Racism, 1850s Style
Last month I came across some disturbing passages that revealed the racist ideology of the 1850s. The passages came from the book by Alexander Humboldt, The Island of Cuba. More precisely, they came from the Preliminary Essay by J.S. Thrasher that appears at the beginning of the book, which was reprinted in 1969 by Negro University Press. Thrasher originally translated the book, leaving out a chapter opposing slavery, and adding his own pro-slavery slant. What’s particularly disturbing is not the openness of the racism expressed, but realizing that we’ve put much more effort into hiding our racism than into changing it, or working through it.
Thrasher asserts that the slaves benefited from slavery as much as the master. Here we see the point of view of the Spanish Empire and the slave-holding U.S. South. We see that in Cuba, the local Indians were not wiped out, they simply “ceased to exist,” and that slavery was portrayed as a “social necessity,” with “moral” and “material” benefits to the slave. (I can’t help think of the current rhetoric for isolationism and violence.)
Today’s racism is much more polished and hidden, covered up by words like “democracy” and “freedom” and “human rights,” and hard-wired into the way things work. It essentially adds up to the same thing.
Peace.
posted by Jerry A. Sierra at 1/30/2006
4 Comments:
I’m sorry you feel the site has a “pro-Castro tone.” This is not my intention. The lack of mentioning that the Constitution of 1940 prohibits death penalty is significant, if it is true, and if it applies to the executions. I will look into it, but you make it seem as if I keep information out of the site for political reasons, and that is not so.
This is the complete “Sosa Blanco” entry you refer to , which features a total of 70 words:
January 23. At a public military tribunal held at the sports stadium in Havana, Major Jesus Sosa Blanco (of Batista's Army) is sentenced to death before an exited crowd of 18,000 spectators and 300 reporters. Serving as judges for the military tribunal are Dr. Humberto Sori Marin, Major Raul Chibas, and Major Universo Sanchez.
At night, a group of about 100 women dressed in black protest the executions of "counter-revolutionists."
As for the trial that you say I “fail” to mention, I assure you it is not because I’m trying to hide it, but because I did not know about it. One of the requirements that I insist on is verification. Most of the horrific executions after 1959 that are covered on the site wre reported in newspapers and are verifiable.
The site from which your information comes from does not seem to identify itself anywhere, nor do they say where their information came from. One of the linked pages compares Castro to Hitler.
Another factor for items not appearing in the timetables is that the web site is constantly growing and evolving. My goal is to maintain a commitment to the truth, which may clash with the methods and ideals of extremists (at both ends).
My own feelings are expressed on the blog, not on the site. I do not support the big-bully approach to relations with Cuba, and it’s a fact that this approach has made Castro stronger and more popular in Cuba, Latin and South America and third-world countries. I think the anti-Castro movement is largely responsible for that.
The important thing is for Cuban-Americans to learn about Cuban history, and there’s over 500 years of Cuban history at historyofcuba.com. Cuba is much more than Castro, and always much more than any one man.
I was just looking at the bibliography in your site and didn't see "Cuba: Order and Revolution" by Jorge I. Dominguez. I bought it at Amazon.com the other day. Very insightful, from one of the leading Cuban social scientists from this side of the Strait.
Another piece of Cuban history information I found recently is "Cuba in the Middle East: A Brief Chronology", which can be accessed at http://www.state.gov/p/wha/ci/14745.htm Besides the chronology of Cuba's participation in Middle East's affairs, it provides a good bibliography on this issue.
Olaf
Thanks for the heads-up on the book by Mr. Dominquez. I found “Cuba: Order and Revolution as a Reference only title at the library, as well as “Insurrection or Loyalty: the Breakdown of the Spanish American Empire.”
I was able to request another title by Mr. Dominquez, “Cuba: Internal and International Affairs.”
it's impacted the quantity of racists persons that had in that epoch, fortunately this have changed.
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