Those Black People / Luis Felipe Rojas

Logo reads:
Logo reads: “In Cuba, being black is a problem. But being a black dissidents is a tragedy. Freedom for all Now!”

Who threw the chalk? The black guy! You have the nose of a negro. But, honey, you’re not that black. Why don’t you smooth down those “curls” so you won’t look so black? Hey, mulatto, you really made those kids of yours ahead of time. Big-lipped negro. We black people are only good as musicians or boxers. Do you remember that Santisteban was the only white boxer of the national team for a long time?

Hey, lower your voice, this sounds like a house full of niggers. Man, today I’ve worked more than a slave (black, of course). Come here, what’s your name? The police approach me and says: “Look, nigger, if it weren’t for the Revolution you’d still be cutting sugar cane in San German”.

And in that neighborhood there are a lot of black people. Oh, they’re black, but they are good people. These, and thousands of other comments also cast a shadow over being Cuban. We are patriots, we fight in “a quarter of land”, but we stay quiet before such grotesque and racist expressions such as these, and more… sometimes we repeat them as if nothing happened inside. We should think about this sometime.

And, about that…who threw the chalk? That black guy.

Translated by Raul G.

2 December 2012