The Mariel Effect: Social and Racial Tensions in South Florida in the Wake of the Boatlift

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The arrival of 125,000 Cubans from the Port of Mariel to South Florida beginning in April

1980 coincided with a particularly volatile period in Miami. The killing of Arthur McDuffie—

an unarmed Black man—by White and Latino police officers who were later acquitted,

exacerbated deeply rooted tensions in race relations among African Americans, Whites,

and Latinos (primarily Cubans) in Miami. At the same time, the new influx of Cuban

refugees was associated with another crisis: the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Three distinct voices

representing recent scholarship will address the complicated ways in which issues around

race and gender played out post-Mariel during the 1980s and continue to shape Miami

today.

Julio Capó, Jr., Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of History; Deputy Director, Wolfsonian Public Humanities Lab, Florida International University

Antonio López, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of English, George Washington University

Chanelle N. Rose, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of History, Rowan University

Alejandro de la Fuente, Ph.D., Chair, Cuba Studies Program, DRCLAS, Harvard University (Moderator)

Introductory remarks by Elizabeth Cerejido, Ph.D., Chair, Cuban Heritage Collection

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The Mariel Effect: Social and Racial Tensions in South Florida in the Wake of the Boatlift

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