Alejandro de la Fuente breaks up his text into four sections. His main argument is split into three questions that he seeks to answer for readers. Race plays a part in all three questions. The questions are how unequal racial has Cuban society been across education, the labour market, and power resources; How did the revolution’s programs help Afro-Cubans economically and socially; and lastly, how did racial ideologies within Cuba define racial coexistence. Fuente claims to do something new with his approach to these questions. According to Fuente, previous literature “does not provide a coherent explanation for the often ambiguous roles that perceptions of race have played in Cuban society, economy, and politics.”

I wonder at Fuente’s claims to bring something new to Cuban historiography. I am not familiar with Cuban historiography, so I cannot answer that question well in its entirety, but I do think he answers the questions he poses well. Fuente does not highlight gender; there is only a male-driven narrative in looking at Cuba in this book. Women are rarely highlighted in terms of what they contributed to an era of Cuban history. I feel this was a missed opportunity because the issues of race and gender can be intersectional.

The claim of race is central to making Cuba into a nation. Race, or lack of race, depending on the era of Cuban history, has helped shape the country into its modern-day form. Fuente strives to show the readers how Afro-Cubans secured their rights from the state and how limited those rights were for Afro-Cubans. Each book section highlights race in the era it covered in Cuban history. The second section was my favourite in its highlighting the racial inequality in Cuba. The third and fourth sections are not broken up into as many sub-sections as the first two sections in the text.
The sources Fuente uses in A Nation for All has a wide range. The national archives in Cuba and the USA are used. Afro-Cuban periodicals and Cuban government documents are cited in this text. Other books, articles, and papers are used for research as well. Films are used, which surprised me, though Fuente mentions films Afro-Cubans participated in. I would not have thought of using movies as research or source work. Though I suppose the film is an excellent way to capture what is happening in society or what the popular narrative pushes during its release. Looking through the sources, another one that struck me was the Cuban Ministry of Social Welfare used for some of the statistics throughout the book. I was surprised to see these items available for public use.

Fuente argues the link many scholars make between the revolution and racial justice is problematic. He says that it implies racial equality is dependent upon a particular set of structures that the government has to enforce. This comment struck me. While I do not know a great deal of Cuban history, there are parallels in other parts of the world regarding people’s expectations of the government reenforcing ‘proper’ social norms. The way Fuente phrased that statement made me think about the subject in a way I had not previously.

The rise of educated black people in Cuba went up due to Afro-Cubans own motivation to show while Cubanness was supposed to overshadow race, it did not. While Afro-Cubans did not have as easy access to education as their white counterparts when opportunities were available for educational advancement, Afro-Cubans seized them. The tension with why Afro-Cubans were not as educated shows that prejudice still existed. Fuente says, “white intellectuals, politicians, and employers perceived Afro-Cubans’ lack of education as a manifestation of ‘black problems’” while Afro-Cubans blamed racism and colonialism. The bias is evident in this sentence because what does “black problems” mean? What did it mean to white Cubans who faulted blacks for society faults?

The association between Fidel Castro’s regime and their support of African Americans surprised me. I remember hearing they supported more radical black movements in the USA, but it is not mentioned much in the famous historical narrative. Presenting Cuba as a diverse nation is an interesting tactic. Using the issue of race to help align themselves with other people of colour struggling gives an exciting view into Cuba’s foreign policy. A Nation for All had great information related to Cuban history and race in the 20th century. It was an informative read.