Government officials in Cuba commonly assert that their Revolution's commitment to Marxist ideals has eradicated the racist institutions and practices that characterized Cuba's republican past, and has produced a nation where people of all races live harmoniously together as Cubans and not as blacks, whites, or mulatos. This ideological claim, frequently described as racial democracy, is posed in sharp contrast with neighboring capitalist countries that struggle with pervasive and structurally embedded racism—such as the United States. Yet racism and white supremacist ideologies persist in Cuba, imposing limitations and obstacles upon Black Cubans in various sectors of the economy and in social relations. Until recently, however, social science literature detailing these manifestations of racism and white supremacy has not clearly described how white supremacy operates alongside the racial democracy ideology.
The Power of Race in Cuba identifies and corrects this gap in the literature. Clealand traces the evolution of racial ideologies from Cuban independence to the present, chronicling the existence of racism under Communist Party rule, and explaining how racism can persist despite an explicit rhetorical commitment to socialism and racial democracy. Clealand advances the literature further still, by identifying the forces that shape racial consciousness among Black Cubans, while exploring the contemporary expression of Black consciousness in the nation's public and private spaces.
Chapters 1 and 2 establish a theoretical framework that posits three mechanisms of official Cuban racial ideology: racial silence, a rejection of racial categories and race-based hierarchies (also known as anti-racialism), and a conceptualization of racism in Cuba as exclusively the realm of individual prejudice. To the contrary, and despite official claims, Clealand argues, race remains highly consequential in the lives of Black Cubans, and the realities of racism and discrimination serve as the basis for a distinctive Black consciousness. Clealand's framing here is important, because while common conceptions of racial consciousness require evidence of political action or mobilization, Clealand de-emphasizes collective action as a necessary condition for group consciousness, focusing instead on the existence of a common identity, on perceived social location, and on a belief in racial solidarity. These markers are important given the political context of the study, in a country where the state sharply limits opportunities for independent political mobilization and action. The work moves on to skillfully trace the evolution of racial ideology from Cuban independence to the Revolution, in Chapters 3 and 4. Clealand describes the shift in racial rhetoric and politics that occurred during the Revolution, as racial democracy was institutionalized and merged with socialist ideology to produce a state-controlled silence around race.
Chapter 5 explores the view that racism does not exist and the belief, particularly among whites, that any discussion of race is racist. Here, Clealand's analysis of racial attitudes shows how private attitudes and even the deployment of humor can create and instantiate racial norms that advance white supremacist ideologies. Chapter 6 emphasizes how the Cuban state frames racism as individual prejudice rather than a deeply structural reality, highlighting how this individualistic view permits the government to evade responsibility for explicitly anti-racist actions and policies. Chapter 7 reveals the pervasiveness of racism in social practices and institutions, while Chapter 8 details what Clealand describes as the underground critique of Cuban racial ideology among Afro-Cubans. This critique is grounded in the recognition and experience of racial discrimination faced by Black Cubans, operating side by side with a sometimes contradictory belief in racial democracy. Chapter 9 describes the emergence of an above ground critique manifested in Black art, scholarship, and activism and details how the discrimination and inequality unleashed by national economic hardship during the special period opened spaces and opportunities for a discussion of racism in Cuban society, and the potential for organization along racial lines.
The strengths of the work are significant. The Power of Race in Cuba is grounded in extensive ethnographic research, interviews, and analysis of original survey data. Using these data, Clealand analyzes the profound ways in which agreement with and critique of the Revolution operate simultaneously, often within the same individual. Clealand's ability to explain how conflicting attitudes operate is bolstered by her ability to explain how they can persist simultaneously. While the structural and ideological constraints imposed by the state may limit how race is discussed, they fail to negate the power of race to shape life chances and relationships.
As Clealand examines the racial attitudes of the Cuban people, she is conscious of her own positionality and thoughtful about how her position as a national outsider and mulata shapes her engagement with interviewees. Still, The Power of Race in Cuba left me wanting even more description of how her racial position shaped the work, perhaps in an appendix. This criticism touches one of the few weaknesses of the book, however. Ultimately, the limitations of the text are less shortcomings than invitations, for future researchers to pursue complementary questions. In particular, the need for further research that traces the impact of age or generation on the factors that shape racial ideology would be a welcome addition to the literature. The text also highlights the need for more research on how those read as mulato/a in Cuba can navigate racial boundaries, and whether their distinct positionality creates any kind of racial consciousness. Lastly, Clealand's study raises interesting questions about racial attitudes within the government and the possibility of future openings for institutional deployment of explicitly anti-racist efforts.
The Power of Race in Cuba is an important contribution to the literature on race and racial ideology in Cuba, but its contributions are not limited to this specific political context. Its ability to show how multiple ideological conditions come together to reproduce racial inequality is valuable to students of race in various settings, including the United States. Clealand connects perceptions about the role of race at the institutional, social, and personal levels and effectively articulates how the evolution of this relationship sets the stage for the emergence of a Black consciousness, the development of public spheres, and the potential for racial mobilization.
