An Open Letter to Non-Cubans Shaming the Cuban Protesters

Robert Crohan/Staff Writer

Dear non-Cuban lefties and righties,

I have a bone to pick.

What we are witnessing is a political phenomenon unlike anything in our lifespans. Cubans on the island have sparked the flames of a revolt against the regime that has governed them since 1959. Frustrations over the looming health crisis, the lack of services and political repression have boiled over, at long last, for millions.

Put simply, I, and my Cuban friends and peers, are disappointed.

You guys represent both sides of the same coin: left-wing and right-wing. You both showed promise. 

Leftists, you gave America the chance to own up to its racist and imperialist failures. Amid so much hidden from the average American consciousness, you went out of your way to educate us on the impact of these scourges, no matter how hard-headed the resistance. You gave us the chance to build a more compassionate superpower.

Conservatives, you showed us the promise of democracy taking in the huddled masses. In a time where authoritarian regimes are harder than ever to bring down, you promised those seeking refuge from the Cuban and Venezuelan black holes a spot in this shining democracy. While warning those with less experience in the history of the dangers of socialism and communism, you upheld the values of independence, faith, freedom, and pulling yourself up by the bootstraps.

After the events that transpired last week, these images have cracked. And the Fiji water is spraying out.

I have heard the voices of Cuban Americans, many of whom grew up on the island and remember the early Castro days. Their exact views on how we should proceed have caught me by surprise. They may not have always aligned with my progressive politics and worldview, but having no experience with authoritarian government or the deprivation of resources, I learned many things nonetheless. This, of course, is how a healthy multicultural democracy is supposed to work. 

But you chose the opposite. Leftists, you dismissed conservative and anti-communist protesters as agents of the US imperialist machine and focused on the US embargo on Cuba while defending the regime. Conservatives, you weaponized these protests against progressives, whom you have lied about to Florida’s Cubans for generations while dismissing other fights for justice. You know who you are.

This is a big damn deal. People in Cuba are suffering. Cubans I know have shared a glimpse of the trauma and pain plaguing this diverse and forward-thinking community. Regardless of your own personal political leanings, which are valid, acknowledging this pain should not be hard. Grieving Cubans don’t need a lecture about “real socialism.” They don’t need an OAN camera in their face as they cry over sick family members on the island.

They need legitimacy. They need humanity.

Make no mistake, I am not Cuban. I have no ties to Latin America whatsoever. This piece is not following your model of speaking on behalf of those who have seen things you cannot even imagine. What I intend to do is merely highlight, and ask of you, why you should be outraged by your own approach to all this. It incorporates the voices of those I have met.

I think we can all recall a time where someone delegitimized our pain. I can certainly attest, as people have downplayed my suffering in these dark days of a serious illness and disability plaguing my family. I get a front-row seat to my family’s suffering 24/7, with few breaks. I don’t appreciate anyone butting in with assertions that I need to publicize this, or that my own failures are what I should cry about and not the fact that my family members are literally damn suffering.

These sorts of double standards did not defeat fascism. They did not win us the Cold War, or the defeat of ISIL. We are not going to stop racism by putting our faith in a bunch of white guys. We are not going to stop economic inequality with a bunch of top-earning CEOs on top. Likewise, Cuban torment will not end without Cubans leading the way, and the rest of us following as allies.

Just look at Iraq and Afghanistan. Turns out that “help” in the form of US-imposed systems of government wasn’t so liberating after all. Both countries are in turmoil because we didn’t let their people make these kinds of decisions for themselves.

These are our fellow Panthers who are impacted by this, our friends and neighbors who have braved language barriers, discrimination, piss-poor wages, and climate change, among other things, in order to give their families a better life. That deserves our fullest respect. These people, not you, built our beloved Miami.

Cubans everywhere are erupting in solidarity with their countrymen and anger towards the government that has oppressed them for decades. Unlike what you leftist saviors have asserted so triumphantly, many of my Cuban peers are repeatedly asserting that it is not the US embargo that is being protested, but the government oppression. And the Cuban government is largely responsible for the lack of services. 

Many point out the embargo’s harms, which are legitimate, but consider this: if there was an uprising in Nazi Germany, you wouldn’t tell protesters who are clearly taking aim at the genocide and oppression that their fight is against the imposed reparations, right?

Leftists have tried to prove otherwise with findings of the embargo, but do you really know more about it than Cubans themselves? I know a few Cubans are taking the leftist side, and I am not ready to shame them as you conservatives have, or as you leftists have shamed Trump-voting Cubans.

Both of you have preached listening with an open mind to those you disagree with. It’s long past time for you to practice what you preach, and prove that you did not just do that for political gain. If a Cuban is waving a Trump flag or a Biden flag, don’t dismiss them: find out why.

Not just in these times, but all the time, it is our obligation to listen, learn and respect others’ perspectives and opinions. We must stop feelings of entitlement and resentment towards those who bring wisdom after traumatic experiences. It is not in our place to judge.

Your mistakes reinforce the sad reality that American politics involves a lot of unproductive assumptions. As soon as South Texas Latinos started voting for Republicans after seventy years, Democrats suddenly started to take them seriously. As soon as Miami’s Venezuelans showed signs of supporting Trump, the GOP rushed to embrace them, ignoring other Latino communities that have fled injustice abroad.

I understand that I’ll never “get it,” and that’s okay. None of us will. But it’s worth the effort. I also get that there are huge issues of racism and homophobia in the Cuban community, but that exists for almost any community, and can be reversed. I have faith in your ability to regroup amongst yourselves and consider a new approach, one that uplifts and not demeans. Everyone is counting on you.

Sincerely, an observer

DISCLAIMER:

The opinions presented within this page do not represent the views of PantherNOW Editorial Board. These views are separate from editorials and reflect individual perspectives of contributing writers and/or members of the University community