Whose Truth? Pulled in Different Directions

“There’s my truth; your truth; and the truth. ” These were the words of our Cuban guide as we began a tour of Havana. Our American group chuckled as we had become accustomed in the last two years to the terms “fake news” and “alternative facts. ” However, the irony of her statement would become real to us as we explored Cuba and tried to sort out conflicting “facts” in our search for the truth. The notion of ‘whose truth’ figures prominently also in the writings of Guerra (2016) and her experiences as a native Cuban. It is important to note at the outset that the facts presented to us from Cuban as well as American sources are politically charged. The difference in what is fact and fiction can be complicated in even simple examples: the race/ethnicity of the island’s population was variously reported to us as 64% white, 26% mulatto/mestizo, and 9% black or as 40% white, 40% mulatto/mestizo, and 19% black. Both sets of figures were said to be based on the 2012 census. According to Minority Rights Group International (no date), estimates of the percentage of people of African descent in the Cuban population vary enormously (from 34% to 62%) because there are scant records and a paucity of systematic studies both preand post-revolution (1959). Also, this is partly a question of self-perception, as census figures are based on how Cubans define themselves. People are reluctant to claim African ancestry because of discrimination and marginalization of Afro-Cubans. A question about unemployment rates in Cuba provided another example, with our guide claiming that unemployment rates were high, and official figures putting it between 1 and 3% (Garcia, 2010). Nearly everyone works for the state and official unemployment is minuscule, but pay is so low that Cubans like to joke that “the state pretends to pay us and we pretend to work” (Garcia, 2010, para 3). So, what to believe? And, overshadowing the inconsistencies that we experienced is the question of why we choose to believe one “truth” (my truth) as opposed to another (your truth) and why we are not more critical in trying to analyze information to determine the truth (Pennycook & Rand, 2018). As the researchers, Pennycook and Rand (2018) ask: Is it the result of rationalization or laziness? Perhaps the best way to begin this discussion of “whose truth” is to start with my preconceptions. A preconception is an opinion, idea, belief, judgement or sentiment that you have formed before going into something, sometimes based on bias or prejudice or limited data, and not founded on certainty. My impressions of Cuba go back to the early 1960s and my sentiments about certain events overshadow those perceptions: embarrassment for the United States over the failed attempt at the Bay of Pigs; fear during the Cuban missile crisis and pride over President Kennedy’s handling of Soviet Premier Khrushchev during the crisis; acceptance of the state of relationships between the U.S. and Cuba and the long embargo. As time went on, I was amused and appreciated the stories about the classic American cars being kept “alive” by Cubans who owned them. What did I think/ believe about U.S. news reports and propaganda about Cuba and the communist threat during those long years? I guess I never felt threatened by communism and the “red peril” but I was accepting of Cuban-Americans’ anti-communist, anti-Castro rhetoric. I was sympathetic to the refugees who escaped often by boat from Cuba to Florida (the Mariel boatlift in 1980 and the Cuban raft exodus in 1994) but not more so than other refugees—the Vietnamese and Cambodians. As decades went by, I began to feel that the Cuban Americans should put it behind them and move on—they had a good life in the U.S. and many were successful professionals. I also became aware of their special status as refugees and saw it as unfair that other Latinos/Hispanics were not treated the same way. When President Obama moved to normalize relationships with Cuba, I thought it was time for it and supported his efforts. Other perceptions of Cuba that I had were influenced by friends who had recently visited there (after the Obama-Castro rapprochement), some of whom were health professionals. Their glowing reports of the health system and medical education gave me a favorable impression of Cuba. They came back also with reports of a lessening of state control and an