Cuban Americans in the United States
Cuban Americans constitute one of the significant Latinos in the United States, and many have integrated with Americans. In 1910, after Cuba got its independence, there were about 15,000 Cubans in the US, but after overthrowing of the government by Fidel Castro in 1959, more citizens flooded into the USA (Buffington, 2018). During the Castro revolution, the US placed a trade embargo against Cuba and later restricted immigration to Cuba. In the 1960s, many of the Cubans arriving in America were immigrants and in 1966, they were allowed to become lawful permanent residents (Buffington, 2018). Consequently, Cubans living in the United States could not return to their land thus established their communities in cities such as Miami. The group adopted American popular culture with musicians engaging in jazz and salsa thus gaining popularity in the music and entertainment industries. They also contributed to the spread of Latin sounds and ideas into the American mainstream culture. Cuban politicians also joined American politics while businesspersons established new clients gaining the right to vote during elections.
The Challenges Faced by Cuban Immigrants
The Cubans that migrated to the US were mainly the wealthy elites who were escaping from Castro's regime as well as the capitalists who ran away during the revolution (Grenier, 2017). Consequently, they became refugees, which facilitated their ability to gain citizenship faster than other groups that travelled to America for economic gains. This group faced a challenge since the people were not allowed to go back to Cuba due to the embargo that had been placed. They lost contact with their families hence had to start a new relation in the American soil. Although they faced discrimination, it was to a lesser extent compared to other groups such as Mexicans. The policy "wet foot, dry foot" was adopted in 1995 in which Cuban illegal immigrants at sea were deported while those that set foot on American soil were absorbed (Grenier, 2017). The move was a challenge since they could not migrate to the US freely as before. Currently, Cubans that migrate to the United States can do so if they have visas and not freely as before. Today, the embargo has been lifted and Cubans can go back to their families or send remittances to their nation. Since many of them were highly educated and could speak English fluently, they managed to set up functional communities. In 2014 President Obama and Cuban president, Raul Castro negotiated and normalized relations, and the dry foot aspect ended (Grenier, 2017). Today the two countries engage in trade for some commodities such as food.
The Cuban-American Community in the United States
The highest population of the Cubans is in Florida here 78 percent live according to 2011-2015 reports (Buffington, 2018). The other states include the New Jersey and California at 4 and 3 percent respectively. The community is well assimilated in the US and has more significant political influence compared to other minorities. The Cuban-American community enjoys greater economic security compared to other Hispanics since they are highly educated. In addition, their families resemble those of US households with an average of 3 members (Buffington, 2018). Cubans eat both their indigenous as well as US cuisines, although their traditional foods are preserved for special occasions. Cubans are healthier than other Hispanic Americans but less healthy compared to the white Americans. Although the national language for Cubans is Spanish, many of them speak English very well. A mixture of Spanish and English known as Spanglish is common to this population.
Contributions of Cubans in Various Fields
Cubans have contributed a lot to the US in the field of academia such as Lydia Cabera who was one of the most prominent scholars and writers. She was an expert in Afro-Cuban folklore and helped in editing many literature materials in addition to being a fiction writer (Buffington, 2018). In the field of medicine, Dr Pedro Greer Jr. is known for his contribution to medical care for the homeless and is the founder of Camillus Health Concern in Miami. In business, Roberto Goizueta is a big contributor since he is the chief executive of Coca-Cola while Jorge Mas was the chairperson of Cuban American National Foundation. In the film, television, and theater Desi Amaz was a great actor and musician renowned TV series such as "I Love Lucy" while Fernando Bujones was a ballet dancer (Buffington, 2018). Others included singer and film actress Maria Conchita Alonso, and television and film actor Andy Garcia among others. Cubans also contribute to literature such as the experimental writer Reinaldo Arenas who had been earlier imprisoned by Castro for homosexuality. In sport Tony Oliva was a baseball player for Minnesota from 1962-196 while Tony Perez played for Reds from 1964-1986.
References
Buffington (2018). Cuban Americans. Countries and their Cultures. http://www.everyculture.com/multi/Bu-Dr/Cuban-Americans.html
Grenier, G. J. (2017). Engage or Isolate? Twenty years of Cuban Americans’ Changing Attitudes towards Cuba—Evidence from the FIU Cuba Poll. IdeAs. Idées d'Amériques, (10).
