Those who have accused and accuse Che of racism, always quote his diary (Notas de Viaje / in English: The Motorcycle Diaries) where he wrote:

‘The blacks, those magnificent examples of the African race who have maintained their racial purity thanks to their lack of affinity with bathing, have seen their territory invaded by a new kind of slave: the Portuguese. And the two ancient races have now begun a hard life together, fraught with bickering and squabbles. Discrimination and poverty unite them in the daily fight for survival but their different ways of approaching life separate them completely: the black is indolent and a dreamer, spending his meager wage on frivolity or drink; the European has a tradition of work and saving, which has pursued him as far as this corner of America and drives him to advance himself, even independently of his own individual aspirations.”

Che wrote these lines when he was 24 years old and when he met black people for the first time in his life – in a slum during his South American journey.

His remarks are really sharp – they sound a kind of racist today, though at that time they sound normal for many of his contemporaries in the white population of South America. The descendants of the Spanish conquerors despised the indigenous peoples (whom they had found in the Americas) and the African slaves (whom they had carried there to work for them). The strange thing is that Che wrote such things about black people while he was so supportive to the indigenous people. Here is a remark from his diary (Notas de Viaje):

“Alberto had reacted violently on seeing Civil Guard soldiers insulting an Indian woman who had come to bring food to her imprisoned husband. His reaction must have seemed completely alien to people who considered the Indians were no more than objects, who deserve to live but only just. After that, we fell out of favour.”

At the age of 24 Che might have been called a racist. But after joining the Cuban expedition in 1956, his attitude to black people totally changed.

Let’s see some examples – that contain facts not only about his attitude to black but to Asian people as well.

~ In December 1953 he met the Peruvian (and half-Chinese) Hilda Gadea. They became good friends, then two years later they got married when she became pregnant with Che’s first child, Hildita.

~ He had black friends in the Rebel Army and one of them, Harry “Pombo” Villegas became one of his bodyguards as well. He fought with Che in Cuba, then in the Congo and in Bolivia.

 



Che, Aleida March and the young Harry Pombo Villegas on the wedding day of Che and Aleida (2 June 1959, Havana)







~ One of his first students, that he taught to read and write, was the Afro-Cuban peasant, Julio Zenon Acosta whom Che had a high opinion of.

~ After the victory of the Cuban Revolution, he visited the Central University of Las Villas in Santa Clara (28 December 1959) and he made a speech in which he demanded racial integration and equality:

“So what must I say about the university’s fundamental duty, its article number one, in this new Cuba? What I must say is that the university should color itself black and color itself mulatto—not just as regards students but also professors. It should paint itself the color of workers and peasants. It should paint itself the color of the people, because the university is the patrimony of no one but the people of Cuba.”

~ In August 1961 he talked at the Punta del Este Conference, where he condemned the discrimination against Afro-Americans:

„Democracy is not compatible with financial oligarchy, with discrimination against Blacks and outrages by the Ku Klux Klan, or with the persecution that drove scientists like Oppenheimer from their posts, deprived the world for years of the marvelous voice of Paul Robeson, held prisoner in his own country […]”

„Our revolution nationalized the domestic economy; it nationalized basic industry, including mining. […] It instituted many measures to affirm the dignity of the human being. Among the first of these was the abolition of racial discrimination, which existed in our country, distinguished delegates, in a somewhat subtle form, but it existed. The beaches of our island were not for Blacks or the poor to swim at because they belonged to some private club visited by tourists who did not like to swim with black people. Our hotels — Havana's great hotels, which were built by foreign companies — did not allow black people as guests, because tourists from other countries did not like it. That is the way our country was. A woman did not have anything approaching equal rights; she was paid less for the same work; she was discriminated against, as she is in the majority of our countries. […] Popular beaches have been opened to all, of course, without distinction of color or ideology, and free besides.”

~ On 11th December 1964 he made a long speech at the United Nations Assembly in New York, where he spoke for the freedom and equality of the Afro-Americans and the African peoples, and also expressed the support of Cuba and of himself:

„We must also state that it is not only in relations among sovereign states that the concept of peaceful coexistence needs to be precisely defined. As Marxists we have maintained that peaceful coexistence among nations does not encompass coexistence between the exploiters and the exploited, between the oppressors and the oppressed. Furthermore, the right to full independence from all forms of colonial oppression is a fundamental principle of this organization. That is why we express our solidarity with the colonial peoples of so-called Portuguese Guinea, Angola, and Mozambique, who have been massacred for the crime of demanding their freedom. And we are prepared to help them to the extent of our ability in accordance with the Cairo declaration.”

"The final hour of colonialism has struck, and millions of inhabitants of Africa, Asia and Latin America rise to meet a new life and demand their unrestricted right to self-determination."

"We speak out to put the world on guard against what is happening in South Africa. The brutal policy of apartheid is applied before the eyes of the nations of the world. The peoples of Africa are compelled to endure the fact that on the African continent the superiority of one race over another remains official policy, and that in the name of this racial superiority murder is committed with impunity. Can the United Nations do nothing to stop this?"

“But the philosophy of plunder has not only not been ended, it is stronger than ever. And that is why those who used the name of the United Nations to commit the murder of Lumumba are today, in the name of the defence of the white race, murdering thousands of Congolese. How can we forget the betrayal of the hope that Patrice Lumumba placed in the United Nations? How can we forget the machinations and manoeuvres that followed in the wake of the occupation of that country by United Nations troops, under whose auspices the assassins of this great African patriot acted with impunity? How can we forget, distinguished delegates, that the one who flouted the authority of the UN in the Congo — and not exactly for patriotic reasons, but rather by virtue of conflicts between imperialists — was Moise Tshombe, who initiated the secession of Katanga with Belgian support? And how can one justify, how can one explain, that at the end of all the United Nations activities there, Tshombe, dislodged from Katanga, should return as lord and master of the Congo? Who can deny the sad role that the imperialists compelled the United Nations to play?
To sum up: dramatic mobilizations were carried out to avoid the secession of Katanga, but today Tshombe is in power, the wealth of the Congo is in imperialist hands — and the expenses have to be paid by the honourable nations. The merchants of war certainly do good business! That is why the government of Cuba supports the just stance of the Soviet Union in refusing to pay the expenses for this crime.

And as if this were not enough, we now have flung in our faces these latest acts that have filled the world with indignation. Who are the perpetrators? Belgian paratroopers, carried by United States planes, who took off from British bases. We remember as if it were yesterday that we saw a small country in Europe, a civilized and industrious country, the Kingdom of Belgium, invaded by Hitler's hordes. We were embittered by the knowledge that this small nation was massacred by German imperialism, and we felt affection for its people. But this other side of the imperialist coin was the one that many of us did not see. Perhaps the sons of Belgian patriots who died defending their country's liberty are now murdering in cold blood thousands of Congolese in the name of the white race, just as they suffered under the German heel because their blood was not sufficiently Aryan.
Our free eyes open now on new horizons and can see what yesterday, in our condition as colonial slaves, we could not observe: that "Western civilization" disguises behind its showy facade a picture of hyenas and jackals. That is the only name that can be applied to those who have gone to fulfil such "humanitarian" tasks in the Congo. A carnivorous animal that feeds on unarmed peoples. That is what imperialism does to men. That is what distinguishes the imperial "white man."
All free men of the world must be prepared to avenge the crime of the Congo. Perhaps many of those soldiers, who were turned into subhumans by imperialist machinery, believe in good faith that they are defending the rights of a superior race. In this assembly, however, those peoples whose skins are darkened by a different sun, coloured by different pigments, constitute the majority. And they fully and clearly understand that the difference between men does not lie in the colour of their skin, but in the forms of ownership of the means of production, in the relations of production.
The Cuban delegation extends greetings to the peoples of Southern Rhodesia and South-West Africa, oppressed by white colonialist minorities; to the peoples of Basutoland, Bechuanaland, Swaziland, French Somaliland, the Arabs of Palestine, Aden and the Protectorates, Oman; and to all peoples in conflict with imperialism and colonialism. We reaffirm our support to them. I express also the hope that there will be a just solution to the conflict facing our sister republic of Indonesia in its relations with Malaysia.”

" Those who kill their own children and discriminate daily against them because of the colour of their skin; those who let the murderers of Blacks remain free, protecting them, and furthermore punishing the Black population because they demand their legitimate rights as free men — how can those who do this consider themselves guardians of freedom? We understand that today the assembly is not in a position to ask for explanations of these acts. It must be clearly established, however, that the government of the United States is not the champion of freedom, but rather the perpetuator of exploitation and oppression against the peoples of the world and against a large part of its own population."

~ In 1965 (from April to November) he went to the Congo where he fought with his 130 Afro-Cuban combatants, together with Congolese and Rwandan combatants for the freedom of the Congo. He was the only one white man in the troops.

~ His Swahili interpreter in the Congo was Freddy Ilanga who always spoke about Che with the biggest appreciation and he claimed that Che “showed the same respect to black people as he did to whites.”

~ In November 1966 he went to Bolivia and he was fighting there until his death, 9th October 1967. He chose the Cuban combatants that he took with himself – among them there were some Afro-Cuban and even one Chinese combatants – and of course, Pombo (who can be seen next to Che on the photo under).

Fact: the young Ernesto Guevara may have made a racist comment in his diary, but Ernesto Che Guevara fought for racial integration and complete freedom for everyone no matter what colour their skin was.