Our Rightful Share: The Afro-Cuban Struggle for Equality, 1886-1912

by Aline Helg

In Our Rightful Share , Aline Helg examines the issue of race in Cuban society, politics, and ideology during the island's transition from a Spanish colony to an independent state. She challenges Cuba's well-established myth of racial equality and shows that racism is deeply rooted in Cuban creole society. Helg argues that despite Cuba's abolition of slavery in 1886 and its winning of independence in 1902, Afro-Cubans remained marginalized in all aspects of society. After the wars for independence, in which they fought en masse, Afro-Cubans demanded change politically by forming the first national black party in the Western Hemisphere. This challenge met with strong opposition from the white Cuban elite, culminating in the massacre of thousands of Afro-Cubans in 1912. The event effectively ended Afro-Cubans' political organization along racial lines, and Helg stresses that although some cultural elements of African origin were integrated into official Cuban culture, true racial equality has remained elusive.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

375 pages, Paperback

First published February 20, 1995

Reviews

[Sasha (bahareads) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Aline Helg’s Our Rightful Share: The Afro Cuban Struggle for Equality, 1886-1916 seeks to show readers the history of Afro-Cubans that is often overlooked in modern times. Helg wants to show the unique experiences of Afro-Cubans’ fight for equality, and how all the different events during the purposed time period culminated into the massacre of 1912. Ending with the massacre of 1912, Helg shows why Afro-Cubans’ behaviours after 1912 developed the way they did, and why Afro-Cubans are still struggling for freedom in modern-day Cuba (Helg 248).

Aline Helg splits Our Rightful Share into seven chapters which divide the period into different sections of Afro-Cuban movements. One of the book’s highlights is seeing how Afro-Cubans fought for Cuban independence. Fighting for Cuba gave Afro-Cubans pride in themselves and in their African origin (Helg 63). Another thread throughout the entire book are the fear that pervaded white Cuban society when it came to Afro-Cubans. Any attempt at equality by Afro-Cubans led to the immense fear of Cuba becoming another Haiti. Helg shows how this fear reoccurs again and again in Cuban history until it culminates in the frenzy of the 1912 massacre.

Another big thread is how Afro-Cubans continually push back on white Cubans’ narrative of Afro-Cubans, fighting for their equality until 1912. After 1912, Helg shows there appears to be a split in the Afro-Cuban community. As some Afro-Cubans attempt to reach for whiteness in elite society and feed into the myth of Cuban racial equality (Helg 245). The lower-class Afro-Cubans were left to combat the myth of racial equality by themselves, as they began to be culturally recognized in the 1930s (Helg 247).

Aline Helg uses a range of sources for her research. There are government documents from Cuba, Spain, and the United States. Newspapers and Periodicals from throughout Cuba, London, and New York are used. Secondary sources such as books are used as well. There seem to be diversity among her sources and source bases. The quality of sources is reflected in the work, as Helg creates a detailed narrative that shows high-quality research went into Our Rightful Share. The carefully crafted narrative takes the reader from the beginnings of Cuban independence to the massacre of 1912.

Aline Helg does a great job with Our Rightful Share. She puts Afro-Cubans out there in Cuban historiography where there appears to be a little direct study on them. As Helg, herself, says throughout the book the myth of Cuban racial equality pervades Cuban society. I recall in class someone saying Castro declared Cuba had eliminated racism in the 1960s or 1980s. How would this historical narrative disrupt such proclamations, especially since Helg claims Afro-Cubans are still struggling for equality today.

While Helg does a fantastic job with describing foreign intervention in Cuban during her discussed period. I was curious at how American racism might have played a part in foreign interventions. Helg says U.S. officials had a general bias against Afro-Cubans, which can only be explained by racism, and how US intervention would be more “intransigent in the face of an armed black protest” (Helg 191). Yet in later chapters, all the US is mentioned doing is planting two warships in Havana harbour. I would have liked to see some more political insights into the various actions, or lack thereof, by the foreign powers in Cuba.

I’m sure Helg was limited in the sources she was able to access in Cuba since it goes against the national narrative still being portrayed in modern times. I wonder how Cuban historiography would change and grow if open access was given to all archives. However, I found Our Rightful Share to be a well-written, well-researched read that adds to the historiography of Cuba.

[Brandon Mclaughlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Man, a very dense but a very informal book, with lots of history about Cuba and the Afro-Cuban people.

[Dave · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the introduction, Helg sets up her book as an in-depth look into the 1912 revolution/massacre of Afro-Cubans. In reality, Helg spends about 80% of the book talking about the events leading up to 1912. Not that that 80% isn't interesting, but the actual discussion of 1912 felt rushed and less critically written than the first 200 pages.