Partido Independiente de Color

Last updated

The Partido Independiente de Color (PIC) was a Cuban political party composed almost entirely of African former slaves. It was founded in 1908 by African veterans of the Cuban War of Independence. In 1912, the PIC led a revolt in the eastern province of Oriente. The revolt was crushed and the party disbanded. It is believed[ who? ] Esteban Montejo, subject of Miguel Barnet's "Biografía de un cimarrón," was a member of this party, or had close associates who were.

Contents

Background

The Cuban War of Independence was a conflict between Cuban Revolutionaries and Spain that lasted from 1895 to 1898. The United States intervened in 1898 on the side of the Cuban revolutionaries as a part of the Spanish–American War. At the end of the war, Cuba became a US protectorate. During the war, Spain frequently painted the conflict as a "race war" and referred to Cuban revolutionary troops as "blacks". A majority of the troops in the Cuban independence army were black and mixed-race, while the majority of the senior officers in the Cuban independence army were white. After the war, the United States ordered the independence army disbanded. [1]

The early PIC

The Partido Independiente de Color (PIC) in Cuba was founded on August 7, 1908 by black and mixed-race veterans of the Cuban War of Independence in response to the mistreatment they received at the hands of the government. [2] [1] The party was created in the aftermath of the August 1, 1908 local and municipal elections in which no black politician was elected to office. [2] As a consequence, black Cubans considered it necessary to establish a political party composed entirely of Black cubans, as they were excluded from the other parties' candidate lists. [2]

The party advocated for equal treatment under the law regardless of race. Its platform included free university education, free Immigration regardless of race, guaranteed public employment, and distribution of land to veterans of the War of Independence. [3]

The PIC was the first group in Cuban political discourse to make reference to the racial composition of the Independence army. [3] The PIC holds the distinction of being the first black political party in the western hemisphere.(Helg, 60) This is significant in view of the number of African Americans who were politically active at the time in the United States and elsewhere. Alin Helg would suggest that this is because Black people would conform to the white multi party system and support a candidate that didn't have elitist views. By this logic the PIC was a radical new idea that involved building a new independent party. This had not been tried before due to the risk involved.

The Afro Cubans were experiencing problems of land restructuring. Since the war for independence, United States businesses had been quietly taking up the land in the Oriente. This was on the far eastern side of the island, where most Afro Cubans lived and worked. The peasant land was taken over by Americans people business, which caused a dramatic shift in the standards of living. With more of their land being taken by US companies the Afro Cubans were becoming disenfranchised.(Perez(3),517)

The ideas of José Martí

José Martí was a martyr for Cuban Independence. He believed that all Cubans should concentrate on being Cuban regardless of race, ethnicity, or creed. Martí thought that the only way for Cubans to retain their sovereignty was through nationalism. He believed in presenting a strong unified front to oppose Spain colony influence in Cuba. (Figueredo, 123) The issue for the PIC was that they felt like they were being left out of this nationalist view. This presented the separation of worldviews between the PIC and Cuban Nationals with regards to the teachings of Martí. The federal Cuban government stated that they needed to conform to the nationalist dream as the government described it.

Further conflict

The PIC, upon its formation, took votes away from the ruling liberal party. It also stirred up such a conflict that President José Miguel Gómez was forced to take action. Gomez ordered the party disbanded under the Morúa law which outlawed political parties based on race.(Perez(1), 168) The Morúa law was aimed at creating the illusion of Cuban nationalism while favoring the Spanish Cubans. The Cuban Spanish supremacist social construct was meant to repress the Afro Cubans. In some ways it was successful by keeping the Afro Cubans from holding political office. The Afro Cubans also found ways to use the system to their advantage. They used the nationalist system to acquire education claiming that if there was no race division in Cuba they should be able to earn a degree just like any other Cuban. This mindset allowed the Afro Cubans to use nationalism, which many Spanish Cubans used to exclude and oppress them, to their advantage.(Fuente, 67)

The Platt Amendment

The Platt Amendment was used by the PIC much the same way they used the social constructs described by Alejandro de la Fuente. When the Morúa law was passed the party leaders sent a petition to Washington DC. The PIC wished to invoke the third article of the Platt Amendment. The third article of the Platt Amendment states that the US will protect the life, property, and individual liberty of citizens of Cuba. This plea for US help shows the PIC again being willing to call upon constructs not necessarily meant for them. The petition to President Taft asked: “to accept our most solemn protest in the name of the Independent Party of Color against outrages against our persons and our rights by the armed forces of the Cuban Government”. (Perez,(2),151) By calling upon the Platt Amendment the PIC was trying to do to the US government what they did to the Cuban Universities. They appealed to the idealistic words that the United States had put on paper to collect on these values. The United States did not accept the plea of the PIC.

The uprising of 1912

By 1912, the PIC's attempts at reform of the existing system had been ended and they had been effectively expelled from the political arena. The movement was no longer able to express their views through the existing political system. In addition, their appeal for support under article II of the Platt Amendment had also been rejected by the US government. As a result of political disenfranchisement, protests were mobilized through Oriente province and Cuba more generally. These protests and the disruption to the socioeconomic status quo were depicted through racially charged ways in newspapers such as El Día which described the protest and the broader movement which it represented as:

a racist uprising, an uprising of blacks, in other words, an enormous danger… Such uprisings are moved by hatred, and their purpose is negative, perverse; they are only conceived by something as black as hatred. They do not try to win but to hurt, to destroy, to harm, and they do not have any purpose. And they follow the natural bent of all armed people without aim and driven by atavistic, brutal instincts and passions: they devote themselves to robbery, pillage, murder, and rape. These are, in all parts and latitudes of the world, the characteristics of race struggles.

El Día, May 26, 1912 [4]

Evaristo Estenoz began preparing for a rebellion. On 20 May, they attacked the Cuban Army. Fighting occurred mainly in Oriente Province, where most Afro-Cubans lived. There were also a outbreaks of violence in the west, particularly in Las Villas Province. [5] The rebel movement was met with severe repression from the Cuban government who appealed to the US government for support to quell the unrest under the Platt amendment and received support from US marines, who moved to protect US owned property, railroads, trains, and mines. The rebels only attacked the marines once. President Gómez offered amnesty to any of the rebels who surrendered by 22 June, but Estenoz continued to fight with a few hundred men. Estenoz was killed by government forces on 27 June. Rebel forces had numbered at least 3,000 men, but by June there were only an estimated 1,800 left alive, although some sources cite as many as 6,000 total deaths including civilians. [5] [6] [7]

Pedro Ivonnet, a leader of the PIC, characterized the PIC's exclusion from the political sphere as “the epilogue of the trial of la Escalera.” [8] According to him, the outbreak of violence in 1912 was yet another event in a much longer struggle between free blacks and the state in Cuba. The two sides of this debate, the reformers who sought to reform the existing system and the revolutionaries who wanted to entirely reshape the landscape can both be seen in the post-independence period. With the reformers having already failed, the rebellion of 1912 represented the revolutionary wing's attempt to influence and reshape the landscape, but the violence it was met with prevented them from achieving their goals.

Aftermath

The Cuban Race War was short lived but the repression in the aftermath was brutal. Many Afro Cubans were killed whether or not they were involved in the struggle. This military action goes to show just how much race relations had deteriorated in Cuba. It also signified the instability of the revolutionary government.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Platt Amendment</span> 1901 United States law on Cuban relations

On March 2, 1901, the Platt Amendment was passed as part of the 1901 Army Appropriations Bill. It stipulated seven conditions for the withdrawal of United States troops remaining in Cuba at the end of the Spanish–American War, and an eighth condition that Cuba signs a treaty accepting these seven conditions. It defined the terms of Cuban–U.S. relations essentially to be an unequal one of U.S. dominance over Cuba.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tomás Estrada Palma</span> 1st President of Cuba (1902–06)

Tomás Estrada Palma was a Cuban politician, the president of the Cuban Republican in Arms during the Ten Years' War, and the first President of Cuba, between May 20, 1902, and September 28, 1906. His collateral career as a New York City area educator and writer enabled Estrada Palma to create pro-Cuban literature aimed at gaining sympathy, assistance and publicity. He was eventually successful in garnering the attention of influential Americans. He was an early and persistent voice calling for the United States to intervene in Cuba on humanitarian grounds. During his presidency his major accomplishments include improving Cuba's infrastructure, communication, and public health.

This article gives an overview of liberalism in Cuba. It is limited to liberal parties with substantial support, mainly proved by having had a representation in parliament. The sign ⇒ means a reference to another party in that scheme. For inclusion in this scheme it isn't necessary so that parties labeled themselves as a liberal party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oriente Province</span> Former province in Cuba

Oriente was the easternmost province of Cuba until 1976. The term "Oriente" is still used to refer to the eastern part of the country, which currently is divided into five different provinces.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Antonio Maceo</span> Cuban independence general (1845–1896)

Lt. General José Antonio de la Caridad Maceo y Grajales was a Cuban general and second-in-command of the Cuban Army of Independence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">José Miguel Gómez</span> President of Cuba from 1909 to 1913

José Miguel Gómez y Arias was a Cuban politician and revolutionary who was one of the leaders of the rebel forces in the Cuban War of Independence. He later served as President of Cuba from 1909 to 1913.

Racism in Cuba refers to racial discrimination in Cuba. In Cuba, dark skinned Afro-Cubans are the only group on the island referred to as black while lighter skinned, mixed race, Afro-Cuban mulattos are often not characterized as fully black or fully white. Race conceptions in Cuba are unique because of its long history of racial mixing and appeals to a "raceless" society. The Cuban census reports that 65% of the population is white while foreign figures report an estimate of the number of whites at anywhere from 40 to 45 percent. This is likely due to the self-identifying mulattos who are sometimes designated officially as white. A common myth in Cuba is that every Cuban has at least some African ancestry, influenced by historical mestizaje nationalism. Given the high number of immigrants from Europe in the 20th century, this is far from true. Several pivotal events have impacted race relations on the island. Using the historic race-blind nationalism first established around the time of independence, Cuba has navigated the abolition of slavery, the suppression of black clubs and political parties, the revolution and its aftermath, and the special period.

The Independent Republican Party was a political party in Cuba, led by Juan Gualberto Gómez. It was formed around 1900, after splits in the Republican parties in Havana, Matanzas and Las Villas. The split was caused by the opposition of the Republican parties to Gualberto Gómez's radical position against the Platt Amendment. The Independent Republican Party supported Gualberto Gómez's position on the issue.

Maria de los Reyes Castillo Bueno (1902–1997), also known as Reyita, is the subject of the testimonial biography Reyita: The Life of a Black Cuban Woman in the Twentieth Century. This orally communicated narrative was rendered into a testimonial biography by Reyita's daughter, Daisy Rubiera Castillo, and published in 1997. Reyita's biography adds a previously unknown and thus, underrepresented perspective to a time of political, as well as social, upheaval and change in Cuban history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Juan Gualberto Gómez</span> Afro-Cuban revolutionary leader in the Cuban War of Independence

Juan Gualberto Gómez Ferrer was a Cuban revolutionary leader in the Cuban War of Independence against Spain. He was a "close collaborator of [José] Martí's," and alongside him helped plan the uprising and unite the island's black population behind the rebellion. He was an activist for independence and a journalist who worked on and later founded several pivotal anti-royalist and pro-racial equality newspapers. He authored numerous works on liberty and racial justice in Latin America as well.

The War of 1912, also known as the Little Race War, the Negro Rebellion, or The Twelve, was a series of protests and uprisings in 1912 in Cuba, which saw conflict between Afro-Cuban rebels and the armed forces of Cuba. It took place mainly in the eastern region of the island, where most Afro-Cubans were employed. After weeks of fighting, which involved massacres of Afro-Cubans by the Cuban National Army led by General Jesus Monteagudo and a U.S. military intervention to protect American companies, the rebellion was put down. The leaders of the Afro-Cuban rebels, Evaristo Estenoz and Pedro Ivonnet, were killed during the rebellion and their political movement, The Independent Party of Color, was dissolved. Between 3,000 and 690,000 people were killed in the rebellion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Republic of Cuba (1902–1959)</span> Historical period in Cuba from 1902 to 1959

The Republic of Cuba, covering the historical period in Cuban history between 1902 and 1959, was an island country comprised the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. It was located where the northern Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, and Atlantic Ocean meet. The period began in 1902 following the end of its first U.S. military occupation years after Cuba declared independence in 1898 from the Spanish Empire. This era included various changing governments and US military occupations, and ended with the outbreak of the Cuban Revolution in 1959. During this period, the United States exerted great influence on Cuban politics, notably through the Platt Amendment. The post-1959 communist government refers to this era as the "Neocolonial Republic".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba</span> Highest-standing official of the Communist Party of Cuba

The First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba is the top leader of Cuba. The First Secretary is the highest office within the Communist Party of Cuba as well as ranking first in the Politburo, the highest decision-making body in Cuba, which makes the office holder the most powerful person in the Cuban government. In communist states the First or General Secretary of the Communist Party is typically the de facto leader of the country and a more powerful position than state offices such as President or Prime Minister, when those positions are held by different individuals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bartolomé Masó</span>

Bartolomé de Jesús Masó Márquez was a Cuban politician and military, patriot for Cuban independence from the colonial power of Spain, and later President of the República en Armas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flag of Puerto Rico</span> Official flag of the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico

The flag of Puerto Rico represents Puerto Rico and its people. It consists of five equal horizontal stripes, alternating from red to white, with a blue equilateral triangle based on the hoist side bearing a large, white, upright five-pointed star in the center. The white star stands for the island, the three sides of the triangle for the three branches of the government, the blue for the sky and the coastal waters, the red for the blood shed by warriors, and the white for liberty, victory, and peace. The flag is popularly known as La Monoestrellada, meaning having one star, a single star, or a lone star. It is in the Stars and Stripes flag family.

<i>Pardo</i> Term for multiracial people

In the former Portuguese and Spanish colonies in the Americas, pardos are triracial descendants of Southern Europeans, Indigenous Americans and West Africans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rafael Serra</span> Cuban intellectual (b. 1858, d. 1909)

José Rafael Simón Agapito Serra y Montalvo was an Afro-Cuban intellectual who played a large role in supporting the Cuban War of Independence. He worked as a writer and editor for Spanish-language newspapers in the United States. He advocated for working class Cubans of color. He was a key figure in New York City, contributing to a larger movement for Cuban Independence happening across the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aline Helg</span>

Aline Helg is a historian, specializing in the history of slavery. She is known for her research and books on the history of revolutions, the Americas, the African diaspora, civil rights, racism and ethnicity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Partido Revolucionario Cubano (1892)</span> Political party in Cuba

The Cuban Revolutionary Party was a political organization created by the Cuban intellectual José Martí on 10 April 1892 in order to organize the independence of Cuba and, as much as possible, Puerto Rico, the last two overseas provinces of Spain in America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pantaleón Julian Valdés</span> Cuban medical doctor

Pantaleón Julian Valdés was a Cuban medical doctor, an activist of civil and political rights for black and mulatos in Cuba and a prominent voice for the Afro-Cuban intellectual elite. In 1917, Valdés became the first elected president of the “Club Atenas” a major twentieth-century Afro Cuban cultural and social Center. Pantaleón Julian Valdés was a member of the Partido Independiente de Color (PIC) and he was arrested with other Independents in 1910 and 1912. Later when some prominent ex-members of the PIC were reincorporated into the political machinery, he was elected to the Havana Board of Education with the support of the Partido Liberal.

References

  1. 1 2 Fraginals, Manuel Moreno. "Spain in Cuba" The Cuba Reader: History, Culture, Politics. Ed. Chomsky, Carr, and Smorkaloff. Durham: Duke University Press, 2003. 157-162. Print.
  2. 1 2 3 Eastman, Alexander Sotelo (2019). "The Neglected Narratives of Cuba's Partido Independiente de Color: Civil Rights, Popular Politics, and Emancipatory Reading Practices". The Americas. 76 (1): 41–76. doi:10.1017/tam.2018.48. ISSN   0003-1615.
  3. 1 2 "The Independent Party of Color" The Cuba Reader: History, Culture, Politics. Ed. Chomsky, Carr, and Smorkaloff. Durham: Duke University Press, 2003. 163-165. Print.
  4. Aline Helg, Our Rightful Share: The Afro-Cuban Struggle for Equality, 1886-1912, (University of North Carolina Press, 1995)
  5. 1 2 Clark, George B. (2010). Battle History of the United States Marine Corps, 1775–1945. McFarland. ISBN   9780786456215.
  6. Musicant, I (1990). The Banana Wars. New York: MacMillan Publishing Co. pp. 70–71
  7. Aline Helg, "Black Men, Racial Stereotyping, and Violence in the U.S. South and Cuba at the Turn of the Century." Comparative Studies in Society and History. (University of North Carolina Press, 2000) 576 - 604.
  8. Ivonnet, Pedro (11 September 1910). Copia de la carta del general P. Ivonnet al general y presidente de la asamblea municipal de Santiago de Cuba. Archivos Nacionales de Cuba: Reivindicacion.