Ignorance
There are many reasons why Cuba has spent the last half-century under the yoke of tyranny. But of the many, there is one insidious reason that has contributed more than its fair share to the continued enslavement of the Cuban people: Ignorance.
You see this ignorance in the news stories that describe the Cuban dictatorship's indoctrination of children as monumental achievements in education. Ignorance rears its ugly head whenever they tout Cuba's modern and advanced medical facilities--which are reserved exclusively for the use of the dictatorship's elite and medical tourists--as a health care system that should be the envy of the world. And worst of all, you see a complete ignorance of Cuba and its history in commentaries and editorials that attempt to explain the Cuban diaspora.
I came across this asininely ignorant editorial regarding travel to Cuba this morning. It was written by someone named Branson Hunter who apparently has no issues showing the world how obtuse he truly is.
Isn’t it time? Of course it is. We travel and trade with Communist China and Vietnam. Why not Cuba? Because a handful of crusty old guard Cuban-American tell us not to. The Cuban people love America; they love the American people; and they mostly love our baseball clubs. They are thirsty for Americans to travel there. They have fine French-build [sic] hotels. And if you fly out of Mexico City Int’l Airport on Cubana Air, they are new French Air Busses. Oh, and if you get sick there, as a tourist, no problem, they provide medical care to travelers. We need the trade exchange more than ever these days. But these old an anachronistic old Cuban-American fools still reminisce over the former corrupt authoritarian dictator Batista — their privileged standing — who shamefully subjugated the Cuban people, kept them in abject poverty and danced with the U.S. mafia crowd. Okay, they still live in poverty, but so do over a billion othe[r] human beings. It’s way past time. Don’t you think? Interestingly, when Cortez invaded what is now Mexico and put out the flames on the Aztez Empire, Havana was a then seaport.
Confronted with such ignorance, one is tempted to respond. In fact, in the comments section someone who is not ignorant of Cuba and its history has responded to this inane drivel. But in reality, how do you respond to an individual who wears his ignorance as a badge of honor?
Thus ignorance is yet another cross Cubans must carry, along with the cross of slavery and oppression. These crosses are stained with the blood of the tens of thousands who have been murdered by the regime. But such a tragedy is beyond the scope of comprehension by ignorant fools such as Branson Hunter.
You are very, very right but also very wrong. One of the most annoying thing for me is traveling around the country (or the world for that matter) and once the topic of my background is broched to disabuse my interlocuter of any illusions he or she may have of Cuba. It annoys me because it feels like it never stops, it never ends and no one will ever learn BUT, ignorance did not stop communism from falling in all but three countries in the world. Ultimately any and all blame should rest with those either who are still living under the regime or let it happen. To a varying degree we as Cubans (and Cuban-Americans) cover reasons 1-100 for what happened and what continues to happen. Not saying others didn't help and that others have fought the regime tooth and nail but ultimately the silent majority has put up with it. So yes, people outside are ignorant but if enough of us don't fight why should anyone else care?
Cardinal:
First of all, I didn't say ignorance was the main reason for fifty years of oppression. I said it was one of many reasons that happens to contribute greatly. Nevertheless, ignorance is evident in people such as this Branson Hunter, who has no idea what the hell he is talking about, and it is also evident in people that are aware of the atrocities that occur in Cuba, but choose to justify them or look past them. Either one is basically guilty of the same. They are either ignorant of reality, or they are ignorant of the suffering of the Cuban people.
Branson Hunter is doing nothing more than repeating a verbatim regime account on the Cuba debate. I'm sure that he didn't get that from the regime itself, but rather from the American mainstream media that shills for the tyranny. For instance, the New York Times has in the past repeated word-for-word accounts from Gramma as I've verified myself when I've read a NYT's account and then looked at Gramma to see their coverage of the same news.
But aside from repeating castroite propaganda in the mainstream media, I've always held that the Branson Hunter's of the world are closet racists.
To them, its perfectly alright for Cubans [who are seen as 3rd "people-of-color"] to live without human rights as long as we have "free healthcare and education" because we're like cattle on a farm. We don't have the brains [like an American or Brit] to do it on our own, nor do we have their same ambitions or aspirations, and at least we have our basic necessities taken care of by castro. In their book as long as we get these basic needs taken care of, and can party the night away, we'll be happy.
To them, its impossible to fathom that Cuba was ever more than a Guatemala or a Honduras. It's impossible to think that Cubans in pre-Castro Cuba lived in many cases better than Americans did. Take my family for example: we were solidly working class people [no maids, no Havana Yacht Club, no mansion on Vedado, or a second house by the beach], but we had all of the comforts [and I would argue a better quality of life] than many similar American families in the USA would have had at the time. Like Americans, we had a refrigerator, blender, TV, radio, nice furniture, several pairs of shoes, stylish clothing for the time, etc... but we also lived in a country without harsh winters, near the beach, with swaying palm trees, outdoor cafes, and the splender of one of the most beautiful cities in the world [the Paris of the Americas] just a few miles away [we lived in the suburb of Marianao and were a bus ride away from Havana]. Contrary to what the Branson Hunter's of the world believe, we didn't live a on subsistence level, walking about barefoot and shirtless. When my stylish beautiful mother came as an exile to Miami in 1961, everyone stared at her. Even though she was a working class woman who had been born on a farm, she possessed that effortless elegance and class that Cuban women inherited from their iberians ancestors. Combined with her beauty, she looked more like a high class society woman than a refugee.
Which brings me to the way that they see Cuban exiles. Their attitude towards us is the flip side of the way that they see Cubans inside Cuba. They have so much rage against us [Oliphant cartoon is the epitome of this] because we are supposed to be docile and subservient. We are supposed to say, "Yeeeees, señor, wha can I do for yuuu," we are not supposed to have lobbies, and we are not supposed to petition congress for things that we hold near and dear to us even though the US constitution provides us with that right. You see, to them we are not real Americans.
I really believe racism is at the core of the Branson Hunter's of the world.
I'm guessing he's 17 and just figured out where Cuba is on a map.
Rayarena you're absolutely right.
My opinion is that the main culprit is the MSM fifty years love fest with the Fidel Castro and his "Robolution", and the lefty ideology.
Rest assured that if the MSM would have displayed the real Fidel Castro and his regime to the world maybe his tyranny would have been history by now.
There is no doubt in my mind after nearly forty years living in America that many regular Americans think that the MSM still tells them the truth.
Because of the MSM actions and conspiracy to change the fiber of America the nation finds itself in the situation that it is today with a Marxist President in charge and in the road to socialism and its own destruction.
If the people don't wake up quick and realize how much and for how long they have been duped by the MSM, the game is over for our country in the next few years.
I sincerely hope that I'm wrong in my assessment of the current situation because if I'm right it will be "hasta la vista baby America", at least the America we once new.
There are multiple reasons why the media has always been a big part of our problem, and one of them is clearly our fault. To paraprase Obama, it's our Audacity of Success, on our own, independently, and therefore not beholden to paternalistic and supposedly superior "benefactors." I fully expect that's one of the reasons why the Miami Herald, for instance, has always had "issues" with the Cuban-American community. We don't play the game by the rules others want us to follow, we don't shut up, and we don't "get over it." And yes, they hate our guts for it. Too bad.