Hard work and sacrifice led to success, not preferential treatment by U.S. government
By Alberto Vasallo, III
A new report put out by the Gaston Institute, University of Massachusetts Boston titled “Latinos in Massachusetts: Cubans” has raised a few eyebrows in the Bay State’s Cuban-American community.
The report is one in a series focused on the ten largest Latino populations located throughout the Commonwealth, which includes demographic profiles on (in order of size) Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, Brazilians, Salvadorans, Guatemalans, Mexicans, Colombians, Cubans, Hondurans, and Ecuadorians.
The report analyzes data conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau in order to provide an economic snapshot of each community using educational attainment, household income, home ownership, language preference and several other key performance indicators.
The results are not what has upset many long-time Cubans living in Massachusetts. Indeed, the findings mirror what has played out nationally over six decades now.
According to the report, Cubans’ median household income ($73,817) was much higher than for Other Latino households ($44,492). Cubans in 2017 had a higher homeownership rate (38%) than Other Latinos (26%).
Latinos in Massachusetts overall have relatively low levels of educational attainment, but this is not the case for Cubans as they have an especially high share of their 25-and-older population with a Bachelor’s degree: 54%, compared to 18% for Other Latinos.’
And the report also highlights that “while English language difficulty is often referenced as a reason for Latinos lower educational attainment, 90% of Cubans over the age of five in 2017 either spoke only English or spoke it very well.”
In essence, the empirical data shows that Cubans in Massachusetts “show better educational outcomes and higher incomes than other Latin@s, sometimes bettering the outcomes of the native white population.”
But, (and this is what has many upset), the report also goes on to editorialize and attribute these unparalleled successes “not in the individual characteristics of the immigrants but rather in the privileged ways in which their migration has been treated by the United States.”
“The only privilege I received from this country was the opportunity to work hard, be free and enjoy the fruits of my labor,” says Nobel Garcia (74), who arrived to Boston over 60 years ago with a 7th grade education and today is the owner of the popular Cuban eatery in Jamaica Plain – El Oriental de Cuba.
“For 67 years I’ve been paying taxes, working 16 hour days, seven days a week. That’s what it took for me to be successful. I had to work hard,” adds Garcia.
“To minimize the incredible resilience, sacrifice and values that are the main reasons we have succeeded in this country is inaccurate, misleading and incomplete. This report just doesn’t paint the entire picture of the Cuban success story in America,” adds Laz Lopez (54), President of the Cuban Cultural Center, New England’s oldest Latino cultural club and unofficial home of Boston’s Cuban community for over 45 years.
“Cubans are no different than every other successful immigrant group. We came here with nothing but a desire to work extremely hard, we saved money, many of us sacrificed everything and were able to put our kids through college and we simply instilled in our children the values to be successful and it has paid off,” says Regla Gonzalez, President of Bandera Cubana, which organizes the raising of the Cuban flag every October for the past 25 years on Boston City Hall Plaza.
To their credit, the authors (Phillip Granberry and Krizia Valentino) seem to be making a noble case for implementing U.S. immigration policies with more “supportive integration strategies…to facilitate and support the integration of immigrants.”
Unfortunately, the report gives the impression to many that the glaring disparities between the Cuban-American standard of living and all other Latino groups is solely based on several resettlement efforts of the 1961 Cuban Refugee Program, which included the “provision of cash subsidies for the refugees, medical benefits, support in seeking employment and professional training and small business loans and of loans for college education.”
“Even with the benefits from these programs, it’s not the reason we were able to overcome the trauma of exile, of being expelled from our country and literally rebuilding entire lives – many of them with minimal assistance,” adds Naheem Garcia (53), an artist, actor and proud Afro-Cuban who came to Boston in 1968 as a one year old.
“For me, the big thing has always been that we struck together as a community and supported one another. My grandmother was able to take advantage of some English classes that were being offered, but it was her hard work and dedication that made her a successful school teacher in the Boston Public Schools. Yes, we had some highly educated Cubans who came over early on, but they too had to overcome language and cultural barriers,” adds Garcia.
“Almost every successful Cuban I know here in Massachusetts did it the way other immigrants did it before – they earned it with lots of blood, sweat and tears,” says Alberto Calvo (74), founder of Compare Supermarkets in Chelsea and Lynn and former Vice President of the Chelsea Chamber of Commerce. He and his wife Betty have been in business for over 20 years.
Calvo credits the English classes that he took at El Centro Cardenal, run by Catholic Charities in Boston, as a key to his future success. Starting in 1957, El Centro was among the first programs in the state to provide ESL classes for a wide range of adult immigrants from many different countries, not just Cubans.
“There were actually fewer ESL programs available to non-English speakers at that time than there is today, so I knew I had to take advantage of this opportunity and with hard work I was able to graduate, class of ‘65 from Brighton High School,” adds Calvo.
He went on to obtain his bachelor in industrial engineering at Northeastern University and eventually received a merit-based scholarship to obtain his Masters degree at M.I.T.
Salem Superior Court Judge Salim Rodriguez Tabit (50), was born and raised in Massachusetts from Cuban parents Eddy and Clotilde Tabit.
While he acknowledges that Cuban immigrants have historically benefited from favorable immigration status, he also noted that “many Cuban immigrants, such as my parents, came to these shores with little more than the shirts on their backs and unable to speak English. Most of them left everything behind, including all the people they knew and loved. Despite these obstacles, this group of immigrants were able to create successful lives in a foreign land for themselves and their families.”
Tabit, who says he feels “privileged” because the values of the power of family, a good education, and hard work was ingrained in him at a very young age from a household with two caring parents, recognizes that not all children are as fortunate.»
“Perhaps, instead of dismissing Cuban immigrants’ successes, or attributing their successes to other things, we should use them as examples to improve the lives of all immigrants”, adds Tabit.
For Rosalin Acosta, a financial and banking service professional with over 30 years of experience in Boston and a member of Governor Charlie Baker’s administration, it was more about depicting a more accurate portrayal of the reasons behind Cubans’ success.
Speaking to El Mundo Boston as a member of the community and not as a public official, she stated that while she respects the work of the Gaston Institute, she really wished “they would have presented a more complete picture. As a Cuban immigrant, I came to this country when I was four years old and all I saw was two very hard working parents trying to do the best they could for their children. They worked tirelessly. They never asked for any type of government assistance and were proud of that fact. In memory of my deceased father, I felt compelled to react. It’s not the whole story.”
Mary Skelton Roberts, born to Cuban parents (Alfredo and Melba Skelton) who arrived to Boston in 1965 and is now Co-Director for Climate at the Barr Foundation, found the report to be “interesting research that didn’t build on decades of previous analysis which more fully captures the complexity of the Cuban immigration experience. I also wish the research had elevated its main point more explicitly: immigrants who are provided with initial financial and educational support fare much better in the future than those who are left to struggle on their own.”
It is important to note that no one we interviewed disagreed with the notion that better assimilation of immigrants in the labor market of any nation results in quantitative benefits that include fiscal gains as well as better social compatibility.
Ample data demonstrates that a faster track to citizenship almost always results in more stable employment, wage growth and a significant increase in economic upward mobility for newcomers to any country.
For over 30 years, the Mauricio Gastón Institute has a stellar record of consistently chronicling the Latino experience in Massachusetts by providing much needed data and research for key policy makers and major stakeholders in our community. Since its inception in 1989 it has been a preeminent source of information vital for effective participation in public policy development. Because of this trajectory, it did raise a few questions as, in the eyes of many, it left out to mention other critical elements that have also contributed to the extraordinary success of this specific immigrant group.
The report’s conclusion that “Cubans are a case study of what happens when the U.S. government chooses to implement supportive integration strategies», may have been well intentioned – advocating for a shift in U.S. immigration integration policy – but in the eyes of many local Cubans, it was also extremely shortsighted and one-dimensional when it came to accounting for the success Cuban-Americans have had in Massachusetts.
Maybe a deeper look at this phenomenon, with the full participation of local Cubans, is something to consider?
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Alberto Vasallo, III is CEO of El Mundo Boston, New England’s oldest Latino media outlet. He was born and raised in Boston, son of a Cuban exile who has been living in Massachusetts for over 54 years.
