An Analysis of Nationalism and Racism in the Early Cuban Baseball

Abstract

This study aims to examine the early history of baseball in Cuba and analyze the nationalism and racism in Cuban baseball history. The Cuban ethnic identity was created through comprehensive mechanisms such as the Spanish colonization period, the period of U.S. intervention in Cuban domestic affairs, and slavery. Cuba struggled to become Cuban (Cubano) through a full-fledged struggle against Spain during the Spanish colonization period that started in 1868. Among the many leaders who led rebellions, some liberated all of their slaves, and encouraged them to become engaged in the independence of Cuba. In the late 19th century, the country that Cuban intellectuals desired was a country where there was no racial discrimination among Blacks, Whites, and Mulattos. During this period, baseball spread from the U.S., and became ingrained into the minds of Cubans who aspired after their own independent state. Baseball started to place itself as the Cuban people’s sport. In reality, in the early 20th century when Cuba was ruled by the U.S., and a number of factors appeared in Cuban baseball, but this excluded racial discrimination. In 1900, San Francisco, a baseball team of black Africans, appeared in the Cuban baseball league. Such a baseball team of colored people could not be found in the mainland U.S. in the early 20th century. This was a way for baseball to make quite a contribution to settling racism. This study explains about the nationalist characteristics of Cuban baseball in the late 19th century and the antiracist features in the early 20th century, and why baseball remains a symbolic sport in Cuba.