[2] By the middle of 1959 various new policies had affected Cuban life such as the redistribution of property, nationalization of religious and private schools, and the banning of racially exclusive social clubs.

Those that began to leave the island were driven by them being negatively affected by new economic policies, their distaste with new national public schools, or anxiety over government supported racial integration.

[2] In April of 1961 the Bay of Pigs Invasion consisting of many militant and anti-fidelista Cuban exiles would fail to take over Cuba.

[5] Growing controversy in Cuba with the nationalization of Catholic schools spurred the development of Operation Peter Pan to relocate children to the United States.

[1] Researcher Jorge Duany claims the majority of exiles were urban, middle-aged, well-educated, light-skinned, and white-collar workers, who emigrated primarily did so for religious, or political reasons.

All property and money would be confiscated from them when finally leaving the country, and most exiles left with only a suitcase of clothing in their possession.

By 1960 the United States had established the Cuban Refugee Emergency Center which supplied exiles with food, money, clothing, medical aid, adult education, and plane tickets to locations that had humanitarian organizations that were caring for new arrivals.

In Miami discrimination was still commonplace towards Cuban immigrants and many were barred from renting certain properties or membership in trade unions.

[8] Many exiles' were able to use already attained professional skills to eventually better their occupations, and contribute to building Miami's Cuban business enclave.

Whatever social manifestations of racism existed in Cuba were often ignored or unknown to the upper-class white emigres arriving in Miami.

The sight of formal racial segregation in the American south by Cuban exiles reinforced the idea that the Cuba de ayer was free of racism unlike the United States.