Cubans

Cubans

Probably no ethnic group has had more influence on the fortunes of a city in a
short period of time than have the Cubans on Miami. Most consider the Cubans’ economic
influence positive. The Cuban and other Latin American immigrants have
transformed Miami from a quiet resort to a boomtown. To a large degree, they have
re-created the Cuba they left behind. Today, the population of metropolitan Miami is
more than 35 percent foreign born—more than any other city. Residents like to joke
that one of the reasons they like living in Miami is that it is close to the United States
(Clary 1997b).

All Cuban immigrants have had much to adjust to, and they have not been able to
immediately establish the kind of life they sought. Although some of those who fled
Cuba were forced to give up their life’s savings, the early immigrants of the first wave
were generally well educated, had professional or managerial backgrounds, and
therefore met with greater economic success than later immigrants. However, regardless
of the occupations the immigrants were able to enter, there was tremendous
adjustment for the family. Women who typically did not work outside the home often
had to seek employment. Immigrant parents found their children being exposed to a
foreign culture. All the challenges typically faced by immigrant households were complicated
by uncertainty surrounding those they left behind in Cuba.
The primary adjustment among south Florida’s Cuban Americans is more to each
other than to Whites, African Americans, or other Latinos. The prolonged immigration
now stretching across two generations has led to differences between Cuban
Americans in terms of ties to Cuba, social class, and age. There is not a single Cuban
American lifestyle (Navarro 1999).
The long-range prospects for Cubans in the United States depend on several factors.
Of obvious importance are events in Cuba, for many Cuban refugees publicly
proclaim their desire to return if the...