Table of Contents

OAH Magazine of History
Volume 7, No 4
Summer 1993

Copyright ©
Organization of American Historians

The Afro-Cuban Community in Ybor City and Tampa, 1886-1910

Nancy Raquel Mirabal

When Afro Cubans arrived in Ybor City to work in the cigar factories, local laws and customs defined them as black and assigned them to the same legal category as African Americans, despite the differences in language and heritage (2). At the same time, they maintained an identity with and cultural ties to the larger Cuban community, which was viewed as white (3). Since being both black and Cuban (meaning white) was incompatible with the racial mores of Florida during the Jim Crow era, Afro Cubans created a separate community and a fluid identity which reflected both their cultural heritage and race. The manner in which they negotiated their identity and positioned themselves in Ybor City, especially during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, complicates the history of race and ethnicity in the United States—especially African American history.

Moreover, the difficulty in defining Cubans solely on the basis of race becomes increasingly clear when one considers that during this period, the Anglo population in Tampa often referred to the Cuban community, regardless of race or background, as “Cuban niggers” (4). By using negative racial references to characterize Cubans, some in the Anglo community in Tampa easily dismissed and devalued the Cuban immigrant community in Ybor City. While those outside the Cuban community failed to differentiate Cubans on the basis of race, within the Cuban community race factored in the participation of Afro Cubans in the Cuban nationalist movement and in the creation of cultural clubs.

To better understand the complex relationship between race and ethnicity it is necessary to briefly explore certain “sites” where contestation and negotiation of identities occurred. In Tampa, these included the cigar factories, nationalist movements and the Afro-Cuban club and mutual aid society La Union Marti-Maceo. Afro Cubans who immigrated to Ybor City encountered a community where residents could be heard speaking Spanish, where Spanish newspapers were readily available, and where Cuban immigrants owned grocery stores known as bodegas that sold Cuban and Spanish products. Cubans could be found discussing politics over their cafe con leche in “hole in the wall cafes,” while old Cuban men played dominoes surrounded by the odors of hot Cuban bread and the tang of “bright leaf tobacco mellowing in the dungeons of the cigar factories.” The city that Vicente Martinez Ybor founded in 1886 would later be called the “Havana” of America by the Florida Branch of the Federal Writers Project Archives in 1941 (5).

Because immigrants were not expected to “fit in” or to radically alter their lifestyles to accommodate a standing community, Ybor City differed greatly from other cities located in the South. Not only did the city provide Afro Cubans with the space and independence to form a Black immigrant community, but the cigar factories that employed Afro Cubans offered them the needed economic security and social connections to sustain themselves and their community. Although the number of them who immigrated to Tampa was relatively low, ninety percent of the men and fifteen percent of the women worked in the cigar factories (6). More important, the cigar factories were not racially segregated and Afro Cubans sat next to white Cubans rolling cigars and listening to a lector read a variety of books and newspapers, including radical presses. This practice, also evident and popular in cigar factories in Cuba, kept cigarworkers informed of political developments in both Cuba and the United States. The lectura was taken very seriously by cigarmakers who depended on el lector to disseminate news, translate local English language newspapers and entertain them with novels (7).

The cigarworkers transferred a series of Cuban customs and traditions which gave them a degree of control over the workplace. Individual workers arrived and departed freely, drank el cafecito throughout the day and smoked an unlimited amount of cigars while in the factory. Although the cigar factories were not racially segregated and Afro Cubans received the same wages as white Cubans for comparable work, labor was divided into several departments and stratified on the basis of sex. The majority of women worked as stemmers while the men rolled the cigars. Initially a boy’s occupation, stemming was viewed as a stepping stone to a cigarmaking job. By 1870, however, it was fast becoming a separate occupation and manufacturers usually hired women for this “dirty, dead-end low wage labor” (8).

While Afro Cubans moved freely within Ybor City and worked next to white Cubans in the cigar factories, Florida’s segregation laws sharpened racial realities for Cuban immigrants elsewhere in the area and state. Schools, hospitals, certain businesses and private clubs all subscribed to Florida’s Jim Crow laws (9). Afro Cubans often travelled to the African American section of Tampa to attend school, receive medical attention or go to the only movie theater that was open to blacks. As a result, many Afro Cubans attempted to transcend the seemingly selective applications of racial segregation laws in Ybor City by privileging their ethnicity over their race. Resisting any formal interactions or alliances with African Americans during this period, Afro Cubans viewed themselves as primarily Cuban and participated in clubs and movements that addressed the concerns of Cubans on the island and in the United States (10). While some Afro Cubans responded in this manner because they believed that their stay in the United States was temporary, others, cognizant of the social, economic and political ramifications of being considered black in the United States, chose to alter their status rather than question racial segregation.

Ironically, racial divisions within the Cuban community marred certain pretenses of ethnic solidarity. During the late nineteenth century the emigre community in Ybor City worked to liberate Cuba from Spanish control. Those involved in the nationalist movement were dedicated to a “Cuba Libre” (11). Yet for many of the Afro Cubans who joined white Cubans in providing critical economic, political, and military support, race remained a factor and at times a barrier in organizing efforts for the Cuban War for Independence. Prominent Afro-Cuban leaders, including Bruno Roig, Cornelio Brito, and Paulina and Ruperto Pedroso, endured racial animosities within and outside of revolutionary organizations.

When the Cuban patriot and national hero Jose Marti was invited by the Club Ignacio Agramonte in November 1891 to visit Ybor City, he was determined to directly confront the racism within the Cuban community. Marti recognized the importance of incorporating Afro Cubans into the nationalist movement. In his famous “Liceo” speech, Marti demanded that white Cubans alter their racist attitudes in the name of a “Cuba Libre” by reminding Cubans that this would be a “revolution [in which] all Cubans, regardless of color have participated” (12). To maximize his base of support, Marti’s words had to be inclusive and yet critical of those who employed racist tactics and practices. He achieved this tenuous balance by requesting that Cubans put aside the racial divisions that stood in the way of a unified nationalist movement. His tactic for diffusing racial divisions was to construct an ethnic identity, a Cubanidad, strong enough to overcome racial differences. Moreover, the need to do so underscored the fact that racism was not exclusively a problem of the United States.

Marti recognized the importance of incorporating Afro Cubans into the nationalist movements and made a point of interacting and working closely with prominent Afro Cubans to show his dedication to racial solidarity. His speech in Ybor City indicated the value of Afro Cuban participation and even the very necessity of it if Cuban independence was to be successful. Attempts at unifying a nationalist movement had previously failed, which made Marti fully aware of the destructive consequences of racism to the cause of independence. During the 1890s, Afro Cubans helped found the Cuban Revolutionary Party known as the Partido Revolucionario Cubano (PRC), served as delegates to the PRC, wrote for and assisted in the publication of revolutionary newspapers, collected dues and donations, and raised funds. Nonetheless, despite their dedication to the nationalist cause, few recognized their efforts. Afro Cubans rarely held any positions of power within the nationalist movement and were expected to form separate revolutionary and cultural clubs.

Despite Marti’s efforts, however, the Cuban community remained essentially divided and stratified. Revolutionary and cultural clubs formed on the basis of race, ethnicity, gender, and class testify to the degree to which Cubans of all backgrounds sought to separate themselves. Ironically, many of these clubs were founded on Marti’s nationalist and patriotic principles. Clubs like La Union Marti-Maceo, the Obreras de La Independencia and El Circulo Cubano were active in raising funds, printing revolutionary pamphlets and working with the PRC. Not one of the clubs, however, was racially integrated. By the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, La Union Marti Maceo was a male Afro-Cuban club, La Obrera de la Independencia included only white Cuban women, and white Cuban males comprised the membership of El Circulo Cubano.

The experience of Afro-Cuban immigrants in Ybor City during the turn of the century raises important questions concerning race, politics, ethnicity and power. For example, why did Cuban immigrants form separate revolutionary and social clubs if they were all working toward the same goal? Did Florida’s Jim Crow laws force Cuban immigrants to adhere to racial segregation or did it simply magnify the racial divisiveness already present in the Cuban community? Why were women expected to organize separate clubs if their participation in the nationalist movement was extensive and invaluable? Why were Afro Cubans able to distance themselves from African Americans while at the same time depending on the resources located in the African-American section of Tampa? These questions help to demonstrate the complex and intricate relationship among race, ethnicity, gender and class.

While these questions provide a skeletal framework for studying the history of Afro Cubans in Ybor City and Tampa during the turn of the century, more research is needed to understand the experiences of Afro-Latino immigrants, a broader and even more diverse group (13). Rarely included in the history of African Americans and/or Latinos in the United States, the histories of Black Cubans, Puerto Ricans, and Dominicans in the United States often fall through the cracks of historical study. The failure to incorporate the experiences, stories and lives of Afro-Latino immigrants in the United States may render incomplete examinations of racial and ethnic constructions. Perhaps by taking a closer look at the early history of Afro Cubans in Ybor City and Tampa, we can begin to unravel and study the relationship between race and ethnicity in the United States.

Nancy Raquel Mirabel is a doctoral candidate in American history at the University of Michigan. She is working on a dissertation that explores the relationship among race, ethnicity, and identity.