “Mumia” referring to an anonymous Cuban user, and in effect all Cubans, as an “idiot born in a Mercy Hospital.” This statement prompted the following reply:
"For your information, I wasn't born at a "Mercy Hospital." I was born at a clinic in Havana Cuba in 1975 and came to this country on a raft built by my uncle in 1995, after setting off from the town of Baracoa. So excuse me if I take offense at your generalizations of Cubans. You call the Cuban people "intransigent." That is correct. We have suffered under this bullshit for 50 goddamned years so excuse us if we are unwielding in our opposition of the criminal regime that forces us down every single day of our lives. Forgive us for being "intransigent" with regards to our opposition of tourism apartheid. Forgive us for being "intransigent" with regards to our opposition of healthcare apartheid. Forgive us for being "intransigent" with regards to our opposition of state-sanctioned murder. Forgive us for being "intransigent" with regards to our opposition of "actos de repudio."
Yes, we are "intransigent" about a great many things and damn proud of it.
Excuse my language Mr. Mumia, but take it from someone who actually made that 90 mile journey in a shitty raft with next to no water:
FUCK YOU!
Get your butt in a raft and set off TO Cuba if you love our Stalinist paradise so much. Talk about audacity."
Another apparently non-Cuban user countered, suggesting the rafter's trip was akin to a trip in:
“an inflatable raft your parents got with S&H green stamps from Publix so you could float around amongst the seaweeds at El Farito.”
If that isn’t an example of a blatant disregard for the sanctity of human life and a callous indifference to a persecuted people, I don’t know what is.
This entire melee got me thinking. For too long, many of us in the Cuban community have exerted vast amounts of energy in countering the nonsensical claims of a bunch of raving madmen. For what? I fail to see how this exertion of emotional capital helps further the goals of our brothers and sisters for a liberated Cuba. My friends, it’s time to take a new course. Those who, like many of the readers of The Daily Pulp, would have the Cuban nightmare continue, are insignificant at best. A maligned group of individuals whose grudge against the Cuban people living here in the U.S. stems from the simple fact that this immigrant community was lucky enough to have assimilated more quickly, more successfully than most, thus shattering the stereotype of the Latin American immigrant as lazy or somehow less able to succeed in the developed world than their Anglo brothers. Fact of the matter is, that way of thinking harkens back to the fascist regime of World War II Germany. These slugs might as well remain hidden under their rocks. I reject the idea that the Hispanic community is any less valuable to the development of this great nation than say, an Irish or British immigrant. We have contributed greatly to the development of the social fabric of the United States and have no reason to pay any heed to cretins the likes of Mr. Mumia.
Our efforts, our energy, should be concentrated in two things: A) disseminating the stories of Cuban repression, that they will serve as proof in the eyes of the apologists and B) fostering true, democratic change on the island. Marc Masferrer’s site chronicling the lives of Cuba’s political prisoners is a prime example of what I feel we should be doing – namely, laying out the facts for all to see, in plain English. But that’s not enough, we need to start reaching out to anyone who will listen in the Cuban governmental hierarchy. Recently, Tomas Estrada-Palma posted a novel method to contact Cuban officials using the Skype internet communication tool. We need to counter the regime’s propaganda people – we need to concentrate on re-opening the ties of communication with our brothers on that imprisoned island. There are plenty of lower level government types - accountants, secretaris - in the regime government who don't tow the party line. With that, I’m opening up the thread for you ideas and suggestions on how to steer our ship in A New Direction.
Anatasio Blanco
Posted by at August 9, 2007 10:19 AM
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.babalublog.com/cgi-bin/mt/hut.cgi/5795
Comments
Well said Anatasio. There is a time and a place to fight bigoted retrogrades. But, it is not by responding to ignorant comments on a blog.
The better use of our time is as you state.
Regards
Posted by: LittleGator ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.babalublog.com/nav-commenters.gif)
at August 9, 2007 10:44 AM
What Cuban Americans need is an anti-defamation league. The 1st ammendment doesn't defend "hate speech" and to refer to Cuban Americans as a mafia is definitely hate speech. Quite honesty, I am so sick and tired of how Cuban Americans are routinely attacked with impunity everywhere: The Miami Herald, the New York Times, CBS, CNN, Hollywood, etc... Try and do the same to women, gays, blacks, etc... You will loose your job quicker than un merenquito dura en la puerta de un colegio!
Posted by: Ray at August 9, 2007 11:18 AM
Ray,
I understand where you're coming from but in the end, it's irrelevant to the community's ultimate cause - the liberty of Cuba and the reunification of our families. I've gotten to the point where I could care less what these individuals think. We aren't going to change these folks. The problem lay in the way in which they were brought up and it's a waste of time and energy to worry about their insults, prejudices, etc.
What I'm looking for are suggestions on how to move forward - ala the post. . .
-AB
Posted by: CubaWatch at August 9, 2007 11:26 AM
"I've gotten to the point where I could care less what these individuals think," says Anatasio. Welcome to the club. No use throwing pearls before swine.
Still, an anti-defamation league would be useful. It's worked well for the Jewish community, and the Cuban exile's experience is quite similar.
I've never heard of the daily pulp, haven't read the thread you're denouncing, but "exile" is a perfectly fine word. Jose Marti himself was an exile. I once didn't use the word because to be an exile you must want to return to your homeland, which wasn't my intention at the time. Now days, returning to Cuba is definitely in the cards for me, setting up a residence and business there. For many of us, our future will be dual-homed. So being an exile implies a greater, not lesser, attachment to one's homeland.
Posted by: jluix at August 9, 2007 11:58 AM
jluix,
Well-put. My point with regards to the term "exile" stem from its having been contorted in a bid by castro apologists to create the idea of their being two Cubans (those in exile being completely different [negative connotation] than those still on the island. My point is simple. There is no difference - we are all Cuban, we are all one. What happens to one happens to all.
-AB
Posted by: CubaWatch at August 9, 2007 12:03 PM
Agreed, AB.
We must not let the bastards hijack the word. I've got an anti-Chavista Venezuelan friend that still wears red. He won't let those bastards hijack the color.
-jl
Posted by: jluix at August 9, 2007 12:16 PM
Anatasio, here is how I view the name-calling, slurs, and insults: Words are powerful, and the labels used against the exile community, mafia, gusano, etc., were created by the regime for a purpose, to marginalize and dismiss. We lament human rights violations; easy to ignore, it is just those Miami mafiosos, you know how they are...
An ADL type organization would be able to make the use of these "labels" unacceptable by changing people’s perception. We need to find a way to ensure that the labels have the correct association--they are hate speech, and in my opinion, the Cuban community should not put up with it.
I really believe that we cannot allow the slurs to go unchallenged.
Posted by: Ziva at August 9, 2007 02:00 PM
Anatasio,
Great post. I myself started a blog in an attempt to do what you suggest: disseminating stories of Cuban repression (although my blog is new and in developing stages).
What do you think of the possibility of a serious campaign that could take place when the dictator dies? As much as I respect the forthcoming celebrations, I think it would be an opportunity to force the MSM to balance the coverage (which we know will be biased) with stories of Castro's victims--those on both sides of the straits.
Posted by: freecubanow at August 9, 2007 03:25 PM
Anastasio, I've struggled with this myself. But if we don't counter the slurs and falsehoods, the other people reading won't get the truth.
Posted by: ruth at August 9, 2007 05:30 PM
What I'm getting at here is that I feel we need to concentrate on the ultimate goal - that is working together with our family on the island to speed up the march toward democracy. An example of one way to that is the formation of protests on the island - no matter how small - which could be highly publicized by the Cuba-blogging community. Catch my drift? I simply feel as though I'd rather work directly at fomenting change rather than countering the arguments of delusional people - don't see how that contributes to a liberated Cuba - time to get down to the brass tacks.
-AB
Posted by: CubaWatch at August 9, 2007 05:38 PM
Anatasio,
Any suggestions on obtaining sources for protests on the island besides what is already catalogued by other blogs (including this one)?
It's frustrating for me, who lives in Missouri, to network with others about these issues other than virtually, then feel as if there is momentum.
Already there is alot of info on blogs and sites, which is great, but how can we use it to build some sort of momentum toward unification of Cubans and the rebuilding of Cuban society?
Posted by: freecubanow at August 9, 2007 06:11 PM
If my memory serves me right, back in January 1992, Jorge Más Canosa (CANF) announced a campaign to create the "Cuban-American Anti-Defamation League." I don't remember what happened after that. He died in 1997 and his (useless) son, Jorge Más Santos evidently never bothered to carry it through.
Posted by: Firefly at August 9, 2007 07:33 PM
Anatasio,
We should ignore the obvious over the top insults and just say that they are hurled to get a rise out of us. However, I think there's some gray area here. We shouldn't ignore marginally bigoted comments made by people such as Bob Norman just because they insult us. Those type of comments are made under the guise and impression of civilized discourse and debate, and as such NEED to be confronted with FACTS, not hyperbole.
2 cents worth from a real Cuban-American idiot born in Mercy Hospital circa 1969.
Posted by: Robert at August 10, 2007 02:02 PM
Post a comment
Thanks for signing in, . Now you can comment. (sign out)
(If you haven't left a comment here before, you may need to be approved by the site owner before your comment will appear. Until then, it won't appear on the entry. Thanks for waiting.)
