III.

Culture

More than half of all Cuban Americans live in Miami-Dade County, Florida, concentrated in an area of Miami that has come to be known as Little Havana. Although there are large Cuban communities in New York City, northern New Jersey, and Los Angeles, California, southern Florida’s warm climate and its proximity to Cuba have made this area particularly attractive to Cubans. Many Cubans who originally resettle elsewhere eventually end up in Miami. As a result of the influx of Cuban exiles, Miami-Dade County has undergone a dramatic transformation. Before 1959 Miami was a resort city heavily dependent on the tourism industry. Although tourism is still important in the local economy, the city has become a thriving banking and commercial center with strong ties to other Hispanic American communities and to Latin America. According to a 1987 government study, Cuban Americans had the highest rate of business ownership among Hispanic groups, with approximately 1 ethnic-owned enterprise for every 16 Cuban Americans. In the early 1990s there were over 55,000 Hispanic owned businesses in Miami alone.

Because most Cuban Americans arrived in this country not as immigrants but political refugees, their culture has a strong nostalgic strain. This nostalgia influences Cuban Americans’ choice of foods, music, and marriage partners. Among Miami Cubans the rate of intermarriage with other ethnic groups is low. Many Cuban Americans still practice traditional Cuban customs such as quinces, lavish coming-out balls for teenage girls. Cuban American families often include not just parents and children but also older relatives, such as widowed or dependent grandparents.

Little Havana, the Cuban enclave in Miami, retains a distinctly Hispanic flavor. The heart of Little Havana is Calle Ocho (Eighth Street), a busy thoroughfare lined with restaurants, groceries, funeral parlors, doctors’ offices, and pharmacies. In Little Havana, Spanish is the dominant language. It has often been said that an individual who lives in Little Havana can be delivered by a Cuban obstetrician, buried by a Cuban undertaker, and in between lead a perfectly satisfactory life without needing to go outside the Cuban neighborhood.

Young Cuban Americans have begun to make their presence felt in Cuban American culture. These American-born Cubans or “ABCs,” as they are sometimes called, are more likely to prefer communicating in English, to listen to rock and rap music as well as to Cuban music, and to depart from traditional courtship and marriage patterns. Unlike their parents, most members of this younger generation regard themselves as Americans or Cuban Americans. Well-known performers such as singer Gloria Estefan, actor Andy Garcia, and television personality Daisy Fuentes belong to this generation.

As the older generation of Cuban exiles passes away, younger Cuban Americans will find it necessary to redefine their relationships to Cuba and the United States. For many, this will require distancing themselves from the culture of their parents and grandparents. For others, it may mean seeking nourishment and identity from their Cuban heritage.