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Narrator: SETTLED BY SPANISH
COLONISTS AND AFRICAN SLAVES,

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CUBA IS A DIVERSE MIX OF RACES.

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Translator: IT IS A SOCIETY
THAT IS BY ITS NATURE
MULTI-COLORED.

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Narrator: HENRY LOUIS GATES, JR.
EXPLORES WHETHER
CASTRO'S REVOLUTION

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PUT AN END TO WIDESPREAD RACISM.

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Translator: WHITES AND BLACKS,
EVERYBODY HAS THE SAME RIGHTS.

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Narrator: BUT DO THEY?

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Translator: RACIAL ISSUES
IN CUBA ARE CENSORED.

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Translator: PREJUDICE
NEVER DISAPPEARED.

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Narrator: "CUBA:
THE NEXT REVOLUTION.

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BLACK IN LATIN AMERICA."

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CAPTIONING MADE POSSIBLE BY
FRIENDS OF NCI

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Gates: IT'S DIFFICULT FOR US
TO THINK OF CUBA

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BEYOND A 50-YEAR-OLD
DICTATORSHIP

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JUST 90 MILES
SOUTH OF MIAMI.

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THE REVOLUTION OF 1959,

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FIDEL CASTRO'S CONVERSION TO
COMMUNISM TWO YEARS LATER,

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THE BAY OF PIGS,

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THE ROW OVER ELIAN GONZALEZ.

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BUT THESE EVENTS OBSCURE
THE SHARED HISTORY

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BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES AND
OUR CLOSEST CARIBBEAN NEIGHBOR
DATING BACK CENTURIES,

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AND NOWHERE IS THIS CONNECTION
DEEPER THAN IN RACE RELATIONS.

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CUBA RECEIVED OVER A MILLION
SLAVES FROM AFRICA.

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THAT'S TWICE THE NUMBER THAT
ARRIVED IN THE UNITED STATES.

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FROM THE START,
BLACK PEOPLE HAVE PROFOUNDLY
SHAPED THIS COUNTRY'S POLITICS,

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IT'S CULTURE,
IT'S SOCIO-IDENTITY,
AND IT'S VERY WAY OF LIFE.

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BUT LIKE THEIR
AFRICAN-AMERICAN COUSINS,

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THE AFRO-CUBAN PEOPLE
HAVE BEEN FORCED TO STRUGGLE
FOR RACIAL EQUALITY

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RIGHT THROUGH TO
THE PRESENT DAY.

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WHEN CASTRO TOOK OVER,
HE DECLARED FAMOUSLY

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THAT SOCIALISM WOULD PUT AN END
TO THE RACISM THAT WAS AN
ENDEMIC PART OF CUBAN SOCIETY.

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HAS THAT HAPPENED? THAT'S WHAT
I'M HERE TO FIND OUT.

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TO UNDERSTAND THE QUESTION
OF RACE IN THE HISTORY OF CUBA,

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I'M STARTING MY JOURNEY
AT THE VERY BEGINNING.

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CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS
LANDED HERE IN 1492,

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BUT CUBA'S ECONOMY
DIDN'T REALLY TAKE OFF

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UNTIL THE LATE 18th
AND EARLY 19th CENTURIES.

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THE HAITIAN REVOLUTION CAUSED
THE SUDDEN AND MASSIVE
SHORTAGE OF SUGAR,

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OPENING DOORS TO CUBAN PLANTERS
TO FILL THAT GAP.

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TO MEET THIS NEW DEMAND,

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THEY IMPORTED
A MASSIVE NUMBER OF SLAVES--

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HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS
IN THE EARLY 1800s.

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[PEOPLE SINGING]

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THIS IS TYRO,
AN OLD SLAVE PLANTATION,

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WHERE I'VE BEEN INVITED TO A
SANTERIA RELIGIOUS CEREMONY,

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ONE OF CUBA'S MOST IMPORTANT
CULTURAL LEGACIES FROM
AFRICA AND SLAVERY.

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THE CEREMONY STARTS WITH
A SACRIFICE TO THE GODS,

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BUT ESPECIALLY TO ONE.

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THE GOD OF THE PATHWAYS
NAMED, IN CUBA, "ALAGWA."

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IN YORUBA, HE'S CALLED
"JESU ALAGWA."

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IT'S THE SAME GOD,
THE SAME RITUAL,

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THE SAME BEGINNING
FOR CANDOMBLE IN BRAZIL,

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FOR VOODOO IN HAITI,

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AND FOR SANTERIA
HERE IN CUBA--

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A CLEAR SIGN OF THE COMMON
ORIGIN WITH THE YORUBA
PEOPLE OF WEST AFRICA

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AND THE FON PEOPLE
OF DAHOMEY.

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CUBA DIDN'T ABOLISH
SLAVERY UNTIL 1886,

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21 YEARS AFTER WE DID.

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THAT MEANS THAT MANY
OF THESE PEOPLE'S
GREAT-GRANDPARENTS

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COULD HAVE BEEN BORN
IN AFRICA

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AND THAT EVEN SOME
OF THEIR GRANDPARENTS

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WOULD HAVE BEEN BORN
AS SLAVES.

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WEST OF HAVANA,

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OVERGROWN SUGAR
AND COFFEE PLANTATIONS
DOT THE COUNTRYSIDE,

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THE REMAINS OF AN ENORMOUSLY
PROFITABLE AND VAST
SLAVE-FUELED ECONOMY.

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BY 1840, CUBA HAD BECOME
THE LARGEST PRODUCER OF
SUGAR IN THE WORLD.

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IT USED TO BE HAITI, BUT AFTER
THE HAITIAN REVOLUTION,

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THE SUGAR ECONOMY FELL APART.

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AND THAT SUGAR INDUSTRY
HERE IN CUBA

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WAS MANNED BY THE MASSIVE
IMPORTATION OF AFRICAN SLAVES,

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HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS
IN THE 19th CENTURY ALONE.

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I'VE COME TO THE
RUINS OF ANGERONA,

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DEEP IN THE LUSH
ARTEMISA PROVINCE.

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IT WAS ONE OF THE MOST
IMPORTANT SLAVE PLANTATIONS
IN THE COUNTRY.

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INITIALLY, 428 SLAVES
PRODUCED COFFEE, THEN SUGAR,
ON A VERY LARGE SCALE.

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I'M HERE MEETING
PROFESSOR CARMEN BARCIA

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WHO'S DEVOTED HER CAREER
TO THE STUDY OF SLAVERY.

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WHAT WAS THE EFFECT
OF THE HAITIAN REVOLUTION
ON THE WHITE PEOPLE,

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ON THE PLANTERS?

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[SPEAKING SPANISH]

00:05:14.380 --> 00:05:15.815
Translator: IT FUELED
THE FEAR OF THE BLACKS,

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THE FEAR THAT ANOTHER
HAITIAN REVOLUTION
COULD HAPPEN HERE.

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Gates, voice-over:
THE SLAVES IN HAITI BEGAN
THEIR REVOLT IN 1791,

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DEPOSING THEIR FRENCH COLONIAL
MASTERS AND DECLARING THEIR
INDEPENDENCE IN 1804.

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THE SPECTER OF THAT REVOLUTION
TERRIFIED CUBAN PLANTERS

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EAGER TO MAINTAIN
THEIR NEW DOMINANCE

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IN THE HUGELY NEW
SUGAR INDUSTRY,

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SO THEY OPERATED THEIR
PLANTATIONS LIKE PRISONS.

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Translator:
THEY BEGAN TO CONSTRUCT
...WATCH TOWERS

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TO CONTROL EVERYTHING
THAT WENT ON

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IN BOTH THE SUGAR
AND COFFEE PLANTATIONS.

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HERE WE HAVE
ONE OF THESE TOWERS.

00:05:55.388 --> 00:05:57.323
IT'S NOT ONE OF THE
BIGGEST ONES, THOUGH.

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THERE WERE SOME
THAT WERE MUCH BIGGER.

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SO THEY WANTED TO
WATCH THEM ALL THE TIME?

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YES.

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Gates, voice-over: BY 1825,
ALL OF SPAIN'S AMERICAN COLONIES

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WERE INDEPENDENT
EXCEPT FOR PUERTO RICO AND CUBA.

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CUBA'S SUGAR INDUSTRY
WAS FAR TOO PROFITABLE
FOR SPAIN TO LOSE,

00:06:17.877 --> 00:06:22.315
AND SLAVERY WAS ESSENTIAL
TO THOSE PROFITS.

00:06:22.381 --> 00:06:26.819
BUT THE FIGHT FOR INDEPENDENCE
FROM SPAIN COULDN'T BE
SUPPRESSED FOREVER.

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I'VE COME TO SANTIAGO DE CUBA,
600 MILES EAST OF HAVANA,

00:06:40.333 --> 00:06:42.802
AT THE OPPOSITE END
OF THE ISLAND.

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IT'S THE COUNTRY'S
SECOND-LARGEST CITY,

00:06:44.871 --> 00:06:49.308
AND IT WAS AROUND HERE
THAT MOST OF THE BATTLES
FOR FREEDOM WERE FOUGHT.

00:06:51.978 --> 00:06:55.314
THE MAN WHO LAUNCHED THE FIRST
WAR OF INDEPENDENCE IN CUBA

00:06:55.381 --> 00:07:00.319
WAS CARLOS MANUEL DE CESPEDES,
THAT MAN RIGHT THERE.

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ON OCTOBER 10, 1868,

00:07:02.321 --> 00:07:04.257
HE CALLED ALL OF HIS
SLAVES TO A MEETING.

00:07:04.323 --> 00:07:06.259
THEY HAD NO IDEA WHY.

00:07:06.325 --> 00:07:09.762
AND HE TOLD THEM HE WAS
LAUNCHING A WAR OF
INDEPENDENCE AGAINST SPAIN

00:07:09.829 --> 00:07:12.765
AND THAT THEY WERE GOING
TO CONSTITUTE HIS ARMY.

00:07:12.832 --> 00:07:17.303
AND THAT THEY, HENCEFORTH,
FROM THIS MOMENT, WERE FREE.

00:07:17.370 --> 00:07:20.306
I'M SURE THAT THAT WAS
A MIND-BLOWING THING
FOR THEM TO HEAR.

00:07:20.373 --> 00:07:22.308
BUT OVER THE NEXT 10 YEARS,

00:07:22.375 --> 00:07:25.311
THE MOVEMENT GREW INTO
A TRUE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE.

00:07:28.581 --> 00:07:29.849
Gates, voice-over: IN 1874,

00:07:29.916 --> 00:07:33.820
CESPEDES WAS KILLED
BY SPANISH TROOPS.

00:07:33.886 --> 00:07:37.256
THE WAR ENDED IN 1878.

00:07:37.323 --> 00:07:40.259
BUT JUST A YEAR LATER,
A NEW WAR COMMENCED

00:07:40.326 --> 00:07:43.763
IN WHICH BLACK LEADERS
WERE EVEN MORE PROMINENT.

00:07:43.830 --> 00:07:46.766
THE MOST IMPORTANT OF THESE
WAS ANTONIO MACEO,

00:07:46.833 --> 00:07:49.302
THE BRONZE TITAN.

00:07:51.370 --> 00:07:54.307
I'M HERE MEETING
PROFESSOR ADA FERRER,

00:07:54.373 --> 00:07:56.309
A PROFESSOR
OF CUBAN HISTORY

00:07:56.375 --> 00:08:00.813
TO UNDERSTAND HOW A BLACK
MAN COULD BECOME SUCH
A LEADING NATIONAL FIGURE

00:08:00.880 --> 00:08:02.748
WHEN SLAVERY STILL EXISTED.

00:08:04.784 --> 00:08:08.754
Ferrer: ANTONIO MACEO
JOINED THE WAR IN 1868
AS A COMMON SOLDIER.

00:08:08.821 --> 00:08:13.259
WAS PROMOTED WITHIN
WEEKS, MAYBE EVEN
WITHIN DAYS,

00:08:13.326 --> 00:08:17.263
AND ROSE TO THE RANK
OF GENERAL.

00:08:17.330 --> 00:08:22.301
HE...THERE WAS ALWAYS
ANXIETY ABOUT HIS RISE
TO MILITARY POWER.

00:08:22.368 --> 00:08:23.803
BECAUSE HE WAS BLACK?

00:08:23.870 --> 00:08:27.306
BECAUSE HE WAS
A MAN OF COLOR, YES.

00:08:27.373 --> 00:08:30.309
AND HE WAS ACCUSED
OF WANTING TO CREATE
ANOTHER HAITI,

00:08:30.376 --> 00:08:32.311
AND HE DEFENDED HIMSELF
REALLY ELOQUENTLY.

00:08:32.378 --> 00:08:35.314
AND HE SAID, "YES,
I AM A MAN OF COLOR.

00:08:35.381 --> 00:08:38.751
AND BECAUSE OF THAT,
I DON'T THINK I AM ANY
LESS THAN ANYONE ELSE."

00:08:40.319 --> 00:08:42.255
[MARCHING FOOTSTEPS]

00:08:42.321 --> 00:08:44.757
Gates, voice-over: SPAIN
TRIED TO USE THE FACT

00:08:44.824 --> 00:08:47.260
THAT MACEO AND OVER HALF
HIS ARMY WERE BLACK

00:08:47.326 --> 00:08:51.764
TO FEED FEARS THAT
INDEPENDENCE WOULD ONLY
LEAD TO ANOTHER HAITI,

00:08:51.831 --> 00:08:54.800
A BLACK-DOMINATED REPUBLIC.

00:08:54.867 --> 00:08:56.802
BUT THE LEADER
OF THE MOVEMENT,

00:08:56.869 --> 00:08:58.804
A WHITE INTELLECTUAL
NAMED JOSE MARTI,

00:08:58.871 --> 00:09:01.307
DISMISSED THIS IDEA AS RUBBISH

00:09:01.374 --> 00:09:04.744
AND ELOQUENTLY DEFENDED THE IDEA
OF CUBA FOR CUBANS,

00:09:04.810 --> 00:09:06.746
CALLING SPAIN'S BLUFF.

00:09:08.814 --> 00:09:12.218
Ferrer: HE SAID, "NO.
THE ONLY PEOPLE WHO
TALK ABOUT RACE WAR

00:09:12.285 --> 00:09:15.254
ARE THE SPANISH
WHO ARE TRYING TO
DIVIDE US."

00:09:15.321 --> 00:09:17.256
HERE IN THESE
YEARS OF WAR,

00:09:17.323 --> 00:09:18.758
SLAVES HAVE FOUGHT.

00:09:18.824 --> 00:09:20.760
THEY HAVE FOUGHT TOGETHER
WITH WHITE MEN.

00:09:20.826 --> 00:09:23.262
THEY HAVE DIED TOGETHER.
THEY HAVE SHED BLOOD
TOGETHER.

00:09:23.329 --> 00:09:26.265
THEIR SOULS HAVE RISEN
UP TO HEAVEN TOGETHER.

00:09:26.332 --> 00:09:28.968
OUT OF THE WAR,
THEY CREATED A VISION

00:09:29.035 --> 00:09:31.804
OF A NATIONALITY
THAT TRANSCENDED RACE.

00:09:31.871 --> 00:09:34.307
IN SOME SENSE,
WHAT THAT DID

00:09:34.373 --> 00:09:36.809
WAS MAKE RACISM
AN INFRACTION--

00:09:36.876 --> 00:09:38.144
NOT AGAINST AN INDIVIDUAL,

00:09:38.210 --> 00:09:40.313
NOT AGAINST YOU OR ME
OR ANYONE ELSE,

00:09:40.379 --> 00:09:42.815
BUT AN INFRACTION
AGAINST THE NATION.

00:09:42.882 --> 00:09:45.117
Gates, voice-over: TO MACEO
AND HIS COMPATRIOTS,

00:09:45.184 --> 00:09:49.322
BLACKS AND WHITES WERE FIRST
AND FOREMOST CUBANS.

00:09:49.388 --> 00:09:52.325
THEIR ENEMY WAS SPAIN,
NOT RACE.

00:09:52.391 --> 00:09:54.327
THEY WERE AHEAD OF THEIR TIME.

00:09:55.895 --> 00:09:57.830
I FIND IT ASTONISHING
THAT A BLACK MAN

00:09:57.897 --> 00:10:00.166
COULD RISE TO THE LEVEL
OF GENERAL

00:10:00.232 --> 00:10:03.369
DURING THE WAR FOR
INDEPENDENCE IN CUBA

00:10:03.436 --> 00:10:06.372
IN THE DECADE
OF THE 1890s,

00:10:06.439 --> 00:10:09.375
WHEN AMERICA--THAT
NEVER WOULD HAPPEN
IN AMERICA.

00:10:09.442 --> 00:10:12.378
IT WAS 50 YEARS LATER
BEFORE WE HAD OUR
FIRST BLACK GENERAL,

00:10:12.445 --> 00:10:13.713
GENERAL B.O. DAVIS.

00:10:13.779 --> 00:10:16.048
RIGHT. YEAH,
AND IN CUBA IT HAPPENED

00:10:16.115 --> 00:10:19.385
JUST 8 YEARS AFTER
THE END OF SLAVERY.

00:10:19.452 --> 00:10:21.387
Gates, voice-over: AS THE
FINAL WAR AGAINST SPAIN

00:10:21.454 --> 00:10:23.889
RAGED ACROSS THE
STRAITS OF FLORIDA

00:10:23.956 --> 00:10:26.392
BETWEEN 1895 AND 1898,

00:10:26.459 --> 00:10:29.395
THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT
CAST A WARY EYE,

00:10:29.462 --> 00:10:34.934
BOTH ON THE SPANISH CONDUCT
OF THE WAR AND ON CUBA'S
MULTIRACIAL ARMY.

00:10:35.001 --> 00:10:38.371
MACEO HIMSELF
WAS KILLED IN AN AMBUSH.

00:10:42.441 --> 00:10:44.377
AS THE CONFLICT ESCALATED,

00:10:44.443 --> 00:10:47.380
THE AMERICAN GOVERNMENT
SENT THE U.S.S. "MAINE"

00:10:47.446 --> 00:10:52.351
TO PROTECT AMERICAN INTERESTS
IN JANUARY 1898.

00:10:52.418 --> 00:10:58.891
A FEW WEEKS LATER, THE WARSHIP
MYSTERIOUSLY EXPLODED
AND SUNK IN HAVANA HARBOR.

00:10:58.958 --> 00:11:01.827
MARIAL IGLESIAS,
A PROFESSOR OF HISTORY

00:11:01.894 --> 00:11:05.331
HAS BROUGHT ME
TO SEE ITS REMAINS.

00:11:05.398 --> 00:11:07.366
[IGLESIAS
SPEAKING SPANISH]

00:11:07.433 --> 00:11:08.868
Translator: THE CANNONS
AND THE CHAINS

00:11:08.934 --> 00:11:10.870
ARE PART OF THE
ORIGINAL BATTLESHIP.

00:11:10.936 --> 00:11:13.873
ORIGINAL CANNON?
WOW.
SI.

00:11:13.939 --> 00:11:16.876
Translator: YES,
THE BATTLESHIP
AFTER THE EXPLOSION

00:11:16.942 --> 00:11:19.879
REMAINED SUNK
IN THE BAY.

00:11:19.945 --> 00:11:22.381
THAT PLAQUE SHOWS
THAT THE REMAINS
OF THE BATTLESHIP

00:11:22.448 --> 00:11:26.886
WERE PARTLY SUNK
AND THEY WERE VISIBLE
IN HAVANA FOR 14 YEARS.

00:11:28.954 --> 00:11:30.556
HOW DID THE AMERICAN
INTERVENTION

00:11:30.623 --> 00:11:32.892
AFFECT THE WAR
OF INDEPENDENCE?

00:11:36.896 --> 00:11:38.330
Translator:
IT IS A VERY
IMPORTANT EVENT

00:11:38.397 --> 00:11:40.833
BECAUSE IT SPLITS CUBAN
HISTORY INTO TWO.

00:11:40.900 --> 00:11:44.370
IT PUTS AN END TO
CUBA'S COLONIAL HISTORY,

00:11:44.437 --> 00:11:47.873
TO THE 400 YEARS
OF SPANISH COLONIZATION.

00:11:50.443 --> 00:11:52.378
IT IS THOUGHT THAT
THE EXPLOSION OF THE "MAINE"

00:11:52.445 --> 00:11:55.881
UNLEASHED A CHAIN OF EVENTS
WHERE THE UNITED
STATES INTERVENED

00:11:55.948 --> 00:11:57.883
IN THE WAR BETWEEN
CUBA AND SPAIN

00:11:57.950 --> 00:12:00.319
AND EXPELLED SPAIN
FROM CUBA.

00:12:03.889 --> 00:12:05.825
Gates, voice-over: THE WAR
BETWEEN SPAIN AND AMERICA

00:12:05.891 --> 00:12:07.827
WAS OVER IN 10 WEEKS.

00:12:07.893 --> 00:12:10.830
CUBA WAS FINALLY
INDEPENDENT FROM SPAIN.

00:12:10.896 --> 00:12:16.368
BLACK AND WHITE,
RICH AND POOR--
CUBANS REJOICED.

00:12:16.435 --> 00:12:20.372
PROFESSOR IGLESIAS HAS FOUND AN
EXCEPTIONALLY RARE LETTER

00:12:20.439 --> 00:12:23.375
CONGRATULATING ONE OF
THE LEADERS OF THE WAR

00:12:23.442 --> 00:12:24.877
WRITTEN BY A BLACK
SANTERIA PRIEST

00:12:24.944 --> 00:12:27.880
CALLED VICENTE GOYTISOLO.

00:12:27.947 --> 00:12:30.883
WE MANAGED TO TRACK DOWN
GOYTISOLO'S DESCENDANTS

00:12:30.950 --> 00:12:33.552
IN ONE OF THE POOREST
AREAS OF HAVANA

00:12:33.619 --> 00:12:35.554
TO TELL THEM
ABOUT THIS LETTER.

00:12:35.621 --> 00:12:39.325
IT TURNS OUT HIS FAMILY
STILL PROUDLY DISPLAYS
HIS PHOTOGRAPH.

00:12:39.391 --> 00:12:41.327
Gates: HOW ARE YOU?

00:12:42.895 --> 00:12:46.332
Translator: THE KIDS ASKED,
"MOM, WHO'S THAT PERSON?

00:12:46.398 --> 00:12:49.368
AND I SAID, "THIS IS
YOUR GREAT-GREAT-GRANDFATHER."

00:12:49.435 --> 00:12:52.371
AND THEY ASKED, "WHY IS HE
DRESSED LIKE THAT?"

00:12:52.438 --> 00:12:56.375
AND I SAID, "BECAUSE HE
WAS FROM THE TIME OF THE
WAR OF INDEPENDENCE,

00:12:56.442 --> 00:12:58.644
AND THAT'S HOW THEY DRESSED."

00:12:58.711 --> 00:12:59.879
[IGLESIAS SPEAKING SPANISH]

00:12:59.945 --> 00:13:02.148
Translator: IT'S A VERY,
VERY INTERESTING LETTER,

00:13:02.214 --> 00:13:04.817
BECAUSE HE SHOWS HIS
NATIONALISTIC SENTIMENT.

00:13:04.884 --> 00:13:07.820
IN DIFFERENT PARTS
OF THE LETTER,
HE MENTIONS "OUR LAND,"

00:13:07.887 --> 00:13:10.322
AND "LONG LIVE A FREE CUBA."

00:13:10.389 --> 00:13:11.824
HE INCLUDES HIS ADDRESS.

00:13:11.891 --> 00:13:16.328
HE LIVED ON PADRE DE LAS CASAS
STREET, NUMBER 33.

00:13:16.395 --> 00:13:18.831
LET ME READ TO YOU WHAT
HE SAID IN THE LETTER.

00:13:18.898 --> 00:13:22.535
"YOU ARE THE GOD
OF THE EARTH AND ALL OF US."

00:13:22.601 --> 00:13:25.871
AND THEN HE FINISHES
THE LAST LINE OF
THE LETTER, SAYING,

00:13:25.938 --> 00:13:27.373
"LONG LIVE FREE CUBA,"

00:13:27.439 --> 00:13:31.877
AND HE SIGNS IT
VICENTE GOYTISOLO.

00:13:31.944 --> 00:13:33.879
IT'S VERY RARE,
VERY UNUSUAL,

00:13:33.946 --> 00:13:36.882
FOR A BLACK PERSON
TO HAVE WRITTEN
A LETTER.

00:13:39.885 --> 00:13:42.488
Translator: YES,
BECAUSE MANY PEOPLE
OF THIS ORIGIN

00:13:42.555 --> 00:13:44.323
WHO HAD COME FROM
THE WORLD OF SLAVERY

00:13:44.390 --> 00:13:46.325
DIDN'T KNOW HOW TO WRITE.

00:13:46.392 --> 00:13:48.994
THEY WERE ILLITERATE,
AND HE MAKES AN EFFORT,

00:13:49.061 --> 00:13:50.329
SO THE HANDWRITING
IS A BIT BAD.

00:13:50.396 --> 00:13:52.831
IT'S NOT THE SAME
AS THEY TEACH YOU IN SCHOOL.

00:13:52.898 --> 00:13:57.870
HE WRITES ANY WAY HE CAN,
BUT MANAGES TO GET
HIS POINT ACROSS.

00:13:57.937 --> 00:14:00.372
THE LETTER IS THRILLING.

00:14:00.439 --> 00:14:02.308
Gates:
AH, IT'S GREAT!

00:14:02.374 --> 00:14:03.909
SO, WHAT DO YOU THINK?

00:14:03.976 --> 00:14:07.313
Translator: IT'S REALLY
GOOD TO KNOW ABOUT
THE HISTORY OF MY FAMILY

00:14:07.379 --> 00:14:08.314
AND MY ANCESTORS

00:14:08.380 --> 00:14:10.316
AT THE TIME OF THE WAR
OF INDEPENDENCE,

00:14:10.382 --> 00:14:12.818
WHICH LED CUBA TO BE FREE.

00:14:14.887 --> 00:14:18.824
Gates, voice-over:
UNFORTUNATELY, THINGS
WEREN'T QUITE AS THEY SEEMED.

00:14:18.891 --> 00:14:23.329
VICTORY OVER SPAIN
WAS NOT QUITE THE SAME
AS INDEPENDENCE.

00:14:23.395 --> 00:14:27.333
SOON IT BECAME CLEAR
THAT THE UNITED STATES
WAS HERE TO STAY.

00:14:30.436 --> 00:14:33.038
Translator: THE
NATIONALISTIC VERSION
IS THAT THE CUBANS

00:14:33.105 --> 00:14:35.374
HAD BEEN FIGHTING
SPAIN FOR 30 YEARS,

00:14:35.441 --> 00:14:38.310
BUT BY THEIR INTERVENTION
WITH AN OCCUPYING
MILITARY GOVERNMENT,

00:14:38.377 --> 00:14:42.314
THE U.S. PREVENTED
THE BIRTH OF AN
INDEPENDENT REPUBLIC.

00:14:44.883 --> 00:14:49.321
Narrator: IN 1902,
CUBA WAS ALLOWED TO ELECT
ITS FIRST PRESIDENT,

00:14:49.388 --> 00:14:53.826
BUT THE UNITED STATES
EFFECTIVELY REMAINED
IN CONTROL OF THE ISLAND.

00:14:58.397 --> 00:15:01.800
ONE FORM OF COLONIALISM
REPLACED ANOTHER.

00:15:05.871 --> 00:15:10.809
DID THE AMERICANS
COMING CHANGE
RACE RELATIONS?

00:15:10.876 --> 00:15:12.811
Translator:
I THINK SO.

00:15:12.878 --> 00:15:18.784
THE OFFICIAL POLICIES
OF THE AMERICAN GOVERNMENT
WERE INCREDIBLY RACIST.

00:15:18.851 --> 00:15:21.820
AND THEY EVEN TRIED,
DURING THE OCCUPATION,

00:15:21.887 --> 00:15:24.323
TO IMPOSE SEGREGATIONIST
POLICIES.

00:15:26.392 --> 00:15:28.827
FOR EXAMPLE, WHEN IT
CAME TO CHOOSING THE STAFF

00:15:28.894 --> 00:15:31.330
THAT WOULD FORM
THE POLICE FORCE
OR THE ARTILLERY,

00:15:31.397 --> 00:15:33.332
WHICH USED TO BE
MULTI-RACIAL,

00:15:33.399 --> 00:15:36.302
THE U.S. GOVERNMENT
FORCED CUBANS TO CREATE
SEPARATE BODIES

00:15:36.368 --> 00:15:38.304
OF BLACK AND WHITE
PEOPLE.

00:15:42.374 --> 00:15:45.311
BUT I HAVE TO SAY
THAT THERE WAS ALSO
A CUBAN ELITE

00:15:45.377 --> 00:15:47.980
WHO WAS RACIST
AND COOPERATED WITH
THE MILITARY

00:15:48.047 --> 00:15:50.983
AND WITH THE RACIST
POLICIES OF THE
OCCUPYING GOVERNMENT.

00:15:54.887 --> 00:15:56.322
Gates, voice-over:
WHILE SOME WHITE PEOPLE

00:15:56.388 --> 00:15:59.825
CHALLENGED AMERICAN ATTEMPTS
TO PREVENT BLACK VETERANS
FROM VOTING,

00:15:59.892 --> 00:16:05.264
AMERICA'S RACIST POLICIES
WERE MUSIC TO THE EARS
OF SOME OF THE CUBAN ELITE,

00:16:05.331 --> 00:16:10.803
THE DESCENDANTS OF THE SAME
PEOPLE WHO HAD MAINTAINED
SLAVERY FOR SO VERY LONG.

00:16:10.869 --> 00:16:14.807
I'VE COME TO THE
ANTHROPOLOGY DEPARTMENT OF
THE UNIVERSITY OF HAVANA,

00:16:14.873 --> 00:16:18.310
WHERE A CENTURY AGO,
AS A BLACK MAN,

00:16:18.377 --> 00:16:20.813
I WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN WELCOME.

00:16:20.879 --> 00:16:23.315
IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE
GOVERNMENT'S OFFICIAL RACISM,

00:16:23.382 --> 00:16:28.320
TWO ANTHROPOLOGISTS DECIDED
TO WHITEN THE HISTORY OF
THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE

00:16:28.387 --> 00:16:30.823
IN THE MOST FUNDAMENTAL WAY.

00:16:30.889 --> 00:16:36.261
IMAGINE IF ULYSSES GRANT
HAD DIED DURING THE CIVIL WAR

00:16:36.328 --> 00:16:40.766
AND AFTER HE DIED SCIENTISTS
DISSECTED HIS BODY

00:16:40.833 --> 00:16:43.802
TO SEE WHETHER, FROM
THE SIZE OF HIS CRANIUM,

00:16:43.869 --> 00:16:49.308
HE WAS MORE EUROPEAN
OR MORE, SAY, NATIVE AMERICAN.

00:16:49.375 --> 00:16:52.311
Gates, voice-over:
THAT'S WHAT HAPPENED TO
ANTONIO MACEO.

00:16:52.378 --> 00:16:54.313
DURING THE AMERICAN OCCUPATION,

00:16:54.380 --> 00:16:59.818
ON SEPTEMBER 17, 1899,
JUST 3 YEARS AFTER HIS DEATH,

00:16:59.885 --> 00:17:02.755
HIS BODY WAS EXHUMED
AND EXAMINED

00:17:02.821 --> 00:17:05.758
TO DETERMINE HOW BLACK
OR WHITE HE WAS.

00:17:05.824 --> 00:17:10.262
PROFESSOR ARMANDO RANGEL
EXPLAINED THIS ANALYSIS TO ME.

00:17:10.329 --> 00:17:12.264
[RANJEL SPEAKING SPANISH]

00:17:12.331 --> 00:17:14.767
Translator: FIRST,
THEY SAID IT WAS
A BEAUTIFUL SKULL.

00:17:14.833 --> 00:17:17.803
THEN THEY SAID IT
WAS A PERFECT SKULL.

00:17:17.870 --> 00:17:20.305
IT INFLUENCE IDEAS
OF MACEO AS
A GREAT SOLDIER,

00:17:20.372 --> 00:17:21.807
A GREAT WARRIOR.

00:17:21.874 --> 00:17:24.309
IT WAS SAID THAT
HE HAD THE BODY
OF A STRONG MAN,

00:17:24.376 --> 00:17:25.811
LIKE HERCULES.

00:17:27.379 --> 00:17:29.314
BUT ARMANDO, IT SOUNDS
LIKE THEY WERE WORRIED

00:17:29.381 --> 00:17:32.284
THAT HE MIGHT BE
TOO BLACK,

00:17:32.351 --> 00:17:37.256
THAT THEY DIDN'T WANT
THIS GREAT MAN TO LOOK
LIKE THE AFRICAN.

00:17:37.322 --> 00:17:39.291
THEY WANTED HIM TO LOOK
LIKE A EUROPEAN.

00:17:42.327 --> 00:17:44.263
Translator: IF MACEO
WAS A SUPERIOR MAN,

00:17:44.329 --> 00:17:45.931
THEN HE COULDN'T
BE BLACK.

00:17:45.998 --> 00:17:49.301
A SUPERIOR MAN WOULD
HAVE TO HAVE EUROPEAN
CHARACTERISTICS,

00:17:49.368 --> 00:17:51.303
AND THAT WAS
REALLY A MISTAKE--

00:17:51.370 --> 00:17:53.806
A SCIENTIFIC MISTAKE
MADE AT THE TIME.

00:17:53.872 --> 00:17:58.310
IT IS A CURIOUS FACT
IN THE HISTORY OF
THE REPUBLIC.

00:17:58.377 --> 00:18:00.813
THE MORE THESE
INVESTIGATIONS WENT ON,

00:18:00.879 --> 00:18:03.248
THE WHITER THE IMAGES
OF MACEO BECAME,

00:18:03.315 --> 00:18:05.751
AND HIS FACE
BECAME MORE EUROPEAN.

00:18:08.821 --> 00:18:11.757
Gates, voice-over:
ANTONIO MACEO SUFFERED
THESE INDIGNITIES AFTER DEATH,

00:18:11.824 --> 00:18:14.760
BUT WHAT HAPPENED TO
THE BLACK LEADERS THAT SURVIVED

00:18:14.827 --> 00:18:18.764
AND SHOULD HAVE BEEN
CELEBRATED FOR THEIR ROLE IN
THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE?

00:18:21.333 --> 00:18:25.304
I'VE BEEN ALLOWED ACCESS
TO THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES
TO FIND OUT.

00:18:30.609 --> 00:18:34.813
AFTER MACEO, QUINTIN BANDERAS
WAS ONE OF THE MOST POPULAR

00:18:34.880 --> 00:18:37.749
AND POWERFUL BLACK LEADERS
IN THE REVOLUTION.

00:18:37.816 --> 00:18:40.252
PEOPLE EVEN WROTE POEMS
ABOUT HIM.

00:18:40.319 --> 00:18:44.756
WAS HE RECOGNIZED AS A HERO?
A FOUNDING FATHER?

00:18:44.823 --> 00:18:48.760
THIS IS A LETTER HE WROTE
TO A VERY DISTINGUISHED WOMAN,

00:18:48.827 --> 00:18:52.764
ESSENTIALLY IMPLORING HER
FOR FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE

00:18:52.831 --> 00:18:55.300
BECAUSE HE COULDN'T
GET A JOB.

00:18:55.367 --> 00:18:58.804
HE WAS REDUCED TO
SEARCHING FOR JOBS,
MENIAL JOBS,

00:18:58.871 --> 00:19:02.741
JOBS AS A CUSTODIAN,
A JANITOR.

00:19:05.310 --> 00:19:07.246
HIS SITUATION NEVER IMPROVED.

00:19:07.312 --> 00:19:11.250
IN FACT, 4 YEARS LATER,
HE WAS IMPRISONED

00:19:11.316 --> 00:19:15.754
AND, BY ORDER OF THE PRESIDENT,
HE WAS KILLED.

00:19:19.324 --> 00:19:21.260
Gates, voice-over: JUST 10 YEARS
AFTER INDEPENDENCE,

00:19:21.326 --> 00:19:23.762
THE PROMISE OF
A COLOR-BLIND CUBA

00:19:23.829 --> 00:19:27.766
SEEMED A DISTANT DREAM
OF A FAST-RETREATING PAST.

00:19:29.868 --> 00:19:33.305
BUT IN 1908, THOUSANDS
OF FORMER SLAVES

00:19:33.372 --> 00:19:36.808
DECIDED THE DREAM
COULD NOT BE ALLOWED TO DIE.

00:19:39.378 --> 00:19:42.814
I'M STANDING AT THE TOMB
OF PEDRO YVONNET.

00:19:42.881 --> 00:19:49.321
YVONNET AND HIS COMPANIONS
DEMANDED RIGHTS AND EQUALITY
FOR BLACK PEOPLE

00:19:49.388 --> 00:19:53.325
IN THE NEWLY INDEPENDENT
REPUBLIC OF CUBA.

00:19:53.392 --> 00:19:57.329
Gates, voice-over:
PEDRO YVONNET AND THE
INDEPENDENT PARTY OF COLOR

00:19:57.396 --> 00:20:01.333
DECLARED THAT THEY WOULD FIGHT
FOR A RACIALLY MIXED REPUBLIC.

00:20:01.400 --> 00:20:05.370
THE WHITE ESTABLISHMENT
REACTED SWIFTLY AND VICIOUSLY.

00:20:05.437 --> 00:20:10.876
THE MAINSTREAM PRESS CLAIMED
THAT THE BLACK POLITICAL PARTY
WOULD EAT THE WHITES ALIVE,

00:20:10.943 --> 00:20:12.477
EQUATING THEM WITH MONKEYS

00:20:12.544 --> 00:20:17.382
AND WITH THE RATS THAT HAD
CAUSED AN OUTBREAK
OF THE BUBONIC PLAGUE.

00:20:17.449 --> 00:20:19.885
WHILE THE SANITATION
DEPARTMENT HUNTED RATS,

00:20:19.952 --> 00:20:23.889
THE MILITARY, IT WAS SAID,
WAS HUNTING NIGGERS.

00:20:25.457 --> 00:20:27.392
TOMAS, LOOK, THEY
LOOK LIKE MONKEYS.

00:20:27.459 --> 00:20:29.061
THEY ALL LOOK
LIKE MONKEYS.

00:20:29.127 --> 00:20:30.395
ALL THESE BLACK PEOPLE
ARE MADE TO LOOK
LIKE MONKEYS.

00:20:30.462 --> 00:20:32.898
SAME CARICATURE
IN AMERICA.

00:20:32.965 --> 00:20:35.934
BLACK PEOPLE
ARE ALWAYS MONKEYS.

00:20:37.436 --> 00:20:39.371
[MAN SPEAKING SPANISH]

00:20:39.438 --> 00:20:43.875
Translator: CUBA HAS
HISTORICALLY BEEN
A VERY RACIST COUNTRY.

00:20:43.942 --> 00:20:48.380
THERE WAS A TRADITION
THAT BLACKS COULD NOT ENTER
CERTAIN AREAS WITHIN PARKS

00:20:48.447 --> 00:20:50.882
BECAUSE THESE WERE
WHITE AREAS.

00:20:50.949 --> 00:20:53.352
JUST LIKE IN
THE UNITED STATES,

00:20:53.418 --> 00:20:57.389
WHERE AT THIS STAGE BLACK
PEOPLE WERE MARGINALIZED.

00:20:57.456 --> 00:21:00.892
IN CUBA, THERE HAVE NEVER
BEEN ANY SEGREGATION LAWS,

00:21:00.959 --> 00:21:03.829
BUT THERE WAS ACTUAL
DISCRIMINATION.

00:21:05.397 --> 00:21:08.033
Gates, voice-over: PEDRO YVONNET
BRAVELY LED A REVOLT

00:21:08.100 --> 00:21:10.369
BUT WITH THE DEADLIEST
OF CONSEQUENCES.

00:21:10.435 --> 00:21:13.872
THE GOVERNMENT MASSACRED
3,000 OF HIS FOLLOWERS.

00:21:13.939 --> 00:21:16.875
YVONNET HIMSELF
DIED IN 1912,

00:21:16.942 --> 00:21:20.379
SHOT IN THE BACK
WHILE TRYING TO ESCAPE.

00:21:20.445 --> 00:21:23.382
HOW COULD THE SLAUGHTER
OF THOUSANDS OF MEN,

00:21:23.448 --> 00:21:27.886
MOST OF WHOM, LIKE YVONNET,
HAD RECENTLY FOUGHT IN
THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE,

00:21:27.953 --> 00:21:30.889
POSSIBLY BE JUSTIFIED?

00:21:30.956 --> 00:21:33.392
[ROBAINA SPEAKING SPANISH]

00:21:33.458 --> 00:21:36.728
Translator: IT IS POSSIBLE
THAT THE MASSACRE
WAS CARRIED OUT

00:21:36.795 --> 00:21:38.830
IN ORDER TO SATISFY
THE THREAT FROM WASHINGTON.

00:21:41.633 --> 00:21:44.870
IF THE CUBAN GOVERNMENT
COULD NOT SHOW
THAT THEY HAD CONTROL

00:21:44.936 --> 00:21:47.372
AND WERE IN CHARGE
OF THE ISLAND,

00:21:47.439 --> 00:21:49.374
THE U.S. MIGHT
INTERVENE AGAIN

00:21:49.441 --> 00:21:51.877
AND THIS TIME
REMAIN IN CUBA.

00:21:51.943 --> 00:21:53.879
Gates, voice-over: RACIST
CARICATURES OF BLACK CUBANS

00:21:53.945 --> 00:21:56.882
WERE JUST AS COMMON
IN THE AMERICAN PRESS.

00:21:56.948 --> 00:22:01.820
CUBA ITSELF WAS ALWAYS
REPRESENTED AS A BLACK CHILD.

00:22:03.388 --> 00:22:07.325
THE MASSACRE, WITHOUT DOUBT,
WAS A LOW POINT
IN RACE RELATIONS

00:22:07.392 --> 00:22:08.994
SINCE INDEPENDENCE.

00:22:09.061 --> 00:22:12.998
WHILE BLACK MEN COULD VOTE,
AND THERE WERE SOME
BLACK ELECTED OFFICIALS,

00:22:13.065 --> 00:22:15.867
MANY WHITE CUBANS
WANTED TO QUASH ANY MEMORY

00:22:15.934 --> 00:22:18.870
OF THEIR COUNTRY'S
VIBRANT AFRICAN ROOTS

00:22:18.937 --> 00:22:22.374
AND RE-CREATE THEIR IDENTITY
IN THE IMAGE OF EUROPE

00:22:22.441 --> 00:22:24.376
AND JIM CROW AMERICA.

00:22:26.445 --> 00:22:31.883
EVERYTHING BLACK BECAME
IMMORAL, UGLY, AND BAD.

00:22:34.553 --> 00:22:39.825
THIS WAS THE CARNIVAL THAT WAS,
IF NOT PUT TOGETHER, ENERGIZED

00:22:39.891 --> 00:22:43.328
BY THE BLACK SLAVES AND THE
POOR WHITE PEOPLE HERE IN CUBA

00:22:43.395 --> 00:22:46.832
AS LONG AGO AS THE
17th AND 18th CENTURY.

00:22:46.898 --> 00:22:51.369
AND FOR JUST AS LONG,
THE OFFICIAL CULTURE IN CUBA

00:22:51.436 --> 00:22:54.873
HAS BEEN TRYING TO REPRESS IT,
TRYING TO SUPPRESS IT.

00:22:54.940 --> 00:22:58.376
Gates, voice-over: BLACKS
WERE FORBIDDEN FROM
USING AFRICAN INSTRUMENTS

00:22:58.443 --> 00:22:59.878
AND DANCING AT CARNIVAL.

00:22:59.945 --> 00:23:03.815
AFRICAN RELIGIONS AND
RITUAL DRUMMING SESSIONS
WERE BANNED.

00:23:05.350 --> 00:23:11.323
A 1906 IMMIGRATION LAW
APPROPRIATED $1 MILLION
TO WHITEN CUBA,

00:23:11.389 --> 00:23:15.827
BRINGING 600,000 EUROPEANS,
MOSTLY FROM SPAIN,

00:23:15.894 --> 00:23:19.331
HERE TO THE ISLAND
OVER THE NEXT 20 YEARS.

00:23:22.934 --> 00:23:27.372
BLACK CULTURE, AN EMBARRASSING
RELIC OF AFRICA AND SLAVERY,

00:23:27.439 --> 00:23:30.876
WAS REPRESSED, FORCED
TO LIVE UNDERGROUND.

00:23:32.444 --> 00:23:35.380
IN THE FIRST COUPLE DECADES
AFTER INDEPENDENCE,

00:23:35.447 --> 00:23:37.816
BLACK MUSIC
WAS CONSIDERED VULGAR.

00:23:37.883 --> 00:23:40.285
IT WAS THE EQUIVALENT
OF JUNGLE MUSIC,

00:23:40.352 --> 00:23:43.321
BUT THERE WAS NOTHING
ANYONE COULD DO TO REPRESS IT.

00:23:43.388 --> 00:23:46.324
IT WAS BUBBLING UP
FROM UNDERGROUND.

00:23:46.391 --> 00:23:49.327
IT WAS ON THE STREET CORNERS.
IT WAS IN THE CAFES.

00:23:49.394 --> 00:23:50.996
IT WAS IN THE CLUBS.

00:23:51.062 --> 00:23:53.832
[MAN SINGING UPBEAT TUNE]

00:23:53.899 --> 00:23:57.202
Gates, voice-over: IT WAS A
MUSICAL GENRE KNOWN AS SON,

00:23:57.269 --> 00:23:59.871
AN IRRESISTIBLY LYRICAL,
SENSUAL MUSIC

00:23:59.938 --> 00:24:02.808
THAT SOMEHOW EXPRESSED
THE SOUL OF CUBA.

00:24:05.377 --> 00:24:08.814
SON WAS BORN IN ORIENTE PROVINCE
AT ABOUT THE SAME TIME

00:24:08.880 --> 00:24:11.817
THAT JAZZ WAS BEING INVENTED
IN NEW ORLEANS.

00:24:11.883 --> 00:24:13.819
I'VE BEEN INVITED
TO A REHEARSAL

00:24:13.885 --> 00:24:17.322
OF ONE OF THE OLDEST-PLAYING
SON BANDS IN THE WORLD.

00:24:17.389 --> 00:24:20.325
THE SEPTETO TIPICO DE SONES.

00:24:20.392 --> 00:24:22.327
[SINGING CONTINUES]

00:24:32.938 --> 00:24:34.372
[MUSIC ENDS]

00:24:34.439 --> 00:24:38.810
HI. FANTASTIC,
GUYS. FANTASTIC!

00:24:38.877 --> 00:24:40.312
WELCOME TO ...

00:24:40.378 --> 00:24:41.813
THANK YOU.
WELCOME.

00:24:41.880 --> 00:24:43.815
THANK YOU.

00:24:43.882 --> 00:24:45.283
Gates: WHEN
WERE YOU BORN?

00:24:45.350 --> 00:24:47.819
Translator: ME?
IN 1926.

00:24:47.886 --> 00:24:50.822
I AM ABOUT TO BE 84.

00:24:50.889 --> 00:24:56.828
84 YEARS AGO,
WAS SON MUSIC LEGAL
84 YEARS AGO?

00:24:56.895 --> 00:24:58.830
NO. HA HA!

00:24:58.897 --> 00:25:02.801
AH. WHY NOT?
WHY NOT?

00:25:02.868 --> 00:25:07.305
Translator: BECAUSE
BACK THEN, THEY SAID

00:25:07.372 --> 00:25:11.309
THE SEPTETO WAS
BLACK PEOPLE'S BUSINESS.

00:25:12.878 --> 00:25:15.313
SO IF THEY WERE
PLAYING A PARTY,

00:25:15.380 --> 00:25:17.816
THE POLICE WILL COME
AND ARREST THEM.

00:25:20.385 --> 00:25:23.822
YOU COULDN'T PLAY
SON BACK THEN.

00:25:23.889 --> 00:25:26.825
IN HAVANA,
YOU COULDN'T PLAY SON.

00:25:26.892 --> 00:25:30.328
YOU HAD TO PLAY SON
IN HIDING.

00:25:30.395 --> 00:25:35.367
THE POLICE WILL COME
AND TAKE EVERYBODY
TO THE POLICE STATION.

00:25:35.433 --> 00:25:38.803
HOW MUCH OF SON MUSIC
IS AFRICAN?

00:25:38.870 --> 00:25:41.306
HOW MUCH IS SPANISH?

00:25:41.373 --> 00:25:43.308
[MAN SPEAKING SPANISH]

00:25:43.375 --> 00:25:47.312
Translator: FROM SPAIN,
IT GETS THE STRING ELEMENT--

00:25:47.379 --> 00:25:48.813
THE GUITAR.

00:25:48.880 --> 00:25:52.284
BUT FROM AFRICA,
IT GETS THE DRUMS,

00:25:52.350 --> 00:25:54.319
THE BACKING VOCALS.

00:25:54.386 --> 00:25:57.322
AND THE FLAVOR WITH WHICH
THE SINGERS PERFORM

00:25:57.389 --> 00:26:00.258
IS MUCH MORE AFRICAN
THAN SPANISH.

00:26:06.331 --> 00:26:08.600
Gates, voice-over:
THE GOVERNMENT'S
ATTITUDE TOWARDS SON

00:26:08.667 --> 00:26:11.803
REPRESENTS A RADICAL
TURNING POINT IN CUBAN CULTURE.

00:26:13.371 --> 00:26:15.307
DESPITE EFFORTS TO SUPPRESS IT,

00:26:15.373 --> 00:26:18.310
SON KEPT BUBBLING UP
FROM UNDERGROUND.

00:26:18.376 --> 00:26:20.812
EVEN THE RICH
AND FAMOUS SUCCUMB

00:26:20.879 --> 00:26:22.814
AND THROUGH SECRET SON PARTIES.

00:26:22.881 --> 00:26:28.320
ALL THAT CHANGED
OFFICIALLY IN 1925.

00:26:28.386 --> 00:26:30.322
[SINGING UPBEAT TUNE]

00:26:35.760 --> 00:26:38.263
THE PRESIDENT,
PRESIDENT MACHADO,

00:26:38.330 --> 00:26:43.301
AUTHORIZED A SON BAND TO PLAY
AT HIS BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION.

00:26:43.368 --> 00:26:48.306
AND SHORTLY THEREAFTER,
THE GOVERNMENT OFFICIALLY
RECOGNIZED SON,

00:26:48.373 --> 00:26:50.642
ALLOWING IT TO COME
UP FROM UNDERGROUND

00:26:50.709 --> 00:26:55.313
AND BECOME A NORMAL,
FUNDAMENTAL PART
OF CUBAN CULTURE,

00:26:55.380 --> 00:26:57.983
WHICH IT CONTINUES TO BE
TO THIS DAY.

00:26:58.049 --> 00:27:00.819
IT'S LIKE MEETING
LIVING LEGENDS

00:27:00.885 --> 00:27:03.755
IN THE HISTORY
OF CUBAN POPULAR CULTURE.

00:27:03.822 --> 00:27:06.758
IT'S PRETTY FANTASTIC.

00:27:06.825 --> 00:27:10.261
Gates, voice-over: PRESIDENT
MACHADO'S ENDORSEMENT OF SON

00:27:10.328 --> 00:27:13.264
WAS PART OF A LARGER
CULTURAL PHENOMENON.

00:27:13.331 --> 00:27:18.303
CUBA'S WHITE ESTABLISHMENT
STOPPED PRETENDING THAT IT WAS
A CARIBBEAN EXTENSION OF EUROPE

00:27:18.370 --> 00:27:22.807
AND BEGAN CELEBRATING
ITS RACIALLY MIXED,
OR MESTIZO, HERITAGE.

00:27:22.874 --> 00:27:25.810
THIS MOVEMENT WAS CALLED
CUBANIDAD,

00:27:25.877 --> 00:27:28.813
A BLEND OF WHITE AND BLACK
TO MAKE BROWN.

00:27:30.882 --> 00:27:33.818
I'VE COME TO THE HOME
OF TORRES CUEVAS,

00:27:33.885 --> 00:27:36.254
THE HEAD OF CUBA'S
NATIONAL LIBRARY.

00:27:36.321 --> 00:27:39.257
HE'S PREPARING A MEAL
THAT IS A METAPHOR

00:27:39.324 --> 00:27:42.260
FOR THE BLENDED NATURE
OF CUBAN CULTURE AND IDENTITY.

00:27:42.327 --> 00:27:43.762
HI. I'M
HENRY LOUIS GATES.

00:27:43.828 --> 00:27:45.764
IT'S AN HONOR
TO MEET YOU.

00:27:45.830 --> 00:27:47.766
[CUEVAS SPEAKING
SPANISH]

00:27:47.832 --> 00:27:50.301
Translator: THE
CONCEPT OF CUBANIDAD

00:27:50.368 --> 00:27:52.804
STARTS IN THE 1920s.

00:27:52.871 --> 00:27:56.808
IT BECAME A WAY
OF TRYING TO EXPLAIN
WHO WE WERE,

00:27:56.875 --> 00:27:58.443
WHO WE ARE--

00:27:58.510 --> 00:28:02.747
THIS MULTICULTURAL,
MULTICOLORED PEOPLE.

00:28:02.814 --> 00:28:05.250
Gates, voice-over:
TORRES CUEVAS IS MAKING AJIACO,

00:28:05.316 --> 00:28:10.755
A KIND OF STEW IN WHICH
DIFFERENT MEATS AND
INGREDIENTS BLEND TOGETHER.

00:28:10.822 --> 00:28:12.757
IT'S LIKE MAGIC.

00:28:14.325 --> 00:28:16.261
Translator: THIS IS
CUBAN AJIACO,

00:28:16.327 --> 00:28:18.263
MADE WITH
ALL THE INGREDIENTS

00:28:18.329 --> 00:28:20.932
THAT LEND TO ITS UNIQUE
QUALITY AND TASTE.

00:28:23.368 --> 00:28:27.305
I'D LIKE YOU TO
TRY IT AND TELL ME
WHAT YOU THINK.

00:28:27.372 --> 00:28:29.808
GRACIAS.
MUCHO GRACIAS.

00:28:31.376 --> 00:28:33.812
MMM...MMM!

00:28:33.878 --> 00:28:37.749
MMM! THAT'S GOOD.
IT'S VERY GOOD.

00:28:37.816 --> 00:28:41.753
AND THE PORK IS TENDER,
VERY TENDER.

00:28:46.391 --> 00:28:49.761
Translator: THIS IS
ONE OF THE DISHES
THAT DEFINE CUBA.

00:28:49.828 --> 00:28:52.764
SO THIS IS THE
CULTURAL ESSENCE OF CUBA.

00:28:54.833 --> 00:28:57.802
Translator: WHAT
IS THE AJIACO STEW
METAPHOR?

00:28:57.869 --> 00:29:02.240
THAT CUBAN IDENTITY
IS THE RESULT OF
MULTIPLE INGREDIENTS

00:29:02.307 --> 00:29:04.742
THAT LOSE SOME OF
THEIR ORIGINAL FLAVOR

00:29:04.809 --> 00:29:07.078
IN ORDER TO ACQUIRE
A NEW FLAVOR.

00:29:11.316 --> 00:29:13.751
IN NORTH AMERICA,
A BLACK PERSON IS ANYONE

00:29:13.818 --> 00:29:16.254
WHO HAS A DROP
OF BLACK COLOR.

00:29:19.324 --> 00:29:22.260
IN CUBAN SOCIETY,
THIS IS VERY DIFFICULT
TO ESTABLISH

00:29:22.327 --> 00:29:25.263
BECAUSE ALL OF US
HAVE THAT DROP.

00:29:25.330 --> 00:29:30.802
SO RACIAL
DIFFERENTIATIONS ARE
EXTRAORDINARILY FALSE.

00:29:33.371 --> 00:29:37.308
AND THIS MEANS THAT
WHEN YOU GET TO THE
HEART OF CUBAN SOCIETY,

00:29:37.375 --> 00:29:40.645
IT IS A SOCIETY
THAT IS, BY ITS NATURE,
MULTICOLORED,

00:29:40.712 --> 00:29:43.314
BUT MULTICOLORED WITHIN
THE INDIVIDUAL HIMSELF.

00:29:43.381 --> 00:29:47.018
ALL THESE ELEMENTS
ARE MIXED INSIDE
EACH PERSON.

00:29:48.887 --> 00:29:50.822
Gates, voice-over:
IN THE 1940s,

00:29:50.889 --> 00:29:54.826
CUBA OFFICIALLY BEGAN TO
EMBRACE ITS HYBRID HERITAGE.

00:29:54.893 --> 00:29:57.829
RACIAL DISCRIMINATION
WAS CRIMINALIZED,

00:29:57.896 --> 00:30:01.833
AND INTELLECTUALS
TRUMPETED THEIR UNIQUE
MIXED CULTURE,

00:30:01.900 --> 00:30:06.371
ALL VERY DIFFERENT
FROM WHAT WAS HAPPENING
IN AMERICA AT THIS TIME.

00:30:06.437 --> 00:30:09.874
WHENEVER I ASK A BLACK
CUBAN WHO THEY ARE

00:30:09.941 --> 00:30:11.543
OR HOW THEY
DESCRIBE THEMSELVES,

00:30:11.609 --> 00:30:16.881
THEY ALWAYS SAY--ALWAYS--
"I'M A CUBAN WHO'S BLACK."

00:30:16.948 --> 00:30:18.883
AFRICAN AMERICANS,
ON THE OTHER HAND,

00:30:18.950 --> 00:30:22.887
ALMOST ALWAYS SAY, "I'M BLACK,
AND I'M AN AMERICAN."

00:30:33.965 --> 00:30:35.934
Gates, voice-over: AS CUBA'S
OFFICIAL ATTITUDES

00:30:36.000 --> 00:30:38.870
TOWARDS ITS BLACK CULTURAL
HERITAGE WERE CHANGING,

00:30:38.937 --> 00:30:41.372
SO, TOO, WAS ITS ECONOMY.

00:30:41.439 --> 00:30:45.877
THE MIDDLE OF THE 20th CENTURY
SAW A REAL RISE IN PROSPERITY.

00:30:45.944 --> 00:30:48.379
AMERICAN BUSINESS
INTEREST DOMINATED,

00:30:48.446 --> 00:30:53.384
AND AMERICAN TOURISTS
STARTED TO FLOCK TO HAVANA'S
NEWLY BUILT HOTELS,

00:30:53.451 --> 00:30:56.888
INCLUDING SOME LESS
RESPECTABLE VISITORS.

00:31:01.893 --> 00:31:04.829
THIS WAS MEYER LANSKY'S
HOTEL SUITE.

00:31:04.896 --> 00:31:08.833
HE RAN HIS ENTIRE
EMPIRE RIGHT HERE.

00:31:08.900 --> 00:31:11.869
HE HAD A SWEETHEART DEAL.

00:31:13.438 --> 00:31:16.874
Gates, voice-over: MEYER LANSKY,
THE INFAMOUS MAFIA BOSS,

00:31:16.941 --> 00:31:20.878
WANTED TO TURN HAVANA
INTO THE CARIBBEAN'S LAS VEGAS,

00:31:20.945 --> 00:31:22.880
AND HIS INFLUENCE REACHED A PEAK

00:31:22.947 --> 00:31:28.886
WITH THE RETURN TO POWER IN 1952
OF GENERAL FULGENCIO BATISTA.

00:31:28.953 --> 00:31:34.392
HISTORIAN GRACIELA CHAILLOUX
WAS A CHILD OF BATISTA'S CUBA.

00:31:35.960 --> 00:31:37.829
[CHAILLOUX SPEAKING SPANISH]

00:31:37.895 --> 00:31:41.332
Translator: THE REASON
HE CAME TO PROMINENCE
IN CUBAN SOCIETY

00:31:41.399 --> 00:31:44.869
AND REMAINED IN POWER
FOR MORE THAN 20 YEARS

00:31:44.936 --> 00:31:47.372
HAD A LOT TO DO
WITH THE FACT THAT

00:31:47.438 --> 00:31:50.875
HE WAS THE GUARDIAN OF
NORTH AMERICAN INTERESTS
IN CUBA.

00:31:55.947 --> 00:32:00.818
HE WAS A MAN WHO HAD
AN EXTRAORDINARY THIRST
FOR POWER.

00:32:02.387 --> 00:32:04.322
Gates, voice-over: BATISTA,
DESPITE APPEARANCES,

00:32:04.389 --> 00:32:06.324
WAS A MULATTO.

00:32:06.391 --> 00:32:10.828
I WONDERED IF HIS ANCESTRY
AFFECTED HOW BLACK CUBANS
FARED UNDER HIM.

00:32:15.466 --> 00:32:17.769
Translator: BATISTA
DIDN'T CHANGE
THE RACIAL SEGREGATION

00:32:17.835 --> 00:32:21.873
THAT EXISTED IN CUBA
IN ANY WAY.

00:32:21.939 --> 00:32:25.376
BLACK PEOPLE WERE
BROUGHT TO CUBA
TO BE SLAVES.

00:32:25.443 --> 00:32:27.378
WHEN SLAVERY
WAS ABOLISHED,

00:32:27.445 --> 00:32:31.382
THE LIVING CONDITIONS
BARELY CHANGED.

00:32:31.449 --> 00:32:33.885
Gates, voice-over:
IN FACT, BY 1957,

00:32:33.951 --> 00:32:39.324
CUBA ENJOYED ONE OF THE HIGHEST
PER CAPITA INCOMES IN
ALL OF LATIN AMERICA,

00:32:39.390 --> 00:32:42.827
BUT THE PROSPERITY WAS
NOT EQUALLY DISTRIBUTED.

00:32:45.396 --> 00:32:48.833
THE 1950s SAW TWO
DIFFERENT CUBAS EMERGE...

00:32:50.435 --> 00:32:53.371
ONE WELL-OFF
AND OVERWHELMINGLY WHITE,

00:32:53.438 --> 00:32:56.874
THE OTHER POOR
AND PREDOMINANTLY BLACK.

00:32:59.444 --> 00:33:05.817
BY 1955, RIOTS AND ANTI-BATISTA
DEMONSTRATIONS WERE RIFE.

00:33:05.883 --> 00:33:08.820
HIS RESPONSE WAS TO
STIFLE DISSENT

00:33:08.886 --> 00:33:11.322
AND TORTURE AND KILL THE REBELS.

00:33:13.391 --> 00:33:14.959
[GUNFIRE]

00:33:15.026 --> 00:33:19.831
A GROUP OF REVOLUTIONARIES
LED BY A YOUNG ATTORNEY
NAMED FIDEL CASTRO,

00:33:19.897 --> 00:33:23.868
RAGED A GUERRILLA WAR AGAINST
HIM FROM ORIENTE PROVINCE.

00:33:25.436 --> 00:33:28.373
COMMANDER VICTOR DREKE
JOINED THE REBEL MILITIA

00:33:28.439 --> 00:33:30.375
WHEN HE WAS ONLY 15,

00:33:30.441 --> 00:33:33.378
AND HE FOUGHT
UNDER CHE GUEVARA.

00:33:33.444 --> 00:33:36.814
HE WOULD SERVE THE CUBAN ARMY
FOR THE NEXT HALF-CENTURY.

00:33:36.881 --> 00:33:39.817
HE'S A PASSIONATE DEFENDER
OF THE REVOLUTION.

00:33:41.386 --> 00:33:44.322
I WAS ONLY 9 YEARS OLD
WHEN THE CUBAN REVOLUTION
OCCURRED.

00:33:44.389 --> 00:33:48.659
CAN YOU TELL ME WHAT
IT WAS ACTUALLY LIKE
FIGHTING IN THE MOUNTAINS

00:33:48.726 --> 00:33:52.663
AND THEN WHAT IT WAS LIKE
TO BE PART OF THAT
REVOLUTION?

00:33:52.730 --> 00:33:54.332
BUENO.

00:33:54.399 --> 00:33:56.868
Translator: WELL,
FOR THOSE OF US

00:33:56.934 --> 00:33:59.370
WHO HAD THE OPPORTUNITY
TO BE THERE,

00:33:59.437 --> 00:34:01.806
THEY WERE
UNFORGETTABLE DAYS.

00:34:04.876 --> 00:34:08.312
Gates, voice-over:
AS THE WAR ADVANCED
TOWARDS HAVANA,

00:34:08.379 --> 00:34:12.817
COMMANDER DREKE WAS INVOLVED
IN PROGRESSIVELY MORE
VICIOUS ENGAGEMENTS.

00:34:14.352 --> 00:34:18.823
DESPITE BEING OUTGUNNED
AND OUTNUMBERED,
BY 10 TO 1 AT TIMES,

00:34:18.890 --> 00:34:24.829
DREKE SURVIVED THE LEGENDARY
BATTLE THAT ENSURE
VICTORY OVER BATISTA.

00:34:24.896 --> 00:34:26.330
[EXPLOSIONS]

00:34:28.900 --> 00:34:30.368
Translator:
AT ABOUT 6 A.M.

00:34:30.435 --> 00:34:33.371
WE SAW A WHITE FLAG,
AND SOMEONE
SAID TO ME,

00:34:33.438 --> 00:34:37.308
"LOOK, DREKE,
THEY ARE SURRENDERING.
THEY ARE SURRENDERING."

00:34:37.375 --> 00:34:39.811
I DID NOT BELIEVE
THEY WERE SURRENDERING.

00:34:39.877 --> 00:34:41.813
IT WAS ALL
A BIT UNREAL.

00:34:41.879 --> 00:34:45.316
SO WE CRIED WITH JOY
AND ALSO WITH SORROW.

00:34:45.383 --> 00:34:48.986
BECAUSE THERE WERE
COMRADES WHO HAD
DIED A FEW DAYS EARLIER

00:34:49.053 --> 00:34:52.323
AND THEY HAD NOT
MANAGED TO SEE
OUR VICTORY.

00:34:54.392 --> 00:34:56.828
Gates, voice-over:
12 HOURS AFTER THE FALL
OF SANTA CLARA,

00:34:56.894 --> 00:35:01.265
BATISTA FLED THE COUNTRY
WITH 180 OF HIS CRONIES

00:35:01.332 --> 00:35:05.803
AND OVER 400 MILLION
U.S. DOLLARS.

00:35:05.870 --> 00:35:12.310
SOON AFTER, COLONEL DREKE
AND FIDEL CASTRO'S ARMY
ROLLED VICTORIOUSLY INTO HAVANA.

00:35:12.376 --> 00:35:15.813
AGAINST THE GREATEST ODDS,
THE REVOLUTION HAD BEEN WON.

00:35:15.880 --> 00:35:19.784
GIVEN THE BRUTALITIES
AND HARSH REPRESSIONS
OF THE BATISTA REGIME,

00:35:19.851 --> 00:35:23.154
THERE'S LITTLE WONDER
THAT THE REVOLUTIONARIES
WERE GREETED AS HEROES.

00:35:23.221 --> 00:35:25.323
[DREKE SPEAKING SPANISH]

00:35:25.389 --> 00:35:27.325
Translator: WE DID NOT
THINK WE WOULD LIVE

00:35:27.391 --> 00:35:29.327
TO SEE THE TRIUMPH
OF THE REVOLUTION.

00:35:29.393 --> 00:35:32.330
THAT WAS AN
UNFORGETTABLE MOMENT
FOR ALL THE FIGHTERS.

00:35:32.396 --> 00:35:36.801
AND FOR THE PEOPLE OF CUBA
WHO THREW THEMSELVES
INTO THE STREETS EN MASSE.

00:35:36.868 --> 00:35:38.803
MEN, WOMEN, CHILDREN,
ALL CLAPPING THEIR HANDS,

00:35:38.870 --> 00:35:41.806
CELEBRATING THE VICTORY
OF THE REVOLUTION.

00:35:41.873 --> 00:35:44.308
EVEN SOME PEOPLE WHO DID
NOT WANT THE REVOLUTION

00:35:44.375 --> 00:35:47.311
WENT INTO THE STREETS
TO SUPPORT THE TRIUMPH
OF THE REVOLUTION.

00:35:47.378 --> 00:35:50.314
BLACKS AND WHITES,
THEY WERE ALL THERE.

00:35:52.283 --> 00:35:55.319
Gates, voice-over:
THE GOVERNMENT SET UP
A NEW MINISTRY OF LABOR

00:35:55.386 --> 00:35:58.322
TO END RACIAL DISCRIMINATION
IN EMPLOYMENT.

00:35:58.389 --> 00:36:01.325
FIDEL CASTRO DECLARED
RACISM TO BE OVER,

00:36:01.392 --> 00:36:05.263
BUT THIS MADE IT DIFFICULT EVEN
TO TALK ABOUT DISCRIMINATION.

00:36:05.329 --> 00:36:08.766
INFORMAL RACISM DID BEGIN
TO DISAPPEAR, THOUGH,

00:36:08.833 --> 00:36:12.803
AND COLONEL DREKE ATTRIBUTES
THIS CHANGE TO THE REVOLUTION.

00:36:12.870 --> 00:36:16.307
Translator: IN CUBA,
EVERYBODY HAS THE
SAME RIGHT TO STUDY,

00:36:16.374 --> 00:36:18.309
THE SAME RIGHT TO WORK,
THE RIGHT TO FIGHT

00:36:18.376 --> 00:36:21.312
TO DEFEND THE PRINCIPLES
OF THE REVOLUTION,

00:36:21.379 --> 00:36:22.813
WHITES AND BLACKS.

00:36:22.880 --> 00:36:24.815
EVERYBODY HAS
THE SAME RIGHTS.

00:36:24.882 --> 00:36:27.818
WE CANNOT SAY THAT
THERE IS DISCRIMINATION.

00:36:27.885 --> 00:36:31.822
HERE IN CUBA,
HARDLY ANYONE WOULD
TEND TO SAY,

00:36:31.889 --> 00:36:35.326
"I DO NOT WANT MY
BLACK DAUGHTER TO
MARRY A WHITE MAN,"

00:36:35.393 --> 00:36:39.330
"I DO NOT WANT
MY WHITE DAUGHTER TO
MARRY A BLACK PERSON."

00:36:39.397 --> 00:36:42.767
NO. BECAUSE THE POWER
OF THE REVOLUTION, THE
POWER OF IDEOLOGY,

00:36:42.833 --> 00:36:46.804
THE STRENGTH OF THE
DREAM, THE STRENGTH
OF THE TRUTH,

00:36:46.871 --> 00:36:49.307
STOPS PEOPLE
FROM SAYING THAT.

00:36:50.875 --> 00:36:52.810
Gates, voice-over: NOT ONLY
DID CASTRO'S GOVERNMENT

00:36:52.877 --> 00:36:55.313
DECLARE BLACK AND WHITE
EQUAL BEFORE THE LAW,

00:36:55.379 --> 00:36:57.815
IT ALSO BEGAN PROVIDING
FREE HEALTH CARE

00:36:57.882 --> 00:37:00.284
AND UNIVERSAL ACCESS
TO EDUCATION,

00:37:00.351 --> 00:37:03.754
BOTH OF WHICH HAD
AN IMMEDIATE AND
DRAMATIC IMPACT

00:37:03.821 --> 00:37:07.758
ON THE POOREST CUBANS,
WHO, FOR THE MOST PART
WERE BLACK.

00:37:10.828 --> 00:37:13.764
WHILE 3/4 OF THE POPULATION
WAS ALREADY LITERATE,

00:37:13.831 --> 00:37:18.302
IN AN EXTRAORDINARY
ATTEMPT TO ERADICATE
ILLITERACY COMPLETELY,

00:37:18.369 --> 00:37:23.808
IN 1961, CASTRO SENT OUT
AN ARMY OF 100,000 TEENAGERS

00:37:23.874 --> 00:37:28.312
TO TEACH NEARLY
A MILLION CUBANS
HOW TO READ AND WRITE.

00:37:28.379 --> 00:37:32.316
PROFESSOR GRACIELA CHAILLOUX,
WHO'S FATHER WAS A LAWYER,

00:37:32.383 --> 00:37:35.753
WAS ONE OF THE CHILDREN
WHO TOOK PART IN THAT CRUSADE.

00:37:35.820 --> 00:37:37.421
YOU WERE 11, RIGHT?
11 YEARS OLD.

00:37:37.488 --> 00:37:39.256
YES.

00:37:39.323 --> 00:37:43.761
WHEN I WAS 11,
I COULDN'T HAVE
LEFT MY PARENTS.

00:37:43.828 --> 00:37:47.765
HOW FAR AWAY DID YOU
GO FROM YOUR HOME?

00:37:47.832 --> 00:37:51.802
WERE YOU ALONE,
AND WAS IT TERRIFYING?

00:37:51.869 --> 00:37:54.805
WERE YOU HOMESICK?

00:37:57.875 --> 00:38:01.178
Translator: THERE WERE
LOTS OF PEOPLE LIKE ME
WHO HAD LEFT HOME,

00:38:01.245 --> 00:38:04.248
AND THE PROBLEM WAS
FOR THOSE WHO DIDN'T
GET THE PERMISSION

00:38:04.315 --> 00:38:06.717
FROM THEIR PARENTS.

00:38:06.784 --> 00:38:10.755
THOSE WHO WANTED TO GO
BUT THEIR PARENTS
WOULDN'T LET THEM

00:38:10.821 --> 00:38:12.757
THEY DID HAVE
A SERIOUS PROBLEM.

00:38:12.823 --> 00:38:16.560
HOW LONG WERE YOU AWAY?

00:38:16.627 --> 00:38:17.762
Translator: 8 MONTHS.

00:38:17.828 --> 00:38:19.263
8 MONTHS!
YES.

00:38:19.330 --> 00:38:21.766
MY GOD!
YES.

00:38:21.832 --> 00:38:23.801
YOU'RE CRAZY.
YOU WERE CRAZY.

00:38:23.868 --> 00:38:28.305
NO. HA HA HA!

00:38:28.372 --> 00:38:32.309
Translator: ON THE
22nd OF DECEMBER
OF 1961,

00:38:32.376 --> 00:38:36.747
CUBA WAS DECLARED
AN ILLITERACY-FREE
TERRITORY.

00:38:39.283 --> 00:38:41.752
AND ALL THE YOUNG PEOPLE
WHO HAD TAKEN PART

00:38:41.819 --> 00:38:45.256
PARADED IN THE
REVOLUTIONARY SQUARE.

00:38:45.322 --> 00:38:47.758
WAS IT CUBA'S
FINEST MOMENT?

00:38:49.827 --> 00:38:52.263
YES. I THINK SO.

00:38:52.329 --> 00:39:00.304
I THINK SO, BECAUSE
FIDEL SAID THAT
EVERYBODY HAVE TO STUDY.

00:39:00.371 --> 00:39:01.739
EVERYONE HAS
A RIGHT TO STUDY.

00:39:01.806 --> 00:39:03.240
YES.

00:39:03.307 --> 00:39:04.742
AND SO THEY
HAVE TO STUDY.
YES.

00:39:04.809 --> 00:39:07.078
DID YOUR PARENTS
TRY TO STOP YOU?

00:39:07.144 --> 00:39:08.746
I WOULD HAVE
STOPPED MY DAUGHTERS.

00:39:08.813 --> 00:39:11.749
I WOULD HAVE SAID,
"NO," BECAUSE I WOULD HAVE
WORRIED ABOUT THEIR SAFETY,

00:39:11.816 --> 00:39:13.217
ESPECIALLY BEING GIRLS.

00:39:13.284 --> 00:39:15.252
DID YOUR PARENTS
TRY TO STOP YOU?

00:39:15.319 --> 00:39:17.755
NO.
NO.

00:39:17.822 --> 00:39:22.259
Translator: NO. IT WAS
A SPECIAL MOMENT,

00:39:22.326 --> 00:39:26.263
AND EVERYONE
WAS PUT INTO IT.

00:39:28.833 --> 00:39:33.804
I ADMIRE...
I'M SO MOVED.

00:39:33.871 --> 00:39:37.308
I ADMIRE YOUR COMMITMENT
TO YOUR COUNTRY,
TO YOUR IDEALS.

00:39:37.374 --> 00:39:39.310
IT'S VERY BEAUTIFUL.

00:39:39.376 --> 00:39:40.811
IT'S VERY BEAUTIFUL.

00:39:45.449 --> 00:39:48.052
Gates, voice-over: TODAY,
IT'S SO EASY TO FORGET

00:39:48.119 --> 00:39:52.323
HOW FULL OF HOPE
SO MANY CUBANS WERE WHEN
THE REVOLUTION TRIUMPHED,

00:39:52.389 --> 00:39:56.327
BUT I GUESS THAT'S MOSTLY
BECAUSE OF WHAT HAPPENED NEXT.

00:39:56.393 --> 00:39:59.330
CASTRO NATIONALIZED
AMERICAN-OWNED COMPANIES,

00:39:59.396 --> 00:40:02.333
ENDING U.S. CONTROL
OVER THE ECONOMY.

00:40:02.399 --> 00:40:05.369
AMERICA THEN CANCELED
ITS SUGAR CONTRACTS.

00:40:05.436 --> 00:40:10.374
SO THE SOVIET UNION
STEPPED IN BECOMING CUBA'S
MAJOR ECONOMIC PARTNER.

00:40:10.441 --> 00:40:14.378
SOON, CASTRO DECLARED
CUBA TO BE COMMUNIST.

00:40:14.445 --> 00:40:16.881
NOT SURPRISINGLY,
SOON AFTER THAT,

00:40:16.947 --> 00:40:20.351
THE CIA BEGAN VARIOUS ATTEMPTS
TO OVERTHROW CASTRO,

00:40:20.417 --> 00:40:24.889
CULMINATING IN THE DISASTROUS
INVASION OF THE BAY OF PIGS.

00:40:30.761 --> 00:40:34.398
WHEN THE SOVIET UNION INSTALLED
NUCLEAR WARHEADS ON THE ISLAND,

00:40:34.465 --> 00:40:37.868
THE WORLD STOOD ON THE BRINK
OF NUCLEAR WAR.

00:40:42.439 --> 00:40:46.377
THE MOST TERRIFIED
I HAVE EVER BEEN
IN MY ENTIRE LIFE,

00:40:46.443 --> 00:40:48.379
WITHOUT A DOUBT,
WAS OCTOBER 1962.

00:40:48.445 --> 00:40:53.350
I WAS 12 YEARS OLD,
AND IT WAS THE CUBAN
MISSILE CRISIS.

00:40:53.417 --> 00:40:56.387
WE ALL THOUGHT
WE WERE GONNA DIE.

00:40:56.453 --> 00:41:00.391
I SPENT THE ENTIRE CRISIS,
WHEN I WASN'T IN SCHOOL,

00:41:00.457 --> 00:41:06.330
ON MY KNEES PRAYING TO GOD
EITHER THAT THE RUSSIANS
DIDN'T DROP THE BOMBS

00:41:06.397 --> 00:41:10.367
OR, IF THEY DID,
I WENT TO HEAVEN.

00:41:10.434 --> 00:41:15.372
SEEMS KIND OF AMUSING NOW.
WASN'T AMUSING BACK THEN.

00:41:15.439 --> 00:41:16.874
[DREKE SPEAKING SPANISH]

00:41:16.941 --> 00:41:19.877
Translator: I WAS
A MILITARY LEADER DURING
THE OCTOBER CRISIS,

00:41:19.944 --> 00:41:21.378
AS WE CALL IT,

00:41:21.445 --> 00:41:22.880
DURING THE CUBAN
MISSILE CRISIS,

00:41:22.947 --> 00:41:24.882
AS IT'S CALLED
IN THE REST OF THE WORLD.

00:41:24.949 --> 00:41:28.886
DID YOU, LIKE ME,
THINK YOU WERE GONNA DIE?

00:41:31.455 --> 00:41:34.058
Translator: YES.
I THOUGHT THAT
I COULD DIE.

00:41:34.124 --> 00:41:35.726
I FELT THIS MANY TIMES.

00:41:35.793 --> 00:41:38.329
I FOUGHT IN THE WAR
AND I WAS INJURED.

00:41:38.395 --> 00:41:40.331
I COULD HAVE DIED THEN.

00:41:40.397 --> 00:41:44.368
I WAS ALSO INJURED
AT THE BAY OF PIGS AND
COULD HAVE DIED THEN.

00:41:44.435 --> 00:41:46.370
I ALWAYS THOUGHT
I WOULD DIE.

00:41:46.437 --> 00:41:51.876
IT'S NOT THAT I AM BRAVE,
BUT YOU DECIDE TO
DIE FOR A CAUSE.

00:42:00.918 --> 00:42:03.153
Gates, voice-over:
COMMANDER DREKE
AND PROFESSOR CHAILLOUX

00:42:03.220 --> 00:42:06.824
LIVED THROUGH THE REVOLUTION
AND PLAYED A ROLE IN IT.

00:42:06.891 --> 00:42:08.325
BOTH ARE QUITE
ROMANTIC ABOUT IT,

00:42:08.392 --> 00:42:12.329
SO YOU CAN SEE WHY,
FOR THEM, IT'S A CAUSE
WORTH DEFENDING.

00:42:14.798 --> 00:42:18.869
BUT YOUNGER CUBANS HAVE
BECOME INCREASINGLY CRITICAL
OF THE REGIME IN GENERAL

00:42:18.936 --> 00:42:23.374
AND OF ITS SILENCE
OVER ONGOING RACISM,
MORE PARTICULARLY.

00:42:25.676 --> 00:42:30.381
IN 1989, INTERNATIONAL
EVENTS FORCED THE ISSUE.

00:42:30.447 --> 00:42:37.321
THE COLLAPSE OF THE SOVIET UNION
DEPRIVED CUBA OF $6 BILLION
OF INCOME ANNUALLY,

00:42:37.388 --> 00:42:39.323
ALMOST OVERNIGHT.

00:42:39.390 --> 00:42:42.826
TATO QUINONEZ, A JOURNALIST,
LIVED THROUGH THE CHAOS

00:42:42.893 --> 00:42:44.828
THAT WOULD SOON
ENVELOP THE ISLAND.

00:42:47.898 --> 00:42:50.868
Gates: OK, I'M READY.
I'M READY TO GET
MY HAIR CUT.

00:42:50.935 --> 00:42:52.369
TATO, I'VE ALWAYS
WONDERED

00:42:52.436 --> 00:42:55.873
HOW THE FALL OF THE
SOVIET UNION--1989--

00:42:55.940 --> 00:42:57.875
AFFECTED RACE
RELATIONS IN CUBA

00:42:57.942 --> 00:43:00.878
AND THE LIFE OF
THE AVERAGE
BLACK CUBAN.

00:43:00.945 --> 00:43:03.314
[QUINONEZ
SPEAKING SPANISH]

00:43:03.380 --> 00:43:04.815
Translator: IN LESS
THAN A YEAR,

00:43:04.882 --> 00:43:09.820
CUBA LOST OVER 80%
OF ITS OVERSEAS TRADE,

00:43:09.887 --> 00:43:13.824
AND ITS GDP FELL BY 50%.

00:43:15.392 --> 00:43:19.830
THIS WAS TRAUMATIC
AND WOULD HAVE AFFECTED
RELATIONS OF ANY TYPE

00:43:19.897 --> 00:43:21.332
IN ANY COUNTRY.

00:43:23.934 --> 00:43:26.370
Gates, voice-over:
THE FINANCIAL CRISIS
WAS SO SEVERE

00:43:26.437 --> 00:43:29.373
THAT INDUSTRY
AND AGRICULTURE COLLAPSED.

00:43:29.440 --> 00:43:33.377
THE NATION WAS ON THE BRINK
OF WIDESPREAD FAMINE.

00:43:33.444 --> 00:43:36.380
MANY PEOPLE WERE FORCED
TO RELY ON FINANCIAL SUPPORT

00:43:36.447 --> 00:43:39.316
FROM EXILED RELATIVES
IN THE UNITED STATES,

00:43:39.383 --> 00:43:42.319
MOST OF WHOM WERE THE WHITE,
MIDDLE-CLASS PEOPLE

00:43:42.386 --> 00:43:44.822
WHO HAD FLED WHEN
THE REVOLUTION TRIUMPHED.

00:43:48.392 --> 00:43:51.328
Translator: I WENT
TO THE USA AT THE END
OF THE NINETIES,

00:43:51.395 --> 00:43:55.833
AND I FOUND OUT
THAT 97% OF THE CUBANS
LIVING THERE

00:43:55.899 --> 00:43:58.369
CONSIDER THEMSELVES
TO BE WHITE.

00:44:01.438 --> 00:44:05.809
AND SO THE HUNDREDS
OF MILLIONS, OR, SOME SAY,
BILLIONS OF DOLLARS

00:44:05.876 --> 00:44:10.814
SENT TO CUBA EVERY YEAR
END UP IN THE HANDS OF THOSE
WHO CONSIDER THEMSELVES WHITE.

00:44:10.881 --> 00:44:16.820
THAT IN ITSELF IS ALSO
CREATING SIGNIFICANT
ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL DIFFERENCES.

00:44:19.390 --> 00:44:20.824
Gates, voice-over:
AS WE MIGHT EXPECT,

00:44:20.891 --> 00:44:23.827
THE SURGE IN INEQUALITY
HAD PROFOUND CONSEQUENCES

00:44:23.894 --> 00:44:25.829
FOR CUBA'S RACE RELATIONS.

00:44:30.934 --> 00:44:34.371
Translator: 30 YEARS ON
FROM THE TRIUMPH
OF THE REVOLUTION,

00:44:34.438 --> 00:44:36.306
THERE WERE STILL
SOME RACIST GERMS,

00:44:36.373 --> 00:44:38.809
AND THEY MULTIPLIED
AT AN ASTOUNDING RATE.

00:44:42.379 --> 00:44:43.814
IT WAS INCREDIBLE.

00:44:43.881 --> 00:44:47.284
IT WAS AS IF THE
IMMUNE SYSTEM HAD FAILED,

00:44:47.351 --> 00:44:50.320
AND THIS DISEASE WAS
TAKING HOLD OF SOCIETY.

00:44:56.393 --> 00:44:58.662
Gates, voice-over: MONEY
BEING SENT FROM ABROAD

00:44:58.729 --> 00:45:00.764
IS ONE REASON FOR THIS
NEW RACE DIVIDE.

00:45:00.831 --> 00:45:02.766
THE OTHER IS INTERNAL.

00:45:04.368 --> 00:45:06.637
SINCE THE FALL OF
THE BERLIN WALL,

00:45:06.703 --> 00:45:09.306
TWO CURRENCIES
HAVE EMERGED IN CUBA.

00:45:09.373 --> 00:45:11.809
THE PESO AND THE CUC,

00:45:11.875 --> 00:45:15.813
WHICH IS WORTH 25 TIMES
MORE THAN THE PESO.

00:45:15.879 --> 00:45:17.314
HOW MUCH?

00:45:17.381 --> 00:45:18.816
50 CENTS.

00:45:18.882 --> 00:45:20.284
IN PESOS OR CUCS?

00:45:20.350 --> 00:45:21.819
CUC.
CUC.

00:45:21.885 --> 00:45:23.487
Gates, voice-over:
THIS TWO-TIERED CURRENCY

00:45:23.554 --> 00:45:27.324
HAS TURNED CUBA'S ECONOMIC
STRUCTURE UPSIDE-DOWN.

00:45:27.391 --> 00:45:32.329
WHILE PROFESSORS AND DOCTORS
BEING PAID IN PESOS
EARN $20 A MONTH,

00:45:32.396 --> 00:45:39.303
A WAITER BEING PAID IN CUCS
CAN EARN $20 A DAY.

00:45:39.369 --> 00:45:41.805
I'VE COME TO MEET PROFESSOR
ROBERTO ZURBANO

00:45:41.872 --> 00:45:44.141
TO FIND OUT HOW THIS
TWO-TIERED CURRENCY

00:45:44.208 --> 00:45:46.810
MIGHT AFFECT BLACK PEOPLE.

00:45:46.877 --> 00:45:49.313
I'VE BEEN MANY
PLACES IN CUBA.

00:45:49.379 --> 00:45:51.315
AND AS A BLACK
AMERICAN,

00:45:51.381 --> 00:45:54.284
I ALWAYS LOOK
FOR BLACK PEOPLE.

00:45:54.351 --> 00:45:58.822
ALWAYS WHEN I WALK--
I DO THIS IN AMERICA,
TOO.

00:45:58.889 --> 00:46:02.759
BUT HERE, I SEE
VERY FEW BLACK PEOPLE
ON AIRPLANES,

00:46:02.826 --> 00:46:06.763
IN HOTELS,
OR IN RESTAURANTS. WHY?

00:46:06.830 --> 00:46:08.765
[ZURBANO SPEAKING
SPANISH]

00:46:08.832 --> 00:46:11.802
Translator: UNFORTUNATELY,
THAT'S THE WAY IT IS.

00:46:11.869 --> 00:46:15.305
MAYBE THEY CLEAN
THE ROOMS OR THEY WORK
IN THE KITCHEN

00:46:15.372 --> 00:46:17.307
OR ARE PERFORMERS.

00:46:20.878 --> 00:46:25.482
YOU MIGHT SEE SOME
BLACK PEOPLE WHO COME IN
TO THE PERFORMANCE AND LEAVE.

00:46:25.549 --> 00:46:28.819
THEY'RE LIKELY TO BE
PAID IN PESOS,
RATHER THAN CUCS,

00:46:28.886 --> 00:46:32.322
WHICH IS
A STRONG CURRENCY.

00:46:32.389 --> 00:46:36.326
IN CUBA, THERE ARE FEW
BLACK PEOPLE IN THE
STRONG ECONOMIC SECTORS.

00:46:36.393 --> 00:46:38.762
WHY? BECAUSE PREJUDICE
NEVER WENT AWAY.

00:46:38.829 --> 00:46:41.265
PREJUDICE NEVER
DISAPPEARED.

00:46:41.331 --> 00:46:44.801
IT WAS SIMPLY CONCEALED
UNDER THE TABLE.

00:46:44.868 --> 00:46:49.306
THE SILENCE ALLOWED
ALL THE PROBLEMS TO CONTINUE
TO GROW UNDER THE TABLE.

00:46:56.380 --> 00:47:00.284
Gates, voice-over: I'M MEETING
ONE OF THE MOST FAMOUS WRITERS
IN CUBA, MIGUEL BARNET.

00:47:00.350 --> 00:47:03.253
MIGUEL BELIEVES THAT
ONE WAY OF DEALING
WITH THE SILENCE

00:47:03.320 --> 00:47:07.758
SURROUNDING RACIST
ATTITUDES AGAINST BLACKS
IS THROUGH EDUCATION.

00:47:07.824 --> 00:47:10.761
Barnet: THE KNOWLEDGE
THAT PEOPLE HAVE

00:47:10.827 --> 00:47:14.264
OF THE AFRICAN LEGACY
COMES FROM THE ROOTS

00:47:14.331 --> 00:47:16.266
COMES FROM THE FAMILY.

00:47:16.333 --> 00:47:19.603
BUT I WANT THAT TO BE
TAUGHT IN THE UNIV--
IN THE SCHOOLS,

00:47:19.670 --> 00:47:21.405
IN THE PRIMARY SCHOOLS.

00:47:21.471 --> 00:47:24.308
THAT'S ONE OF THE THINGS--
IF YOU SAY "RACE"
THAT THEY [INDISTINCT].

00:47:24.374 --> 00:47:28.812
WE HAVE TO INTRODUCE
MORE OF THE
AFRICAN MYTHOLOGY,

00:47:28.879 --> 00:47:32.316
THE AFRICAN HISTORY,
IN OUR SCHOOL HERE.

00:47:32.382 --> 00:47:35.752
THE IDEA THAT THE
BLACKS IN THIS COUNTRY,

00:47:35.819 --> 00:47:37.421
THE AFRICANS
IN THIS COUNTRY,

00:47:37.487 --> 00:47:43.260
THEIR LEGACY IS NOT ONLY
CULTURAL OR PHILOSOPHICAL
OR ARTISTIC,

00:47:43.327 --> 00:47:49.266
IT'S ALSO THEY CONTRIBUTED
VERY STRONGLY TO THE
ECONOMY OF THIS COUNTRY.

00:47:51.368 --> 00:47:55.305
Gates, voice-over: CUBAN
INTELLECTUALS MIGHT BE
DEMANDING CHANGE,

00:47:55.372 --> 00:47:57.307
BUT ACCORDING TO MANY
YOUNGER BLACK PEOPLE,

00:47:57.374 --> 00:48:02.246
THE INTELLECTUALS
AREN'T SPEAKING LOUDLY
OR URGENTLY ENOUGH,

00:48:02.312 --> 00:48:04.248
AND THIS LEADS TO
ANOTHER PROBLEM.

00:48:04.314 --> 00:48:08.719
SINCE FREEDOM OF SPEECH
NEVER HAS BEEN ONE OF
FIDEL CASTRO'S STRONG SUITS,

00:48:08.785 --> 00:48:14.258
DECLARING THAT RACISM EXISTS
CAN BE JUDGED A SEDITIOUS
CRITICISM OF THE GOVERNMENT.

00:48:14.324 --> 00:48:17.761
AFTER ALL, DIDN'T
SOCIALISM END RACISM?

00:48:21.164 --> 00:48:24.134
I'M ON MY WAY TO INTERVIEW
ONE OF CUBA'S LEADING
HIP-HOP ARTISTS.

00:48:24.201 --> 00:48:25.902
HIS NAME IS SOANDRES.

00:48:25.969 --> 00:48:29.306
HE'S RECORDED TWO SONGS
ABOUT RACISM IN CUBA,
WHICH HAVE BEEN BANNED.

00:48:29.373 --> 00:48:31.808
I WANTED TO RECORD HIM
AT HIS UPCOMING GIG,

00:48:31.875 --> 00:48:34.311
BUT THE GOVERNMENT
WOULDN'T GIVE ME PERMISSION.

00:48:34.378 --> 00:48:36.246
[SOANDRES SINGING HIP-HOP]

00:48:56.833 --> 00:49:00.304
Gates, voice-over: SOANDRES
GREW UP IN THE SHADOW OF 1989,

00:49:00.370 --> 00:49:04.741
AND THROUGH HIP-HOP IS NOW
TRYING TO WAGE A WAR ON RACISM.

00:49:07.311 --> 00:49:11.248
I HEARD THAT YOU HAVE TWO
SONGS ABOUT RACISM YOU'RE
PERFORMING TOMORROW NIGHT

00:49:11.315 --> 00:49:17.754
AND YOU CAN'T SING THEM.
IS THAT TRUE? AND WHY?
HOW DOES THAT MAKE YOU FEEL?

00:49:17.821 --> 00:49:19.756
[SPEAKING SPANISH]

00:49:22.826 --> 00:49:25.262
Translator: WELL,
I'M KIND OF ALLOWED
TO SING THEM,

00:49:25.329 --> 00:49:27.764
BUT DOING SO
WILL CAUSE TROUBLE.

00:49:29.833 --> 00:49:32.803
TROUBLE THAT,
IN THE LONG RUN,
WON'T ONLY INVOLVE ME.

00:49:32.869 --> 00:49:37.808
IT WILL PUT AT RISK THE
SUCCESS OF THE CONCERT
AND MY COLLEAGUES.

00:49:37.874 --> 00:49:41.311
BECAUSE THE CONCERT
COULD END RIGHT
THERE AND THEN.

00:49:44.381 --> 00:49:46.316
I COULD MAYBE SING
THAT SONG TOMORROW,

00:49:46.383 --> 00:49:49.319
BUT THE NEXT PERSON
MAY NOT BE ALLOWED
ON STAGE.

00:49:53.390 --> 00:49:55.826
THAT WOULD BE A LOSS
FOR THE RAP MOVEMENT.

00:49:55.892 --> 00:49:57.828
WE WANT HIP-HOP
TO CONTINUE.

00:50:00.897 --> 00:50:02.833
[SINGING HIP-HOP]

00:50:07.604 --> 00:50:09.873
Translator: IT IS TRUE
THAT RACIAL ISSUES IN
CUBA ARE CENSORED,

00:50:09.940 --> 00:50:12.376
NOT ONLY IN RAP MUSIC,
BUT IN PAINTINGS,

00:50:12.442 --> 00:50:15.879
IN VISUAL ARTS,
AND ON TELEVISION.

00:50:15.946 --> 00:50:18.882
Gates, voice-over: DESPITE
EXPERIENCING DIRECT
AND INDIRECT PUNISHMENT

00:50:18.949 --> 00:50:21.351
FOR FIGHTING CUBA'S
RACIST ATTITUDES,

00:50:21.418 --> 00:50:26.390
SOANDRES AND OTHER
LEADING RAPPERS ARE
DETERMINED TO PERSIST.

00:50:28.959 --> 00:50:30.394
[SPEAKING SPANISH]

00:50:32.963 --> 00:50:37.868
Translator: MANY OF US
HAVE BEEN CRITICIZED
FOR WHAT WE DO.

00:50:37.934 --> 00:50:40.871
BUT THE MAJORITY
OF US HAVEN'T
STOPPED DOING IT,

00:50:40.937 --> 00:50:42.873
BECAUSE THIS
IS OUR REALITY.

00:50:44.941 --> 00:50:46.543
WHEN YOU ACCEPT
YOUR REALITY,

00:50:46.610 --> 00:50:49.379
AT LEAST YOU HAVE
THE COURAGE TO FACE
WHAT IS HAPPENING,

00:50:49.446 --> 00:50:53.383
AND AT LEAST YOU CAN
BEGIN WORKING
ON HOW TO FIX IT.

00:50:55.952 --> 00:50:59.890
I THINK IT'S BETTER
TO FACE THINGS LIKE THIS
THAN TO PUSH THEM ASIDE

00:50:59.956 --> 00:51:01.892
AND PRETEND THAT
THEY DON'T EXIST.

00:51:01.958 --> 00:51:06.830
Gates, voice-over: WE DID
MANAGE TO SNEAK OUR CAMERAS
IN TO SOANDRES' GIG.

00:51:06.897 --> 00:51:09.166
JUST AS SOUL MUSICIANS
80 YEARS AGO

00:51:09.232 --> 00:51:12.869
HELPED CHANGE SOCIAL ATTITUDES
TOWARDS BLACK PEOPLE,

00:51:12.936 --> 00:51:16.373
THESE HIP-HOP ARTISTS ARE
DETERMINED TO USE THEIR MUSIC

00:51:16.440 --> 00:51:21.378
TO KEEP RACIAL DISCRIMINATION
IN THE CONSCIOUSNESS
OF THEIR GENERATION,

00:51:21.445 --> 00:51:25.382
HOPING TO ERADICATE IT
FROM CUBAN SOCIETY FOREVER.

00:51:29.953 --> 00:51:34.391
THE CUBAN REVOLUTION OF 1959
PLEDGED TO END RACISM FOREVER.

00:51:34.458 --> 00:51:36.326
WAS IT SUCCESSFUL?

00:51:36.393 --> 00:51:39.830
WELL, TO SOME EXTENT, IT WAS,
AND TO SOME EXTENT, IT WASN'T.

00:51:39.896 --> 00:51:42.332
INSTITUTIONAL RACISM ENDED
VIRTUALLY OVERNIGHT--

00:51:42.399 --> 00:51:44.367
LEGAL RACISM, FORMAL RACISM.

00:51:44.434 --> 00:51:48.371
WHAT DIDN'T END WAS
THE RACISM OF THE HEART,
OF THE MIND,

00:51:48.438 --> 00:51:50.874
THE RACISM THAT'S
A FUNDAMENTAL PART

00:51:50.941 --> 00:51:53.376
OF THE FABRIC
OF THIS SOCIETY.

00:51:53.443 --> 00:51:55.378
WILL THAT EVER CHANGE?

00:51:55.445 --> 00:51:59.382
WELL, JUDGING FROM THE
AFRO-CUBAN INTELLECTUALS
WHOM I'VE INTERVIEWED,

00:51:59.449 --> 00:52:01.351
I THINK THAT IT WILL.

00:52:01.418 --> 00:52:06.823
AND PERHAPS THEN WE'LL SEE
THE NEXT CUBAN REVOLUTION.

00:52:33.016 --> 00:52:35.952
To find out more about how the
people of Latin America

00:52:36.019 --> 00:52:38.955
embrace their African history,

00:52:39.022 --> 00:52:41.858
visit PBS.org.