I had a lot of business dealings with Cubans in the 1970’s. I know what you mean about the racial division. One older guy I had extensive dealings with had blue eyes and silver blond hair-he was an older man. I developed mixed feelings about them.
The first generation definitely had divided loyalties.
They dreamed of returning to the lives and property they left behind in Cuba.
No question they were Republican voters, though.
Interestingly, Rubio’s father and mother arrived in Miami in 1956, but certainly not as political refugees, not from Castro, anyway.
Fidel Castro was essentially unknown in 1956, even in Cuba.
I lived through that whole period in Lauderdale.
The local Catholic churches sponsored thousands of kids who were allowed to emigrate before their parents.
Every class in my elementary school had three or four Cuban kids, so maybe my perspective is a little different.