Tale of Two Islands

In summarizing the “Tale of Two Islands” it’s a descriptive view into the world of a Cuban and Haitian refugee. I am pretty well aware of the situations and experiences that happened in Cuba in the 1940’s when Bautista was over thrown by the Fidel Castro’s government. My father at the time was only a child but he always reiterates this piece of our cultural and the history of this event time and time again, he always tell me that even though he was a only a little kid at the time that there was some events in history that will be clear in your mind forever more. Many Cubans decided to flee the country at this time because the government started to seize their properties, and their valuables. A lot of the immigrants that came at this time we middle class, and most were even well-educated individuals such as doctors, who wanted to flee this exile that was happening in Cuba even though many others prophesied that it wouldn’t last long and that Cuba would be a free country in no time. In the 1960’s, the U.S. was flying planes back and forth from Cuba bringing over many children and adults into the “Never-Never Land” until Castro seized these flights when the Cuban Missile Crisis happened. This was the second big wave of immigrants that brought along a group of people a lot different than the first wave which happened in the 1940’s. This group of immigrants was disillusioned and did not have their promises full-filled by the Cuban government; they were mostly middle to low class individuals who ran little businesses or were working individuals who were struggling to maintain now in the communist country of Cuba. When it came to the Haitian immigrants who were undergoing many of the same tyrannies the American government did not allow them to reside in the US the way did for the Cuban people. Even though both countries were experiencing the same types of communist governments overtaken them, the US reacted differently by allowing the Cubans to take refuge in the US a lot more easily than the Haitian people. I think race, skin color, and prejudice has all played a serious role in the reaction to the Haitian community. I think a case of institutional racism can definitely be made just by looking at the patterns of how the government acted towards the people who would help their economy (Cubans) and those who they think would hinder it (Haitians).