Subjects Or Citizens: British Caribbean Workers In Cuba, 1900-1960 Project Muse Upcc Books

“Whitney and Chailloux Laffita merit high praise for their trenchant research and analysis of the changing political, diplomatic, and colonial finance dynamics within and beyond contexts of British and Spanish Antillean divides. They have turned a twentieth-century narrative that was understood only partially into a well-structured whole. An outstanding historical exercise in the crossing of thresholds.”—Joseph C. Dorsey, author of Slave Traffic in the Age of Abolition “Strives to debunk one of the long-standing myths of Cuban history—that Cuban nationalism is exceptional within the Caribbean. The authors posit that there was no contradiction between being Cuban and being Caribbean; West Indian immigrants outwardly became Cuban while still retaining cultural links and emotional attachments to their respective homelands.”—David Stark, Grand Valley State University During the first half of the twentieth century, Cuba was the center of circum-Caribbean diasporas due to the arrival of over 200,000 immigrants, mainly from Jamaica and Haiti. As many of them went to work on sugar plantations, this migration of British Caribbean peoples was a critical part of the economic and historical development of the island. Using never-before-consulted oral histories and correspondence, Robert Whitney and Graciela Chailloux Laffita examine this British Caribbean diaspora and chronicle how the immigrants came to Cuba, the living and working conditions they experienced there, and how they both contributed to and remained separate from Cuban culture, forging a unique identity that was not just proudly Cuban but also proudly Caribbean. Cuba Is Widely Recognized As A Major Hub Of The Transatlantic Hispanic And African Diasporas Throughout The Colonial Period. Less Well Known Is That During The First Half Of The Twentieth Century It Was Also The Center Of Circum-caribbean Diasporas With Over 200,000 Immigrants Arriving Mainly From Jamaica And Haiti. The Migration Of British West Indians Was A Critical Part Of The Economic And Historical Development Of The Island During The Twentieth Century As Many Of Them Went To Work On Sugar Plantations. Who Are The Cuban People? -- It Would Be Better For Us To Have Been In Slavery: The British Caribbean Diaspora, Empire, And Labor In Cuba And The Dominican Republic, 1920-1950 -- Are We British Subjects Of His Britannic Majesty Or Objexts?: British Subjects And The Right To Have Rights, 1920-1950 -- Cuba For Cubans: The Making Of A Cuban Working Class, 1937-1950 -- From My House To My Lodge And Then To My Church: British Caribbean Communities And Organizations In Cuba -- Conclusion. Robert Whitney And Graciela Chailloux Laffita. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 207-226) And Index. Cuba is widely recognized as a major hub of the transatlantic Hispanic and African diasporas throughout the colonial period. Less well known is that during the first half of the twentieth century it was also the center of circum-Caribbean diasporas with over 200,000 immigrants arriving mainly from Jamaica and Haiti. The migration of British West Indians was a critical part of the economic and historical development of the island during the twentieth century as many of them went to work on sugar plantations. Using never-before-consulted oral histories and correspondence, Robert Whitney and Graciela Chailloux Laffita examine this British Caribbean diaspora and chronicle how the immigrants came to Cuba, the living and working conditions they experienced, and how they both contributed to and remained separate from Cuban culture, forging a unique identity that was not just proudly Cuban but also proudly Caribbean. Contents List of Illustrations Acknowledgments Introduction 1. Who Are the Cuban People? 2. “It Would Be Better for Us to Have Been in Slavery”: The British Caribbean Diaspora, Empire, and Labor in Cuba and the Dominican Republic, 1920–1950 3. “Are We British Subjects of His Britannic Majesty or Objects?”: British Subjects and the “Right to Have Rights,” 1920–1950 4. Cuba for Cubans: The Making of a Cuban Working Class, 1937–1950 5. “From My House to My Lodge and Then to My Church”: British Caribbean Communities and Organizations in Cuba Conclusion Notes Bibliography Index