Che Guevara racist and homophobic?

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https://www.quora.com/Was-Che-Guevara-a-racist-and-homophobic

Was Che Guevara a racist and homophobic?
JJ Cohn

Should we love Che Guevara?

"The cult of Ernesto Che Guevara is an episode in the moral callousness of our time. Che was a totalitarian. He achieved nothing but disaster. Many of the early leaders of the Cuban Revolution favored a democratic or democratic-socialist direction for the new Cuba. But Che was a mainstay of the hardline pro-Soviet faction, and his faction won. Che presided over the Cuban Revolution's first firing squads. He founded Cuba's 'labor camp' system—the system that was eventually employed to incarcerate gays, dissidents, and AIDS victims.

To get himself killed, and to get a lot of other people killed, was central to Che's imagination. In the famous essay in which he issued his ringing call for ''two, three, many Vietnams," he also spoke about martyrdom and managed to compose a number of chilling phrases: "Hatred as an element of struggle; unbending hatred for the enemy, which pushes a human being beyond his natural limitations, making him into an effective, violent, selective, and cold-blooded killing machine. This is what our soldiers must become …"— and so on. He was killed in Bolivia in 1967, leading a guerrilla movement that had failed to enlist a single Bolivian peasant... "

El Che: The Crass Marketing of a Sadistic Racist

"...rebellion was something only reserved for Guevara and others in government. In an earlier speech spurning 'the spirit of rebellion', in 1961, he made clear that government was in charge. "Youth must refrain from ungrateful questioning of governmental mandates," he said.

As for Guevara's views on race, he did not mince words. After the Revolution's victory in 1959, he famously said, "We're going to do for blacks exactly what blacks did for the revolution. By which I mean: nothing."

Che Guevara: The anti-Gay "icon"? by Ivor Casey

Communism, at least from Stalin onward (if not really technically earlier as well), was not truly pro-gay by any sort of official stance. In fact, doctrinally, it generally viewed homosexual or 'alternative lifestyles' (as we here would understand such terminology today) as an aberrant symptom of Western or 'bourgeois' decadence. Communism and homosexuality

From the link above: "Under the new Cuban revolution, a revolution which was supposed to be about bringing about socialist principles of a classless society and true equality, various groups of people were singled out for persecution. Having fought his way into power Guevara now abused that power and along with Castro created a world of their own vision and excluded what they desired. This notably included, among all things rock ‘n’ roll music [see, for example: Che Guevara - Revolutionary Jerk ] and homosexuality. This thinking immediately aligns them with the conservatives in America who also opposed these things.

However, unlike the American right wing, Guevara had past leaders within his political spectrum whom to learn from such as Vladimir Lenin, whose new acts in 1922 decriminalised homosexuality. This had been a daring move, later overturned by Stalin.

Under the Cuban revolution, however, the system fought for by Guevara and his associates, established ‘labour camps’, known as the UMAP labour camps [see also: CONCENTRATION CAMPS IN CUBA: THE UMAP] to incarcerate gay people, among other groups.

These were Cuba's new concentration camps, set up so the new socialist government could rid their nation of homosexuality, which was somehow believed to be a product of capitalism. Gay artists were censored and gay people in government lost their jobs. The UMAP camps subjected homosexuals to brutal torture and some inmates committed suicide.

Not only gay men were incarcerated but effeminate men were also imprisoned to make way for Guevara’s scheme of the “new man” which was a hideously pathological homophobic ideology. People who did not fit into this fascist vision were imprisoned without charge or trial and forced to adhere to his notion of masculinity through slave labour. In these camps gay men who had been rounded up were subjected to rehabilitation and re-education...

If socialism, as revolutionaries in Cuba saw it, was supposed to be this greater, fairer advancement on capitalism and human rights, where was the advancement for homosexuals? ... The fact that he had enormous power over the way Cuba operated, holds him responsible as an important part of this brutal treatment.

While the pre-revolution Cuba was no safe haven for gay people... It was not until after Guevara was killed in 1967 that these camps were closed by Castro when he witnessed first hand the harsh conditions, as well as their negative attention worldwide. Some progress for gay rights began to make way and by the 1980's some homophobic attitudes were relaxed. Castro has even expressed regret for the treatment of gay people during this period.

Nonetheless, in the fifty years since, there has been very little revolutionary practice on behalf of human or civil rights for gay people. Gay clubs and organisations are banned and to date, gay people are not allowed either marriage or civil partnership..." see also: LGBT rights in Cuba

"Che" also persecuted artists as well (see link above: Che Guevara - Revolutionary Jerk).

"The real Che is certainly not the rebellious individualist portrayed by many on the left. Regis Debray, one of Che’s closest associates, described him as “an authoritarian through and through”. Che’s personal opinion of himself might best be understood by noting that he often signed his correspondence as 'Stalin II.'...

"Nine-time Grammy award winning Cuban jazz legend Paquito D’Rivera expressed the confusion that all rational men must feel regarding Che’s celebrity status among the left. “Che hated artists, so how is it possible that artists still today support the image of Che Guevara?” D’Rivera was in Cuba when Che and his goons tried to stamp out both jazz and rock music. Paquito told Reason.com “Che was an inspiration for me. I thought I have to get out of this island as soon as I can, because I am in the wrong place at the wrong time!”

Fortunately for musicians, artists, authors, homosexuals, and t-shirt salespeople, Che’s reign of terror came to a sudden end when he and his companion Willi were caught by two Bolivian soldiers as he was attempting to export the Cuban revolution to that unwilling nation. Che dropped his fully-loaded weapons and surrendered without a fight. In a rare moment of justice in the Universe, Che died begging for his life during his own execution, wailing “Don’t shoot – I’m Che! I’m worth more to you alive than dead!”

Also see: the answers by Javier De Paula and Leonardo Moran, in this thread How do people describe Che Guevara?
Updated Mar 24 • View Upvotes
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Saaem Raza
Saaem Raza, non conformist,anarchist
20.4k Views • Saaem is a Most Viewed Writer in Che Guevara.
DEBUNKING THE MYTH- Ernesto Che Guevara was a racist

The favorite slanderous allegation used by right wing morons against Che is that he was racist against blacks. The most frequently quoted lines supporting the allegation are from his diaries which are:

"The blacks, those magnificent examples of the African race who have maintained their racial purity thanks to their lack of an affinity with bathing, have seen their territory invaded by a new kind of slave: the Portuguese."

"The black is indolent and a dreamer; spending his meager wage on frivolity or drink; the European has a tradition of work and saving, which has pursued him as far as this corner of America and drives him to advance himself, even independently of his own individual aspirations."

These lines can be interpreted as positive criticism of the lukewarm behavior of the black community towards colonization and enslavement. Although such comments are not very appropriate but it should also be kept in mind that Che was very young and not a very mature political thinker when he wrote these lines. Let us examine El Che's attitude towards black people later in his life.


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In Picture: Che in the African Congo, where he led an all-black force of Cuban and Congolese soldiers against white South African mercenaries of apartheid, 1965

Che’s very first student in 1957 as a guerrilla fighter was a 45-year-old illiterate black guajiro named Julio Zenon Acosta, whom he was teaching the alphabet. After Acosta was killed in an ambush by Batista’s forces, Che exalted him as “my first pupil” and the kind of “noble peasant” that made up the heart of the Cuban Revolution.

During the Cuban guerrilla campaign, Che’s girlfriend (for all intents and purposes) for the first half of 1958 was Zoila Rodríguez García, a black/mulatto woman. Moreover, his first wife Hilda Gadea whom he married in 1955 was a dark-skinned indigenous Peruvian.

In 1959, Che pushed for racially integrating the schools and universities in Cuba, years before they were racially integrated in the southern United States.

In 1959, Fidel & Che pushed through “Law 270″, which declared all beaches and other public facilities open to all races. For the first time in Cuban history, clubs, businesses, and other establishments that refused equal access and service to blacks were shut down.

In August 1961,Che attacked the U.S. for discrimination against blacks and the actions of the KKK, which matched his declarations in 1964 before the United Nations, where he denounced the U.S. policy towards their black population. It was around this same time, that the black anti-colonial philosopher Frantz Fanon proclaimed Che to be “the world symbol of the possibilities of one man.”

In the year 1964, in a speech before the UN he denounced the South African apartheid saying “We speak out to put the world on guard against what is happening in South Africa. The brutal policy of apartheid is applied before the eyes of the nations of the world. The peoples of Africa are compelled to endure the fact that on the African continent the superiority of one race over another remains official policy, and that in the name of this racial superiority murder is committed with impunity. Can the United Nations do nothing to stop this?”


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In picture: Che with his bodyguard Pombo, after Guevara’s wedding in 1959.

Che’s friend and personal bodyguard from 1959 till his death in 1967 was Harry “Pombo” Villegas, who was Afro-Cuban (black). Pombo accompanied Che everywhere in Cuba, then to the Congo and to Bolivia, where he survived and escaped the final battle where Che was wounded and captured. He resides in Cuba and wrote his own diary about his time in Bolivia entitled ‘Pombo: A Man of Che’s Guerrilla, With Che Guevara in Bolivia 1966-68′ and speaks positively of Guevara to this day.

Che’s Congolese teenage Swahili interpreter for his African expedition named Freddy Ilanga lived until 2006 in Cuba, and his dying wish was to erect a lighthouse memorial to Guevara in Africa. In 2005 he told the BBC that Che “showed the same respect to black people as he did to whites.”

There are hundreds of other examples which show how Che was much more anti racist than these self proclaimed right wing champions of liberty and equality. Only a gullible and naive person can be made to believe in these lies and propaganda against Che. Here are some remarks by revered black leaders praising Che which will conclude my post.

The life of Che is an inspiration to all human beings who cherish freedom.
We will always honour his memory.”
— Nelson Mandela, while visiting Cuba in 1991
[See Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory]

“Che Guevara taught us we could dare to have confidence in ourselves, confidence in our abilities. He instilled in us the conviction that struggle is our only recourse. He, was a citizen of the free world that together we are in the process of building. That is why we say that Che Guevara is also African and Burkinabe.”
— Thomas Sankara, commonly referred to as ‘Africa’s Che Guevara’

“The death of Che Guevara places a responsibility on all revolutionaries of the World to redouble their decision to fight on to the final defeat of Imperialism. That is why in essence Che Guevara is not dead, his ideas are with us.”
— Stokely Carmichael (aka Kwame Ture), ‘Black Power’ leader, 1967

And finally let me quote one of the best lines Che ever said which has shaped my own political opinion:

"If you tremble with indignation at every injustice, then you are a comrade of mine"


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Updated Apr 5 • View Upvotes
PF Woody
PF Woody
4.5k Views
"The black is indolent and a dreamer; spending his meager wage on frivolity or drink; the European has a tradition of work and saving, which has pursued him as far as this corner of America and drives him to advance himself, even independently of his own individual aspirations.”

Obviously this is a quote that shows his idea: European white people are superior to the Black Africans. There is no other way of interpretation this quote.

There is also another quote from his book ‘the motorcicle diaries’ that he says Mexicans are lazy Indians.

"During the Cuban guerrilla campaign, Che’s girlfriend (for all intents and purposes) for the first half of 1958 was Zoila Rodríguez García, a black/mulatto woman.”

During slavery time in Brazil, it was very common the black slave women to give birth to mulato children, as their ‘owners’ used to also take advantage of them sexualy. The fact you sleep with a black person doesn’t make you a not racist person.

"In 1959, Che pushed for racially integrating the schools and universities in Cuba, years before they were racially integrated in the southern United States. “

Try to push for racially integrating school show that you think blacks are not smart enough to enter school by their own effort. This sort of mentality is offensive to any black person. I believe we are all the same and we can reach whatever we want if we try hard enough. This sort of mentality is typical from ‘rich kids’ such as Che Guevara, that got born in a rich family and see poor people and black people as less capable and in need of help and support from 'superior beings' like themselves.

I came from a very poor family. My grandmother and grandfather used to walk 20 kilometres to reach a farm where she would work 8 hours under the burning sun and earn little money. After a lot of struggle, they moved to Sao Paulo with absolutely nothing. Sao Paulo is a capitalist city in Brazil with a large industry, where my grandma found a job as maid and my grandpa in a factory, and managed to save money and buy a piece of land and build their house. Beside working they had nine children, which all survived and lived well. That's the power a poor person that never went to school has: work in hard conditions, start from zero, raise children and never give up. People like my grandparents have much more power to conquest things than anarchists freaks with superiority complex like Che Guevara. Poor people, black people, all people only need opportunities only and a govern that doesn't explore them, like the Cuban government that remove 70% of Cubans salary in income taxes. Che Guevara thought he was superior - a hero! - and was ‘saving’ other people while wearing Rolex watches... he actually put all Cuban people in a slavery system which thousands of them end up dying in open sea trying to scape from it.