Cuban American
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A Cuban-American is a United States citizen whose ancestry can be traced to Cuba. Many communities throughout the United States have significant Cuban-American populations. However, Miami, Florida stands out as the most prominent Cuban-American community, in part because of its proximity to Cuba. Other cities with a large Cuban presence include Tampa, Florida and Union City, New Jersey.
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[edit] Immigration
Cuban immigration to the U.S. has a long history, beginning in the Spanish colonial period in 1565 when St. Augustine, Florida was established by Pedro Menendez de Aviles. Hundreds of Spanish/Cuban soldiers and their families moved from Cuba to St. Augustine to establish a new life. Along with St. Augustine, many early Cubans migrated to New York City, Key West, Miami and Tampa, Florida.
In the late 1800s, a Cuban entrepreneur named Vicente Martinez-Ybor started a cigar making business in Tampa. Soon, other Cuban businessmen followed Ybor's example. Within several years, Tampa had a thriving cigar making industry. Numerous Cuban families lived and worked in the area known as Ybor City near Tampa, and there are many third and fourth generation Cuban Americans who trace their Cuban heritage directly to this early immigration.
[edit] 1960 - 1980
Political upheaval in Cuba created new waves of Cuban immigrants to the U.S. In 1959, after the Cuban revolution led by Fidel Castro, a large Cuban exodus began. From 1960 to 1979, hundreds of thousands of Cubans left Cuba and began a new life in America, often forming the backbone of the anti-Castro movement. Most Cuban Americans that arrived in the United States came from Cuba's educated, upper and middle classes. Like many immigrants, the Cuban-Americans often had little money, which was further exacerbated by Cuban government measures taken to prevent removal of wealth from Cuba.
In order to provide aid to recently arrived Cuban immigrants, the United States Congress passed the Cuban American Adjustment Act in 1966. The Cuban Refugee Program provided more than $1.2 billion of direct financial assistance. They also were eligible for public assistance, Medicare, free English courses, scholarships, and low interest college loans. Some banks even pioneered loans for exiles who did not have collateral or credit but received help in getting a business loan simply because they were of Cuban descent. These loans enabled many Cuban-Americans to secure funds and create their own businesses.
Miami, Florida and Union City, New Jersey became the main centers for Cuban-American culture. Because of its low cost of living and similar climate, geography, and architecture, many Cuban-Americans settled in Miami, Florida. With its Cuban-owned businesses, Miami and Union City were the preferred destination for many immigrants. Hialeah, Florida within the county of Miami-Dade, stands as the city most populated by Cubans and Cuban-Americans in the United States. Union City was attractive for the opportunities offered by the embroidery industry.
[edit] 1980s
Another large wave (an estimated 120,000 people) of Cuban immigration occurred in the early 1980s with the Mariel boatlifts. Many Cuban-Americans already living in the United States had a negative opinion of the "Marielitos" (the name given to refugees who entered the country during the Mariel boatlift), because they believed the Marielitos caused damage to the Cuban-American community's reputation. This belief was rooted in concerns regarding Fidel Castro opening the jails in order to allow convicted felons and committed mental patients to intermingle with the crowds of otherwise innocent emigrants. However, many of the "Marielitos" became prosperous, through their own efforts, with government assistance and assistance from earlier immigrants, relatives and charitable organizations.
[edit] Cuban-American culture
The culture of Cuban-Americans varies from community, and from person to person. However, there are distinct features that characterize most Cuban-Americans.
Cuban Americans represent a total of only 4% of the Hispanic population in the United States. Compared with the rest of the Hispanic population in the United States, Cubans are older, have a higher level of education, higher median household income and higher rate of home ownership.
There are approximately 1.5 million Cuban Americans, both native and foreign born. About 86% of Cuban Americans identify themselves as being Caucasian.
[edit] Economics
The median household income for Cubans is $36,671 , a figure higher than other Hispanic groups, but lower than for non-Hispanic whites.
In contrast, native-born Cuban Americans have a higher median income than even non-Hispanic Whites, $50,000 as compared to $48,000 for non-Hispanic Whites.
[edit] Education
25% of Cubans have a college education, about twice the average of all other Hispanic Groups, and lower than that of non-Hispanic whites, of which 30% are college graduates.
However, 39% of native-born Cuban Americans have a college degree or higher, as compared to only 30% of non-Hispanic Whites, and 12% for all other Hispanic groups.
[edit] Religion
Due to Spanish influence, most Cubans belong to the Roman Catholic church. However, there are many Protestant (primarily Pentecostal), spiritualist (involved in Santeria), nonreligious, and Jewish Cubans.
[edit] Food
Cuban food is varied, though rice is a staple and commonly served at lunch and dinner. Other common dishes are arroz con pollo (chicken and rice), pan con bistec (steak sandwich), platanos maduros (sweet plantains), lechon asado (pork), yuca (Cassava root), flan, batido de mamey (mamey milkshake), papayas, and guava paste. A common soft drink is Materva, a Cuban soda made of yerba mate.
[edit] Assimilation
Many Cubans have assimilated themselves into the mainstream U.S. culture, but in the city of Miami and its surroundings, there is a uniquely molded Cuban community. Since the 1980s, Cubans have moved out of "Little Havana" to the suburbs of Miami, such as Hialeah and Kendall as well as the more affluent Coral Gables and Miami Lakes. Many new South and Central Americans, along with new Cuban refugees, have replaced the Cuban-Americans who have dispersed throughout the nation.
Cuban Americans have been very successful in establishing businesses and developing political clout by transforming Miami from a beach retirement community into a modern city with a distinct Hispanic flavor.
[edit] Political Representation
Cuban-Americans, especially in the Miami area, tend to be more conservative politically than other Latino groups in the United States. There are several reasons for this. One is that many of the Cubans who left after Castro took over power were among the most traditional, in terms of culture and religion, of those on the island. On many issues such as abortion, taxation, and the military, Cubans find themselves on common ground with the Republicans. The perceived botching of the Bay of Pigs incident among Cubans by John F. Kennedy, the popularity of Ronald Reagan, and the return of Elian Gonzalez by the Clinton administration has reinforced the belief of many Cuban Americans that they belong in the Republican party.
There are now four Cuban American members of the United States House of Representatives and two Senators (Mel Martinez of Florida, and Robert Menendez of New Jersey) in the United States Senate, as well as the Cuban-American Secretary of Commerce, Carlos M. Gutierrez.
Cubans are overrepresented in Congress, as they account for 2% of the Senate, and 0.92% of the members of the House of Representatives. Cuban Americans consist of only 0.5% of the general population of the United States.
[edit] Immigration policy
Before the 1980s, all refugees from Cuba were welcomed into the United States as political refugees. This changed in the 1990s so that only Cubans who reach U.S. soil are granted refuge under the Wet Feet/Dry Feet Policy. Cuban immigration also continues with an allotted number of Cubans (20,000 per year) provided legal U.S. visas.
According to a U.S. Census 1970 report, Cuban Americans as well as Latinos lived in all 50 states. But as later Census reports demonstrated, the majority of Cuban immigrants settled in south Florida. A new trend in the late 1990s showed that less immigrants arrived from Cuba than previously. While U.S. born Cubans moved out of their enclaves, other nationalities settled there.
In late 1999, U.S. news media focused on the case of Elián González, the 6-year-old Cuban boy caught in a custody battle between his relatives in Miami and his father in Cuba. The fiasco ended on April 22, 2000, when INS agents took Elián González to the Cuban Interests Section in Washington, D.C. From there, his father took him back to Cuba.
[edit] See also
- Cuban exile
- U.S. embargo against Cuba
- Cuba-United States relations
- Cuban American actors (category)
- Cuban sportspeople (category)
- List of Cuban-Americans
