Rasa czarna a tożsamość kubańska

Many historians point to an important role of race in the shaping of the Cuban identity and culture. Taking as a starting point the view that national identity is dynamic and negotiable, i.e. influenced by the elite’s ‘national project’ and negotiated from below, the article focuses on the role of Afro-Cubans in the formation of Cuban identity until 1959, especially on the period 1898-1940. This article looks at the concept of lo cubano as understood by the Cuban elites as well as the way in which Afro-Cubans actively negotiated their place in the Cubansociety.