It may be apparent in this photo of the seashore along Havana's Malecón that many Cubans are dark-skinned. The Cuban population is heavily influenced by the historical infusion of Africans before the end of slavery in Cuba in 1882. In fact, today 51% of the eleven million Cubans are labeled "mulattos", or blend of African and European races. An additional 11% is considered black, or purely African. The remaining 38% is white and/or "mestizo", or a mix of Native American and European blood that has its roots in the mixing of Spanish colonizers and other Europeans with American Indians now extinct in Cuba.
A mestizo in an eatery in Havana. |
A sea of heritages in this group of school children at a protest march in Havana. |
An Afro-Cuban on the Malecón in Havana. |
A woman of strong European lineage selling flowers in Havana. |
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Click here (high-speed internect connection only) or here to hear two different pieces of some of the spirit of Cuba, music from La Casa De La Trova (4.3 MB and 770 KB, MPEG Layer-3 format [.mp3]). Back :: Forward |
A rainbow of color at a "beach" on the Malecón in Havana. |
