The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1902-08-12
NEGROES AND WHITES
BOTH HAVE EQUAL RIGHTS IN
CUBA.
A Difficult Element In the Reconstruc-
ton of Cuba the Cosmopolitan-Cu-
ban Negro Industrious.

A most difficult element in the recon-
struction of Cuba, is, doubtless, the
mingled races which live there, and,
which under the new conditions, are
politically and socially equal The civil |
status of the African race was estab-
lished in 1898. This was a declaration ,
Of the equal rights of the colOred class |
es with the whites. The equality is not |
only declared, it has been enforced in |
hotels, cafes, theaters, on the railways |
and in all public places. Since the Am
erican occupation. there has been occa'
sional refusal of these rights to the |
blacks, but they have always been en-
forced by the courts according to the
Spanish code. The American military
government has also always enforced
the civil rights of the blacks, disre-
garding any color-line. Spaniards, Gu
bans and blacks join in social tolera-
ton which has no counterpart in the
United States, either North or South,
which our people find it hard to COM
prehend, and still harder to practice.
The present proportion of black and
white blood in the island Is 80 per cent
black and 70 per cent white. The black
| laborer is Industrious, but not hard
| working. No one does, or can work as
! hard in the tropics as in the temperate
zone, but the Cuban negro supports his
| family, he takes an equal place in the
| cigar factory, and in the building
trades with the whites, and shows an
equal aptitude. 1t is generally agreed
| that while social equality does not
exist, there is social liberation" There
! is no offense to whites in the presence
| of the blacks at a festival or public
! dinner, or meeting, indeed, their
presence causes 10 remark; there IS no
bitter race prejudice and no appre-
| hensiOn that a condition like that of
Jamaica or HayIi could ever come.
! Charles Nj. Pepper, in his thoughtful
volume, called tomorrow in Cuba"
! puts the present condition very clearly
in a paragraph;
The place OF the race of color in Gu
ba has been coinCident with social toll
GRAFTON and civil recognition. The blood
Of the Latin races does not repel the
| African blood so violently as chat
| which runs in the veins of their fellow
| Caucasians Of the Saxon stock. Amid
the ruins of the Castilian empire,
Spanish civilization has left one eudur-
ing monument in the Antilles. 1t has
not denied opportunity to the black
! man, and the black man has risen to
his opportunity. lie has assim!lated to
| the liberation of the Latin civilization
and his position today is a refutation
| of the theories Of the pessimsts," such
| sentiments seem rose cOlOred to the
| casual traveller. But the longer he re-
mains in Cuba, and the more he sees of
the black people, who are away from
the cities, the more truthful does the
4 statement appear, that the place OF the
blacks in Cuba will be an important
one, not only in the industrial, but also
in the civil and social future develop
ment of the island.
The population Of Cuba is about a
million and a quarter of which a little
over 80 per cent is negro; the males
are 10 per cent in excess Of the females,
and this difference is greater in the
| white than in the black race, while, for
general purposes Of enumeration, the
people are divided into blacks and
whites, there are really four classes
the whites, the colored, the blacks and
the Chinese. The whites include the
Spaniards Cubans and foreigners, and
among these are a considerable num-
Der of Canary Islanders, who are farm
| laborers. The Cubans have large fam
lilies of children, of which the women
are proud. The children develop young,
are very bright, have strong memories
and become, under good training, very
! intelligent. The common people are
| easily educated and many of their
prominent men have been taught in
| Europe and the United States. Under
such influences, they have turned to
| Cuba, and those who remain there are
| among the best inhabitants of the ISL
and polite hospitable, intelligent and
kind, with refined tastes, affection, and
a patriotism which Spanish tyranny
has been unable to quench. They have
had no experience in government, and
are said to lack the firmness which Is
necessary to make it a success. This,
however is an untried experiment, and
may prove more successful than has
! been feared
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