Some blacks applaud Castro legacy of racial equality
DETROIT — The Fidel Castro that Sam Riddle and many other African-Americans admired was not the revolutionary dictator who plunged Cuba into economic ruin and held the island nation in an iron grip.
To them, he was a freedom fighter who cared about improving the lives of all Cubans, regardless of race.
Castro, who died Friday at age 90, sought out black leaders. He met with Malcolm X in 1960 in Harlem, New York’s most celebrated black neighbourhood. He also had a close relationship with South Africa’s Nelson Mandela.
“It was Fidel who fought for the human rights for black Cubans,” said Riddle, political director of the Michigan Chapter of the National Action Network. “Many Cubans are as black as any black who worked the fields of Mississippi or lived in Harlem. He believed in medical care and education for his people.”