SPANISH LANGUAGE TEACHING AND AFRO-DESCENDANT IDENTITY

There is no question about the role of education in the struggle against racism and for racial equality. However, schools still underachieve in the construction of cultural and social paradigms that allow to break with racial stereotypes and their treatment. What happens in Cuba, a country where there is no institutionalized racism and which promotes equality among all its citizens? What happens in Cuban schools regarding language teaching and race issues? How do afro-descendant teachers of Spanish assume this reality? By answering these questions, the present article is aimed at providing an approximation to the teaching of Spanish as a second language in Cuba from the perspective of afro-descendant teachers. Starting from the concepts of racial and ethnic identity and afro-descendant, the article presents the results of data collected among afro-descendant university teachers of Spanish in Cuba who give their viewpoints on several topics, including the use in their lessons of learning materials which deal with African descent and race issues.