Gracias Marielitos

Miami - the city of changes - went through another big change back in 1980 when over 100,000 Cubans came to the U.S. via the Mariel boatlift. Most of them were decent hard-working people who seeked freedom, but unfortunately fidel castro emptied out his prisons and allowed criminals, the insane, and the sick to join the others to this country. The end result was a period of instability in Miami, and South Florida in general, as many non-Hispanics left the city for good in the wake of the massive influx of refugees.

Marielitos, as they became known, were called names such as escoria, or scum, and were blamed for an increase in crime. The reality was that the city was already undergoing a big crime wave, primarily due to the "cocaine cowboys" which reached their peak in the late 70s. However, the perception that the Marielitos were to blame became cemented, and national publications such as Time magazine proclaimed South Florida as "Paradise Lost". The negative perception reached its peak with the movie Scarface which starred Al Pacino as a Mariel refugee who becomes involved in the drug trafficking world. They were even looked down upon by the earlier wave of Cuban exiles. I often heard my family, who were part of that earlier wave, refer to them as being "different" and "less-educated".

I was 11 when the Marielitos arrived and, aside from a few relatives and schoolmates who arrived in the boatlift, had limited contact with them. I believed what everybody was saying, that they were different and indeed escorias.

Fast-forward to 2005 and we can see how wrong we were. The Marielitos were different, but mainly because they had endured two full decades under a communist regime. Like the earlier group of Cuban exiles, they eventually assimilated and became another in a long line of successful immigrants in the United States.

Today's Miami Herald published a special report commemorating the 25th anniversary of the Mariel boatlift. It also includes a magazine which has touching pictures and personal accounts of Marielitos who have become successful members of the community. If you can't pick up a copy of today's Herald, you can view the full report and order the magazine online (site registration is free).