Chinese Coolies and African Slaves in Cuba, 1847-74

Abstract

In 1874, a New York Herald correspondent in Cuba, James O'Kelly, observed that a Chinese coolie "contrary to the representations made about the traffic in Asiatics was treated in every respect the same way as his sable companions in misfortune." 2 O'Kelly was one of many observers of that period who recorded similar assessments; later, Cuban historians came to the same conclusion. While American scholars debate whether the Chinese coolies of Cuba should be called "slaves," the authoritative scholars of Chinese labor in Cuba, Juan Jiménez Pastrana and Juan Pérez de la Riva, substantiated the horrific conditions of Chinese coolies in Cuba and unreservedly stated that coolies were slaves in all but name. What were the conditions of Chinese coolie labor in Cuba and how is this related to our present understanding of labor's legacy in Asian American studies? Such questions become critical as we assess our present narratives of human experience, with the "coolie" having become a major figure in the study of Asian migration to the Americas. The coolie has figured into our diasporic history, literary narratives, ethnographic studies, and perhaps [End Page 99] most importantly, in communal memories and constructions of ancestral heritage.