Hecce, Interesting information about the "boatlift" you mention. I have heard Cubans ask other Cubans: Are you from Mariel, meaning it all in jest and laughter because not all Mariels are from the "scarface" category. And in speaking with Cubans i have also learned that they refer to people as the chinese, the black, the arab... but in Cuban language the Spanish words that describe the race of a person is not offensive and referring to a person by his race, is not offensive or hateful and in fact unlike English there are no hate words used to refer to a person because of his race, at most humor but not mockery. Cubans make fun of everything, even themselves but with no offense meant or allusion to something debasing.
Many years ago I remember a lot of elderly Chinese Cubans, probably off the boatlift you mention and it was so funny ( in an interesting way ) to hear someone chinese speaking with an unmistakable Cuban accent.
In my previous post I referred to Guajiros as gullible, but I did not mean that intellectually, I have never ever seen or heard of a Cuban who is "bobo," they are wide awake people and you you can't pull the wool over their eyes, except that the guajiros were very trusting and good hearted -which is a virtue to me and not a flaw, and gullible regarding fake miracles and visons of virgins and stuff like that (that is what I meant) and although many barely could read or write, they were not bobos by any means. A Cuban to rival for US President, that is some accomplishment. No GB Cubans. but hey, the Germans always had a foothold on FDS.
What a coincidence that since responding to this post I have been talking to quite a few Cubans, there are very few where I live, but anyway, I was just told that the Cuban that ran for office, I think Diaz or something, was related somehow to FC.
I heard that the prior to FC, Blacks in Cuba ( or African Cubans) were never hated or despised by the other Cubans like the African Americans in the US were viewed. To call someone black in Cuban slang is an affectionate term.
Prior to FC what is the truth about the Black Cubans, from someone that knows firsthand?