Post-Racialism in the Classroom as Anti-Racist Praxis in Cuba?

Abstract

Although Cuba is among the world’s most racially egalitarian countries, racism exists on the island despite years of progress and struggle for racial equality. One of the key concepts used by Cuban teachers to explain race and racism on the island is the discourse of post-racialism, through which the contemporary significance of race is denied. While a silencing tool at times, Cuban post-racial discourse has also been an effective strategy for countering racism on the island for well over a century. Based on a mixed method study (survey and interview) conducted in the Havana area, this article investigates teachers’ understandings of race and post-racialism in Cuba with a focus on education, schools and teachers’ work using a critical race theory framework. The findings reveal that teachers understand themselves as frontline race workers and vanguard anti-racists. At the same time, the pedagogy and practice in which they are engaged relies heavily on a color-blind, post-racial approach which is derived from the larger Cuban race narrative as well as from the teachers’ personal and communal experiences with race and racism.