City on the Edge: The Transformation of Miami

by Alejandro Portes, Alex Stepick

"The authors reveal how the Cuban success story has transformed the character of Miami while delineating more sharply the identity of other ethnic communities." --"New York Times Book Review"
"Makes a case for the importance of political capital . . . in building ethnic solidarity."--"Contemporary Sociology"

Genres: Nonfiction, American History

300 pages, Perfect Paperback

First published August 3, 1993

Reviews

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Portes and Stepick argue that ethnicity has been central to the formation of Miami up until the early 1990s, when the book was published. Before 1959, Miami was a destination town for vacationers and otherwise, a standard southern town divided between ruling Anglo classes and legally segregated African-American population. The arrival of Cubans, who were mainly middle class, at first pushed Black Americans out of jobs, but quickly challenged Anglo dominance. While Anglos fought them at first, Portes and Stepick argue that Cubans and Anglos came to a sort of bi-culturalism rule of Miami, where the black community still was marginalized. Later waves of migrants further challenged the city’s coalitions, as Haitians were thrice penalized for being black, not speaking Spanish or English as a native language, or being citizens, instead living on the outside economy. Further tensions between black and Cuban-Americans came to a head when Nelson Mandela visited Miami, when Cuban-Americans protested him because of his friendship with Fidel Castro, while African-Americans and Haitians supported his anti-apartheid cause. Race riots broke out three times in the 1980s in Miami. Furthermore, Portes and Stepick note that the federal government helped Cuban-Americans set up businesses to the detriment of Anglo and Black Miamians, in the politics of Cold War anti-communism. This contradiction comes up when Cuban-Americans support Nicaraguan refugees, but the federal government does not in the 1980s.

Key Themes and Concepts:
-Miami sees itself as the hub between Latin America and the United States, with Cubans who had originally thought their stay there to be temporary but later accepted it as permanent, as the gatekeepers and power brokers.

-The 1980 Boatlift challenged identification as respectable middle class, as the new arrivals were poor.

-Cubans marginalized native-born blacks, which fueled tensions.

[Aaron · Rating 4 out of 5]

While dated this book is a must read for anyone living in or considering living in Miami. The book traces the evolution of the Cuban community and the overall development of the city of Miami up until the beginning of the 1990's