Racism on the Miami Airways

John Cabrera
January 23, 2009
Minstrelsy in Miami: Jim Crow “Jumpin”
on the South Florida Airways.
On the night of November 4, 2008, most Americans and much of the world watched as Sen. Barack Obama was elected the 44th president of our nation. That night, I as well as many other Americans and citizens of other nations, was filled with an invigorating sense of hope. Hope that one man could keep our country from falling into the abyss; hope that our fractured nation could be pieced back together after nearly a decade of neoconservative assault on it’s foundation; hope that the constitution would once again become inviolable; hope that nearly a decade of vicious partisan bickering, could be put aside so that the long and arduous task of putting the nation back on the right track could commence; and most of all, hope that the monumental election of the nation’s first African American president, would mean that we had reached a significant turning point in race relations in the U.S. (wishful thinking, it was more accurately milestone.)

Although I am a skeptic by nature of my academic training, and I already see the faults in Obama‘s armor e.g., the recent appointment of his chief of staff and his probable continuation of the many policies that have gotten us to this point, I too fully gave in to the excitement of that evening with reckless abandonment. When the president-elect took the podium that night in Chicago, I must admit to feeling immense hope, although I knew that a sobering dose of reality would be soon-to-come. It was kind of like eating large quantities of chocolate: the rush of endorphins is intensely pleasing, but you know that it isn’t sustainable and reality will return soon enough.

And sure enough, reality did return, although it had nothing to do with any disillusionment with Barack Obama. No, it was much to soon for buyer’s remorse. A few days before the election, a friend of mine in Miami had informed me about the “appearance” of Barak Obama’s grandmother on late night Miami television. As I am Cuban-American and lived in Miami most of my life, I pretty much knew what to expect. And so, it was no shock that when I went looking for the said television show on You Tube a few days later, I found something that would leave the average American in utter disbelief and I would hope, absolutely disgusted. Barak Obama’s grandmother did appear on late night Miami television, albeit in the form of a parody in which a white Cuban-American actress dressed-up in blackface to portray her. Yes, the much abhorred American tradition of the Minstrel Show, was alive and well in Miami, FL. For those readers not familiar with blackface, it was a racist practice that was used heavily in the United States to disparage African-Americans.

Background of Blackface
Blackface is not in-and-of-itself a strictly American invention. It’s origins are disputed, and examples can be cited from as far back as 15th century Europe. But what is clear is that it did become ubiquitous in American culture with the advent of the Minstrel Show/ Minstrelsy performance tradition that emerged around the time of the Civil War, (it reached it‘s peak in the 1830s/40s.) It was in fact a white actor by the name of Thomas D. Rice who made blackface the force that it later became in American theater with his song and dance act named “Jump Jim Crow.” The character of “Jim Crow” would later become the name base of the oppressive, racist, state and local laws enacted by Southern governments in the U.S. from 1876 to 1965. The laws were overruled by the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Jim Crow established a de jure segregation between whites and blacks along with other non-white racial groups.

Blackface and Minstrelsy became vehicles for the dissemination of racist stereotypes about African-Americans to the general public. Traditionally, white performers- although black performers were involved to lesser extents- used burnt cork, shoe polish and grease to smear on their faces and portray blacks in a racist manner. The Minstrelsy performances and blackface were used to exhibit certain racial stereotypes and caricatures of exaggerated biological features of African-Americans. Minstrelsy centered around music and dancing and above all, the portrayal of blacks as inheriting certain character traits e.g., they were lazy, foolish, musical, ignorant, overly cheerful, superstitious and so on… Archetypal characters included the likes of, “Mammy,” “Old Darky,” the sexually promiscuous mulatto wench, and the “dandy”(a black man who tried to adopt the clothing and manner of the white gentlemen, with disastrous results.)

Eventually, the Minstrel Show/ Blackface Minstrelsy made it’s slow exit from American culture, being supplanted by other more popular forms of entertainment, although the use of blackface survived to lesser extents in amateur performances until the 1960s when the Civil Rights movement finally banished it from open display. Today, blackface is still seen, but instead of being used to convey racist views, it is used as a form of social satire or protest, with many black artist using the social icons to these ends.

With the advent of the Civil Rights Movement, shifting views on racism and subsequent political correctness have become a part of our society, and most Americans would be abhorred if suddenly one of those ghastly demons of our past, manifested itself on our T.V. screens, being used in racist manner that is.

But unfortunately, for a certain segment within our country, this is quite normal. Although deep-ceded racism is alive and well in this country, and the sight of blackface minstrel- outside of a Ku Klux Klan/white supremacist rally- on our local television station nonetheless, is completely unfathomable to the average American, yet it does exist.

This morally repugnant behavior is displayed on Hispanic based television in Miami with regular frequency. The show that aired this skit of Barak Obama’s grandmother in blackface is called “Esta Noche Tu Night,” hosted by Alexis Valdez, a Cuban comedian who is himself biracial. It airs on the station Mega T.V., owned by Spanish Broadcasting System Inc. This show is not the only culprit: I have in the past on other shows seen blackface portrayals. A parody of former and current Miami Heat basketball stars Shaquille O’Neal and Dwayne Wade in blackface comes to mind; and blackface portrayals of Afro-Cubans are also commonplace. Derogatory depictions of Afro-Cubans include exaggerated speech patterns and dance, meant to mimic their mostly Yoruba African culture and ridicule of Afro-Cuban religious practices as being superstitious and ignorant.

Having spent most of my life in the Miami area, I can tell you that this is quite normal, and unfortunately it’s tolerated and even celebrated do to the fact that racism is a deeply engrained part of Cuban culture. Racism is such an integral part of the Cuban psyche, that it is pathologically denied, to the point that people create a false reality for themselves. Racism is brushed-off as being part of the culture, or most say that Cuban culture doesn’t conform to the “stifling” political correctness of American society; or best of all, that Afro-Cubans don’t complain about these things like Afro-Americans do, so it’s acceptable.

Afro-Cubans understand that this is all good-natured fun. Afro-Cubans take it in stride- the majority do not- so should the rest of us… “so lighten up!” These are some of the foolish excuses I’ve heard Cuban-Americans give all my life, in order to sweep racism under the rug. The outrage that has been boiling within me over the years about racism within the Cuban-American community in Miami, finally reached it’s culmination. I decided to act by trying to expose this abominable act and so I wrote several letters appealing for help to political organizations, the media, and several academics. I have yet to receive responses from anyone, save two university professors.

The fact that these shows are in Spanish and that they air late at night, keep them hidden away from most of the non-Hispanic population in Miami and needless to say the rest of the country. And due to this fact, some members of the Cuban American community think this gives them an impunity and right to do as they please e.g., disseminate racism or use profanity which can also be frequently heard on some of these shows. This also begs the question: does anyone at the FCC ever watch these programs?

The fact that the majority of the Cuban community in Miami believe that it lives in a semi-autonomous enclave, detached from the rest of the country and within which, they can behave and act without regard to the rest of the nation is troubling. The community’s disproportionate power and influence vis-à-vis it’s size has given it a very swollen head. The hubris that is reflected in the fact that a population of 1mill people controls the travel rights of more than 240million American citizens i.e., travel restrictions to the island of Cuba, is just one example in a string of many.

For those of us who thought that “Jump Jim Crow” had been dealt his death blow decades ago, think again. Apparently all one need do is take a ride over the Miami airways and there, one will find the old Minstrel Show and caricatures of African-Americans with enlarged lips and noses, being proudly displayed. Being an insider, I understand that racism will always be a deeply intrinsic part of Cuban culture, although for some of the younger generation, being born/raised in the US, has exposed us to a multicultural society and therefore afforded us different views on race. And though I know that probably nothing can be done for the majority, they must be made to understand that this behavior is absolutely seen as unacceptable, and immoral to other Americans and deeply hurtful and insulting to African-Americans. And it is for this reason, that I have written this article. Whatever your private views, these public displays have no place in the US nor anywhere else for that matter.

This is not behavior typical of an immigrant group who has claimed to owe a great debt of gratitude to a nation that took-them-in during their time of greatest need. This is not behavior of a group that sees themselves as part of, and indeed citizens of, that very nation that took them in in at their most “desperate” hour and gave them rights that practically no other group of immigrants to this country has enjoyed. This is the behavior of a people who see themselves as aloof, apart,… separate from that very nation that they proudly claim to be a part of. Those who condone this behavior must be made to see and understand that this is an immoral part of their country’s past, and that revisiting that past, shows a fundamental disrespect to the nation’s citizens and indifference to the mores of their fellow Americans. Jump Jim Crow must be left where he was buried, not resurrected by individuals who claim to be inclusive, yet by their very actions, demonstrate that they are anything but.

And to those of us within the community who know that these things are morally wrong and sit idly by and do nothing, it may serve you well to remember a quote by the Irish political philosopher Edmund Burke: “ All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” Do what is right: Do not accept the unacceptable.