The Study of Racialism Discussion of U.S. Racialism Please read The Rules before posting.    FAQ   Search     Register     Log in  ' Cuban phenotypes?          The Study of Racialism Forum Index -> Latin America Author Message Grasshoppa Mentor Joined: 07 Oct 2007 {Posts: 203 } Location: United States Posted: Thu 14 Aug 2008 04:14    Post subject: Cuban phenotypes? While watching the Olympics, I noticed that most of the Cuban Volleyball players were Afro descendants. And when I say "Afro descendants" I mean most of them looked like what I'd call "reverse puerto ricans" in terms of phenotype in regards to "African looking" versus "European looking." Most were brown skinned, but some with very African features, others with with mixed features. Are these what folks call "morena"? Those with dark skin, but without broad features? Also, about how much of the population has that look compared to a look that is say, more European looking? I know there is no census on this, but may someone who has been to Cuba can give an estimate of how common that look is in the country. The mostly Southern European looking but with a hint of "other" is what I consider the more "typical latino look." I know latinos have many looks, but honestly, there is a stereotypical, generic latino look that we all have in our minds. Back to top G-Man Moderator Joined: 27 Nov 2004 {Posts: 2652 } Posted: Thu 14 Aug 2008 17:03    Post subject: I wouldn't use Olympic teams as an accurate indication of the demographic profile of a country. If we look at the U.S.’s Olympic team we’d swear that black people make up more much more than 12% of the population. Back to top Grasshoppa Mentor Joined: 07 Oct 2007 {Posts: 203 } Location: United States Posted: Thu 14 Aug 2008 19:12    Post subject: G-Man wrote: I wouldn't use Olympic teams as an accurate indication of the demographic profile of a country. If we look at the U.S.’s Olympic team we’d swear that black people make up more much more than 12% of the population. Ok. That's why I asked; to see about what percentage of the population has a phenotype similar to those volleyball players. didn't really expect the team to represent Cuba's demographic profile, just curious. Back to top fwsweet Administrator Joined: 26 Nov 2004 {Posts: 4586 } Location: Palm Coast, FL Posted: Thu 14 Aug 2008 19:19    Post subject: Grasshoppa wrote: That's why I asked; to see about what percentage of the population has a phenotype similar to those volleyball players. didn't really expect the team to represent Cuba's demographic profile, just curious. This is just one man's opinion, but as far as I can tell from hanging out in Miami, a typical bunch of Cubans looks to me just like a typical bunch of Puerto Ricans. The only way I can tell them apart is by their language. Back to top G-Man Moderator Joined: 27 Nov 2004 {Posts: 2652 } Posted: Fri 15 Aug 2008 14:36    Post subject: Based on personal observations, I'd assume that there's a higher percentage of Cubans on the island who have visible African ancestry than there is in Miami. Additionally, there's probably a higher percentage of Cubans in New Jersey than in Miami with visible African ancestry. Back to top onlyhuman77 Experienced User Joined: 15 Apr 2008 {Posts: 111 } Location: Harlem, NYC Posted: Fri 15 Aug 2008 18:48    Post subject: G-Man wrote: Based on personal observations, I'd assume that there's a higher percentage of Cubans on the island who have visible African ancestry than there is in Miami. Additionally, there's probably a higher percentage of Cubans in New Jersey than in Miami with visible African ancestry. Not sure if this holds any weight but I work with 10 Cubans ( and 1 Cuban/Puerto Rican), only one (100% Cuban) has enough admixture to have a tan complexion but that could be Native American or Middle Eastern admixture. The rest have admixture levels too low to resemble any phenotype other than Caucasian. I think this has more to do with them being from the same community in Cuba or having relatives from the same community, but I will ask them when I go back to my job on Monday. I have met enough Cubans in the NY/NJ area to know that there is no way of predicting their phenotype just based on them being Cuban. One thing I have noticed based on the bulk of Cubans I have met is that out of the many who have such overwhelming Caucasian admixture very few of them have light colored eyes. I wonder if this has to do with the origin of the Europeans that made Cuba it's home? Back to top MisterLawyer Moderator Joined: 02 May 2006 {Posts: 363 } Location: Île-de-France Posted: Fri 15 Aug 2008 21:03    Post subject: I was on a empty beach in PR one winter, and me and my companions started talking to the only other person on the beach--a blond haired blue eyed Cuban fellow. The conversation turned to stereotypes that Cubans and Puerto Ricans have about each other. The consensus was that Puerto Ricans think Cubans are all either black or white and Cubans think Puerto Ricans look like indians. Everyone then laughed only slightly uneasily and went their separate ways. So that is my representative sample of 4 people. Back to top BlackHaze Regular User Joined: 29 Dec 2004 {Posts: 76 } Posted: Tue 19 Aug 2008 00:55    Post subject: I've only met one Cuban and he looked quite African. Based on photos of Cubans I've seen on various forums and social networking sites, I think most look no different than white americans but others looked mulatto or black. I've met lots of puerto ricans and most of them looked Southern European with a hint of "other", the rest looked like mestizos but I've only met a few that had african features. I read that Puerto Ricans are only about 17% African. Back to top Powell Guru Joined: 27 Nov 2004 {Posts: 2179 } Posted: Wed 20 Aug 2008 01:38    Post subject: Cubans BlackHaze wrote: I've only met one Cuban and he looked quite African. Based on photos of Cubans I've seen on various forums and social networking sites, I think most look no different than white americans but others looked mulatto or black. I've met lots of puerto ricans and most of them looked Southern European with a hint of "other", the rest looked like mestizos but I've only met a few that had african features. I read that Puerto Ricans are only about 17% African. The first wave of Cubans fleeing the Communist Revolution were predominately middle and upper class - the whitest Cubans. After the Mariel boatlift, many black and dark mulatto Cubans started arriving. I've heard that this was quite a shock to many second generation Cuban-Americans. Their parents hadn't told them that Cuba was so "black." Back to top Beauty Experienced User Joined: 02 Jun 2007 {Posts: 100 } Posted: Wed 20 Aug 2008 06:39    Post subject: I have visted Cuba. There appears to be many people with white, mixed and black phenotypes. In addition, I saw some individuals with East Asian appearance. Back to top MisterLawyer Moderator Joined: 02 May 2006 {Posts: 363 } Location: Île-de-France Posted: Wed 20 Aug 2008 06:56    Post subject: Quote: I read that Puerto Ricans are only about 17% African. The folks at Ancestry by DNA found that in a sample of 64 Puerto Ricans, the average admixture based on autosomal testing was: 55% European 32% Sub-Saharan African 3.6% East Asian 8.8% Native American http://www.ancestrybydna.com/welcome/productsandservices/ancestrybydna/ethnicities/ Quote: One thing I have noticed based on the bulk of Cubans I have met is that out of the many who have such overwhelming Caucasian admixture very few of them have light colored eyes. I wonder if this has to do with the origin of the Europeans that made Cuba it's home? Yes. Spain has lower a lower frequency of light colored eyes than northern europe, so the descendants of Spainiards would have a lower frequency of light colored eyes than predominantly european-descended US-americans, who have a much greater northern european component. Back to top onlyhuman77 Experienced User Joined: 15 Apr 2008 {Posts: 111 } Location: Harlem, NYC Posted: Thu 28 Aug 2008 15:13    Post subject: [quote="MisterLawyer"] Quote: Quote: One thing I have noticed based on the bulk of Cubans I have met is that out of the many who have such overwhelming Caucasian admixture very few of them have light colored eyes. I wonder if this has to do with the origin of the Europeans that made Cuba it's home? Yes. Spain has lower a lower frequency of light colored eyes than northern europe, so the descendants of Spainiards would have a lower frequency of light colored eyes than predominantly european-descended US-americans, who have a much greater northern european component. My apologies I should have been more specific. Living in New York City for more than a decade. I have encountered many Puerto Ricans and Cubans. Many people see them as being very similar in phenotype, my observation is that Puerto Ricans of any phenotype have a higher probability of light colored eyes over Caucasians who are Cuban. Has anyone besides myself observed this as well?? Back to top William Moderator Joined: 30 Mar 2005 {Posts: 1057 } Location: New Jersey Posted: Tue 25 Nov 2008 17:57    Post subject: [quote="onlyhuman77"] MisterLawyer wrote: Quote: Quote: One thing I have noticed based on the bulk of Cubans I have met is that out of the many who have such overwhelming Caucasian admixture very few of them have light colored eyes. I wonder if this has to do with the origin of the Europeans that made Cuba it's home? Yes. Spain has lower a lower frequency of light colored eyes than northern europe, so the descendants of Spainiards would have a lower frequency of light colored eyes than predominantly european-descended US-americans, who have a much greater northern european component. My apologies I should have been more specific. Living in New York City for more than a decade. I have encountered many Puerto Ricans and Cubans. Many people see them as being very similar in phenotype, my observation is that Puerto Ricans of any phenotype have a higher probability of light colored eyes over Caucasians who are Cuban. Has anyone besides myself observed this as well?? I have not noticed this, but I have read that quite a few Puerto Ricans are descended from Galician and Asturian Spaniards, who tend to have lighter eyes than Spaniards who live further south. In addition to this, Puerto Rico received immigrants from Germany and Ireland as well. Cuba of course also experienced immigration from all these regions. I honestly do not know if the percentage of such immigrants to Puerto Rico was higher than those to Cuba. If so, perhaps that could explain it? Back to top MisterLawyer Moderator Joined: 02 May 2006 {Posts: 363 } Location: Île-de-France Posted: Wed 26 Nov 2008 17:43    Post subject: Something else to consider is a possible founder effect. Puerto Rico is a pretty small place. It is entirely possible that four hundred ninety years ago men with light eyes happened to be over represented among the Spaniards that arrived and had lots and lots of children, giving you a higher level of light eyes today. Back to top OTHER Moderator-at-Large Joined: 14 Sep 2007 {Posts: 935 } Location: Florida Posted: Wed 26 Nov 2008 23:50    Post subject: According to the CIA's World Factbook entry on Cuba... Quote: Ethnic groups: white 65.1%, mulatto and mestizo 24.8%, black 10.1% (2002 census) Of course, according to their entry on their own country, the good old U.S. of A., I don't exist! So, take the above stats with a grain of salt. Back to top G-Man Moderator Joined: 27 Nov 2004 {Posts: 2652 } Posted: Sat 29 Nov 2008 20:12    Post subject: Yeah, that's also based on self-identification too. Back to top Display posts from previous: All Posts1 Day7 Days2 Weeks1 Month3 Months6 Months1 Year Oldest FirstNewest First         The Study of Racialism Forum Index -> Latin America All times are GMT Page 1 of 1 Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group