Hostname: page-component-6bf8c574d5-qdpjg Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-02-17T14:03:54.706Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

CUBAN EXCEPTIONALISM: Group-based Hierarchy and the Dynamics of Patriotism in Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, and Cuba

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 March 2004

Mark Q. Sawyer ,
Yesilernis Peña  and
Jim Sidanius
Mark Q. Sawyer
Affiliation:
Department of Political Science, University of California, Los Angeles
Yesilernis Peña
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles
Jim Sidanius
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This paper examined the interface between “racial” and national identity from the perspective of two competing theoretical frameworks: the ideological asymmetry hypothesis and the thesis of Iberian Exceptionalism. In contrast to previous results found in the United States and Israel, use of survey data from Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, and Cuba showed some support for both theoretical positions. Consistent with the asymmetry thesis, there was strong and consistent evidence of racial hierarchy within all three Caribbean nations. However, contradicting the asymmetry hypothesis and more in line with the Iberian Exceptionalism perspective, there was a general tendency for all “races” to be equally attached to the nation in both the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. Somewhat unexpectedly, Cuban Blacks tended to be slightly more positively attached to the nation than Cuban Whites. These results suggest that the precise interface between racial and national identity will be acutely influenced by the specific socio-political context within each nation.

Keywords

PatriotismRaceRacismCubaPuerto RicoDominican Republic
Type
STATE OF THE ART
Information
Du Bois Review: Social Science Research on Race , Volume 1 , Issue 1 , March 2004 , pp. 93 - 113
Copyright
© 2004 W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Ashmore, Richard D., Lee Jussim, David Wilder, and Jessica Heppen (2001). Toward a social identity framework for intergroup conflict. In Richard D. Ashmore, Lee Jussim, and David Wilder (Eds.), Social Identity, Intergroup Conflict, and Conflict Reduction, (Rutgers Series on Self and Social Identity, Volume 3), pp. 213–249. New York: Oxford University Press.
Bourdieu, Pierre and Loic Wacquant (1999) On the cunning of imperialist reason. Theory, Culture and Society, 16: 41–58.Google Scholar
Casal, L. (1989). Race relations in contemporary Cuba. The Cuba Reader. New York: Grove Press.
CIA (2000). World Factbook 1999. Washington, DC: Central Intelligence Agency. http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.html.
Citrin, Jack, Ernst B. Haas, Christopher Muste, and Beth Reingold (1994) Is American nationalism changing? Implications for foreign policy. International Studies Quarterly, 38: 1–31.Google Scholar
Citrin, Jack, Cara Wong, and Brian Duff (2001). The meaning of American national identity: Patterns of ethnic conflict and consensus. In Richard D. Ashmore, Lee Jussim, and David Wilder (Eds.), Social Identity, Intergroup Conflict, and Conflict Reduction, (Rutgers Series on Self and Social Identity, Volume 3), pp. 71–100. New York: Oxford University Press.
Clark, Kenneth B. and Mamie P. Clark (1940) Skin color as a factor in racial identification of Negro preschool children. Journal of Social Psychology, 11: 159–169.Google Scholar
Dawson, Michael (1994). Behind the Mule: Race and Class in African American Politics. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
de Figueiredo, J. P. R., Jr. and Zachary Elkins (2000). Are patriots bigots? An inquiry into the vices of in-group pride. Paper delivered at the meetings of the International Society of Political Psychology, Seattle, Washington, July 1–4.
Degler, Carl (1986). Neither Black nor White: Slavery and Race Relations in the United States and Brazil. Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press.
De la Fuente, A. (2001). A Nation for All: Race, Inequality and Politics in Twentieth-Century Cuba. Chapel Hill, NC: The University of North Carolina Press.
de la Garza, Rodolfo, Angelo Falcon, and F. Chris Garcia (1996) Will the real Americans please stand up: Anglo and Mexican-American support of core American political values. American Journal of Political Science, 40: 335–351.Google Scholar
Dominguez, J. I. (1978). Cuba: Order and Revolution. Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.
Dowley, Kathleen M. and Brian D. Silver (2000) Subnational and national loyalty: Cross-national comparisons. International Journal of Public Opinion Research, 12: 357–371.Google Scholar
Freyre, Gilberto (1946). The Masters and Slaves. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
Freyre, Gilberto (1951). Brazil: An Interpretation. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
Gilroy, Paul (1991). Ain't No Black in the Union Jack: The Cultural Politics of Race and Nation. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Hanchard, Michael G. (1994). Orpheus and Power: The Moevimento Negro of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, Brazil, 1945–1988. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Harris, Marvin (1974). Patterns of Race in the Americas. New York: Norton Library.
Helg, Aline (1990). Race in Argentina and Cuba, 1880–1930: Theory Policy and Popular Reaction. The Idea of Race in Latin America 1870–1940. Austin: University of Texas Press.
Helg, Aline (1995). Our Rightful Share: The Afro-Cuban Struggle for Equality, 1886–1912. Chapel Hill, NC: The University of North Carolina Press.
Hoetink, Harry (1967). Caribbean Race Relations. London: Oxford University Press.
Hofstetter, C. Richard, Ivo K. Feierabend, and Martina Klicperova-Baker (1999). Nationalism and ethnicity: A community study. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the International Society for Political Psychology, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, July 17–21, 1999.
Howard, David (1999). Race and Ethnicity in the Dominican Republic. Doctoral Dissertation. Oxford University.
Kosterman, Richard and Seymour Feshbach (1989) Toward a measure of patriotic and nationalistic attitudes. Political Psychology, 10: 257–274.Google Scholar
Kryder, Daniel (2000). Divided Arsenal: Race and the American State During World War II. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Kuzio, Taras (2002) The myth of the civic state: A critical survey of Hans Kohn's framework for understanding nationalism. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 25: 20–39.Google Scholar
Lambert, Wallace E., Lambros Mermigis, and Donald M. Taylor (1986) Greek Canadians' attitudes toward own group and other Canadian ethnic groups: A test of the multiculturalism hypothesis. Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science, 18: 35–51.Google Scholar
Marx, Anthony W. (1998). Making Race and Nation: A Comparison of the United States, South Africa and Brazil (First ed.). New York: Cambridge University Press.
McAdam, Douglas (1999). Political Process and the Development of Black Insurgency 1930–1970 (Second ed.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Moore, C. (1995). Afro-Cubans and the Communist Revolution. In C. Moore, T. R. Sanders, and S. Moore (Ed.), African Presence in the Americas. Trenton, NJ: African World Press.
Morris, Aldon (1986). The Origins of the Civil Rights Movement: Black Communities Organizing for Change. New York: Free Press.
Moya-Pons, F. (2000). Dominican National Identity and Return Migration. (Occasional Papers #1). University of Florida, Gainesville: Center for Latin American Studies.
Nesdale, Drew and Anita S. Mak (2000). Immigrant acculturation attitudes and host country identification. Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology, 10: 483–549.Google Scholar
Nobles, Melissa (2000). Shades of Citizenship: Race and the Census in Modern Politics. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
Peña, Yesilernis and James Sidanius (2002) American patriotism and ideologies of group dominance: A tale of asymmetry. Journal of Social Psychology, 142: 782–790.Google Scholar
Perez, L. A. (1999). On Becoming Cuban: Identity, Nationality and Culture. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press.
Pierson, Daniel (1942). Negroes in Brazil: A Study of Race Contact at Bahia. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Plummer, Brenda G. (1996). Rising Wind: Black Americans and U.S. Foreign Affairs, 1935–1960. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina.
Reitlan, Ruth (1999). The Rise and Decline of an Alliance: Cuba and African American Leaders in the 1960's. East Lansing, MI : Michigan State University Press.
Sagás, Ernesto (2000). Race and Politics in the Dominican Republic. Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida.
Santiago-Valles, K. (1995). Puerto Rico. In Minority Rights Group (Ed.), Afro-Latin Americans Today: No Longer Invisible. London: Minority Rights Publication.
Schlesinger, Arthur M._Jr. (1992). The Disuniting of America. New York: Norton.
Sidanius, Jim, Seymour Feshbach, Shana Levin, and Felicia Pratto (1997) The interface between ethnic and national attachment: Ethnic pluralism or ethnic dominance? Public Opinion Quarterly, 61: 103–133.Google Scholar
Sidanius, Jim, Yesilernis Peña, and Mark Sawyer (2001) Inclusionary discrimination: Pigmentocracy and patriotism in the Dominican Republic. Political Psychology, 22: 827–851.Google Scholar
Sidanius, Jim and John R. Petrocik (2001). Communal and national identity in a multiethnic state: A comparison of three perspectives. In R. D. Ashmore, L. Jussim, and D. Wilder (Eds.), Social Identity, Intergroup Conflict, And Conflict Reduction, (Rutgers Series on Self and Social Identity, Volume 3), pp. 101–129. New York: Oxford University Press.
Sidanius, James and Felicia Pratto (1999). Social Dominance: An Intergroup Theory of Social Hierarchy and Oppression. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Sinclair, Stacey, Jim Sidanius, and Shana Levin (1998) The interface between ethnic and social system attachment: The differential effects of hierarchy-enhancing and hierarchy attenuating environments. The Journal of Social Issues, 54: 741–757.Google Scholar
Skidmore, Thomas E. (1974). Black into White: Race and Nationality in Brazilian Thought. New York: Oxford University Press.
Smith, Anthony D. (1991). National Identity: Ethnonationalism in Comparative Perspective. Reno, NV: University of Nevada Press.
Smith, Anthony D. (2000). The Nation in History: Historiographical Debates about Ethnicity and Nationalism. Hanover, NH: University Press of New England.
Stepan, Nancy L. (1991). The Hour of Eugenics: Race, Gender, and Nation in Latin America. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
Tannenbaum, Frank (1947). Slave and Citizen. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
Telles, Edward E. (1994) Industrialization and racial inequality in employment. The Brazilian example. American Sociological Review, 59: 46–63.Google Scholar
Thernstrom, Stephan and Abigail Thernstrom (1997). America in Black and White: One nation, indivisible. New York: Simon and Schuster.
Torres-Saillent, Silvio (1998a) Creoleness or Blackness: A Dominican dilemma. Plantation Society in the Americas, 5: 29–40.Google Scholar
Torres-Saillent, Silvio (1998b). The Dominican Republic. In Minority Rights Group (Ed.), Afro-Latin Americans Today: No Longer Invisible. London: Minority Rights Publication.
Torres-Saillent, Silvio (1999). Introduction of Dominican Blackness. Dominican Studies Working Paper Series, 1. New York: City College of New York.
Twine, Francine Windance (2000). Racism in a Racial Democracy: The Maintenance of White Supremacy in Brazil. New Brunswik, NJ: Rutgers University Press.
Wade, Peter (1997). Race and ethnicity in Latin America. London: Pluto Press.