Sharing Strategies for Racial Uplift: Afro-Cubans, Afro-Puerto Ricans, and African Amer-
applicable to Cuba’s situation.^5 Serra had to fight against the percep-
tion that Cubans (and many Americans) had of Booker T. Washington
that he opposed black participation in politics. Serra pointed out that
in fact, Washington focused on education and prosperity because of
the difficulty of working within the particular political situation in the
South—a nuanced point that is echoed by Norrell’s recent biography
of Washington. Serra also asserted that Washington himself acknowl-
edged a difference between African Americans and Afro-Cubans;
Afro-Cubans had fought in the wars of independence, and had a long
tradition of artisanal work and trades, which positioned them differ-
ently vis-à-vis the dominant society. Serra understood, then, that the
situation of Afro-Cubans and African Americans was not necessarily
completely parallel, and argued that Washington similarly understood
this.
Despite the differences between Afro-Cubans and African Ameri-
cans, Serra still found Washington’s strategies worth exploring. Eco-
nomic progress of the kind advocated for by Washington, he felt, had
been successful for African Americans. His compilations of essays
and newspaper articles include statistics about the successes of Afri-
can Americans, stating that in the United States there were black mil-
lionaires, black dentists, black lawyers, etc. “Education and money,”
stated an article in his newspaper, “... are the only object of the black
American for the practical and decisive solution to this complicated
problem.”^6
Like Washington, he advocated for Afro-Cubans to undertake
efforts to improve their own lot independent of whites or the larger
political situation. “The disinherited classes,” he wrote, “should also
get moving, and not trust everything to Providence and miracles.”^7
Serra’s organizations—his mutual aid societies, educational societies,
and newspapers, were organized along racial lines. But he often had- Rafael Serra, “Promsea Cumplida: Booker T. Washington Interpretado por la Preo-
cupacion Cubana,” Para Blancos y Negros, SCRBC. - Serra, Para Blancos y Negros, 163, SCRBC.
- Serra, Ensayos Políticos, Tercera Serie, 50, SCRBC.