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As a fellow Cuban American I’d think he’d be more wary of this argument for the simple reason that not only is racism rampant in our community, but race functions differently in Latin America while being no less virulent
Thinking about a Cuban American who visited Mexico and was shocked to see in the subway of the capital a person of mixed ancestry shove a person in more traditional indigenous dress while yelling at them for being “Indio”
Or a friend of mine, also cuban, who dated a Bolivian woman who was by her own admission 3/4ths indigenous but who saw herself as white and would freak out if you even implied she was like indigenous people (woman was part of mestizo latinized wealthy local elites)
A president of the Dominican Republic (Trujillo) would put white makeup on his face to make himself look whiter than he was while ordering a genocide against Haitians who were slaughtered by machete in an unknown number because nobody kept track, all to whiten the DR racially
None of this stuff stops at the waters edge either. How many convos have folks had with older relatives complaining about “los morenos” who they see as lazy and criminals? Or by middle class cuban Americans who are white or nearly looking down on “indios” from Central America?
In latino America race is pernicious in different ways than in the US. Whiteness is in theory obtainable if you latinize yourself and make sure to marry and have kids strategically in ways that “mejoran la raza”. And, of course, have money and education. This is basic stuff
