Uncovering Blackness and the Underground

Abstract

Chapter 8 analyzes how components of Cuban racial ideology influence black consciousness and identity formation. The data in this chapter add to the information we have about what underground racial consciousness and dialogue looks like among blacks. The chapter argues that although racial democracy has been successful in creating a perception of equality and decreased saliency of race, black consciousness continues to exist and racial identity is quite significant to blacks in their daily lives. The experience of discrimination, the presence of racism, and perceptions of being undervalued in Cuban society heighten the saliency of race and have a direct relationship to how blacks view their own identity and their connection to other blacks. At the same time, the dominant racial ideology promoted by the state is paramount to how blacks view social and political realities and their racial implications.