Cuban Exodus of the 1960s: Revolution, Migration & Identity

Introduction: The 1960s in Global Context

Whether studying the history of the world or the history of a specific country, the 1960s were an era whose influence is felt in diverse ways even into the 21st century. The decade is ripe for study by historians with a wide range of interests. Whether one wishes to consider international relations, military strategy, methods of advertising, popular culture, scientific and technological developments, or civil rights, there is ample content from the 1960s to satisfy most appetites. The decade is known for several dominant features, including explosions in art, music, and film; an expansion of perspective regarding sexism, racism, and other forms of civil injustice; and wars and revolutions occurring on nearly every continent.

Many forms of art, music, and thinking would not exist today without the counterculture and cultural tensions of the 1960s. The decade was further defined by the extent of political conflict, grassroots movements, and social activism occurring around the world. Of all the historical events of the 1960s, this paper focuses on the exodus from Cuba during this decade. Cuba was a country at the forefront of world news for many reasons during the 1960s, including the mass exodus of Cubans from the island during a revolutionary period. In the 21st century, people do not conceive of Miami without thinking of Cuba, Cubans, and Cuban culture, but in the 1960s, Miami endured a great cultural transition with the entrance of many Cubans into the city. This event touches the author's life personally, as her parents would not have met had the exodus not occurred.

Political Roots of the Cuban Exodus

Militaries and guerrilla armies around the world were very active during the 1960s. A general awareness of the period would include knowledge of the many wars of the decade: the Vietnam War, the Cold War, the Six-Day War, the Arab–Israeli Conflict, the Algerian War, and the Portuguese Colonial War. While these were international conflicts, there were many internal conflicts as well, such as the Cultural Revolution in China, the student riots in France, riots across the United States, and the Tlatelolco massacre in Mexico. With regard to Cuba, notable political events of the decade include the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Cuban Revolution, the tightening of the U.S. embargo on Cuba, the Bay of Pigs Invasion, and the first Cuban exodus. The roots of the revolution and exodus trace back to the 19th century, but the more immediate events include an armed revolt led by Fidel Castro against dictator Fulgencio Batista, which initiated the revolution in 1953. After approximately six years of brutal conflict, Castro forcibly removed Batista's regime and installed his revolutionary government.

The collapse of the regime headed by dictator Fulgencio Batista on January 1, 1959, opened a completely new era for Cuba. In the past, dating back to the first president of the republic, a long series of political frustrations — due mostly to inept leadership — had marked the Cuban political scene. This was accompanied by a history of significant, and often crucial, American influence on the island. Yet by the end of 1959, an exodus from revolutionary Cuba had begun in enormous proportions. This was an unprecedented phenomenon in Cuban political history, since even during the harsh repression of colonial times, or during previous dictatorships after independence, Cubans went into exile in small numbers but did not leave their country in the massive way they did from 1959 onwards (Clark, 1975). By the mid-1960s, Castro's government represented the Communist Party of Cuba.

Cubans who sought alternatives to Castro-led Cuba immigrated to the United States in large waves beginning in the 1960s. Many Cubans disagreed with the newly reformed Cuban government's alignment with the Soviet Union and with the introduction of communism to the country. The first thousands of Cubans to arrive in America during this period were children. Numerous middle-class Cuban parents feared their children would be sent to the Soviet Union or educated by Soviets in Cuba, so they sent their children ahead before the rest of the family could follow.

Waves of Cuban Immigration to the United States

Still largely a middle-class exodus, this wave was more middle than upper: middle merchants and middle management, landlords, mid-level professionals, and a considerable number of skilled unionized workers who wanted to escape an intolerable new order. The immigrants of the first two phases were not so much "pulled" by the attractiveness of the new society as "pushed" by the internal political process of the old. When private universities and schools began to close in 1961, fear that children would be educated entirely by the state became prevalent (Pedraza, 1995).

Using data from the 1990 U.S. census, the largest wave of immigrants from Cuba after the revolution has been what is called the second wave — the roughly 283,000 Cuban immigrants who left the island during the nine years from 1965 to 1974, representing approximately 41% of those who immigrated from 1960 to 1990 (Pedraza, 2002).