I love having a post-race President.
That being said (in all seriousness), why is Obama lifting restrictionsinaway that amountstoracism?I understand that the idea is to loosen hardships on families‚ but all it amounts to is letting Cuban–Americans have their cake and eat it too. It frustrates me to no end that we continue to let this swing–state diaspora dictate our relations with our closest enemy. C’est la vie.
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ForeignPolicy.com just had an interesting editorial about why lifting sanctions is a bad move. But perhaps we should look a little deeper and ask why Cuba is still our enemy in the 21st century. This will strike some people as naive, and I admit that I don’t know much more than the broad outlines of the history of Cuban/American relations, but now that dominoes are played for pennies and not used to formulate foreign policy, isn’t it time to reassess the very basis of our relationship with our tiny, impoverished neighbor?
Just flying by the seat of my pants here, making it up as I go, but I wouldn’t be surprised if this is just the first step in a gradual restoration of normal relations with Cuba. The entire policy stance toward Cuba isn’t going to change overnight. I tend to think it should, but, as you pointed out, both sides of Washington are too beholden to Florida’s Cuban voters to take bolder steps toward progress.
I understand your criticism of the new policy and frustration with the situation, but it isn’t racist. At all. For one, “Cuban” isn’t a race. There are Cubans of European, African, and mixed descent. I guess you could still find the policy discriminatory, but your choice of diction with “racist” taints your post with bias at the price of presenting a more evenhanded analysis. Second, the new position involves an obvious selection of people who have family in Cuba and would stand up to strict scrutiny analysis under the equal protection clause. In other words it isn’t discriminatory.
Be frustrated if you like, but the domestic politics which tends to control this issues is what it is, and no amount of wishful thinking will change it. On the other hand, what might change it is giving certain concessions in favor of that community so that one gains their trust and confidence, from whence on can make more radical changes in policy without alienating them. This could turn out to be a very smooth move, politically.