Caribbean-Americans: An Invisible Minority Seeking Identity And Affirmation (country, places, people)
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Yes, but the fact that until recent times, blacks were never quite numerous in any of the Central American countries and even in Puerto Rico and in the Dominican Republic, points to very low numbers of African slaves introduced to these places.
In the case of Panama, almost all of its black population was acquired to construct the Panama Canal and these were imported by Americans as free laborers mostly from Jamaica. Had that never happened, Panama wouldn't even have blacks right now and hardly any mixed black/white people.
In the case of the Dominican Republic, there are historical accounts written by American inspectors that arrived in the 1870s in attempt to drawn up a description of what the land and the people were like. In that time, the US was interested in annexing the Dominican Republic and the bulk of the population was described as mixed, but more to the white side, which is obviously not the case today. They are still mixed, but I wouldn't say the average Dominican is closer to the white side. In the late 1870s and early 1880s, the sugar plantations that today covers the eastern Dominican Republic were established mostly by American companies and they imported many blacks from the British Caribbean and in the process darkening the population base as people continue to mix. Also large numbers of Haitians have moved to the Dominican Republic starting in the 1980s/90s, changing and continuing to change the racial composition of the average person seen on Dominican streets. Dominican historians have been aware that for practically the entire colonial period and for many decades after independence the average Dominican was much more light skinned and European looking than today, despite being racially mixed. With time, the racially mixed sector darkened as more blacks were added to the gene pool and their blood spread through Dominican society, keeping the mixed character of the people, but now its more of a black-mulatto mixed rather than a white-mulatto, for the most part, judging by appearances.
My basic point is that except for the lowlands of Colombia and Venezuela, central Cuba, along the pacific coast of South America from Ecuador to Peru; in most other places of the former Spanish Empire where there are sizable number of blacks, its mostly due to relatively recent migration patterns of free black men and not necessarily due to the flows of African slaves in colonial times.
In Mexico, which received a large amount of African slaves, most of the blacks mixed with the indigenous and mestizo population and today the African blood is highly diluted.
In places like Uruguay and Argentina, where very few Africans were imported, after the massive migration of Europeans in the late 1800s and until the 1950s/60s, the small number of blacks were mainly absorbed with the few Afro-descended people there being mulattoes at various degrees of mixture and African immigrants and black immigrants from other parts of Latin America.
This contrasts sharply with most of the British and French colonies where slaves were introduced. To this very day, most of the population in these places are black (except in the US, but in the former slave-owning areas of the Southeast, there are significant numbers of blacks and even counties where blacks are a majority) and trace their heritage to the slave trade to the very islands in which they now live. Also, since the French and the British didn't quite mix with blacks as much as the Spanish did, this helped maintain an almost intact large segment of blacks within each society. In the Spanish areas, except for the relatively recent arrivals of blacks, the ex-slaves mixed with the non-slave population and given that everyone else was lighter skin, a lightening process followed.
And yes on the census many times, if someone writes in other or their own write in without marking any of the provided boxes it just gets defaulted to WHITE.
As for the Hispanic thing, many Hispanics and Latinos as well as people who aren't of that group label, perceive Spanish speaking people as a race orbtheir own group so many don't even bother to fill out race or don't answer the race questions correctly so that gets defaulted to white.
There was a news segment on these matters and the Census has said this too.
The part about the default to "white" was my question...and wow. That is ridiculous. Guess that it why there is no "other" when you look at the demographics of the U.S. on sources like the CIA world factbook. Now noticing that. SMH.
Unites states has a bigger Caribbean population to the UK I think its around 1 million while the UK population is around 600,000.
So the population isn't small and under the radar a such.
US government seems ignorant not to include proper census groupings even the word "Hispanic" sounds backwards, why ain't they just called Latin Americans with the various subgroupings; black, multiracial, white, Amerindian etc sounds like because its easier for the American government who cares.
True but the population is considered small when compared to other groups, so it is easy for the census to disregard the Caribbean population and others of small numbers, such as the Arab population.
The part about the default to "white" was my question...and wow. That is ridiculous. Guess that it why there is no "other" when you look at the demographics of the U.S. on sources like the CIA world factbook. Now noticing that. SMH.
Yep. I also feel that the Census doesn't even tabulate things accurately. The CIA inflates the white numbers. I also notice that mixed race demographics are often not included in CIA demographic reports.
True but the population is considered small when compared to other groups, so it is easy for the census to disregard the Caribbean population and others of small numbers, such as the Arab population.
Caribbean descent populations are pretty sizable and number in the multimillions. Caribbean people are large enough that there could be some representation as a unique ethnopolitical and cultural group. In addition many people in government and the arts and entertainment come from such heritage as well.
I believe 2020 will see Caribbean being counted as a politically documented ethnic group
True but the population is considered small when compared to other groups, so it is easy for the census to disregard the Caribbean population and others of small numbers, such as the Arab population.
I have travelled to the UK and spent a while there several years ago. But anyways not to go off topic, but how are the descendants of black people that have been living in Britain since ancient, medieval, and colonial times counted?
Liverpool is said to have the oldest black community in the UK, and Scotland has some old descended black communities as well, so how are they counted in the UK Censuses etc? I'm just curious.
Thats higher then the majority Latin American countries, is serioulsy doubt the black population of Urguay is that high. There are not many black folks in the southern cone.
In addition West Indian and Black do NOT equal one and the same thing nor are they the same. West Indian does not mean African either.
Most West Indians (defined as people connected to the English speaking Caribbean, inclusive of Guyana and Belize) are considered black, and the vast majority of those so considered self identify as black. So it makes sense to have for those who sef identify as "black" to check the "NON HISPANIC black" box, and then self identify whether they consider themselves to be "African American (descended from US slavery). Caribbean,Europe, and subSaharan African. Really simple thing for the US Census to understand that the "black" category is not monolithic.
The majority of those West Indians who are not black are Asian so can fill in "other" in the "Asian Indian" box, and mark their national origin. So an Indo Guyanese will check Asian Indian, and then fill in Guyanese.
If you then wish to have a notion of how many people from the Caribbean exist and what are their socio economic characteristics you identify Caribbean people from the "black" box. Those who write in Trinidadian/Guyanese, etc from the "ASian Indian" box, and then include Cubans, Dominicans and Puerto Ricans.
That is if you seriously believe that this diverse group of people really do belong to one ethnic group.
People really need to focus on what is possible, rather than wasting time behaving like Quxote.
BTW after an exhaustive discussion of Indo Caribbean people and why they do not wish to be put into the same Caribbean category as AfroCaribbean people are placed, where do you get off an asserting that I think that West Indian and black is the same thing. From my frequent references to Guyanese you ought to have deduced that I am from Guyana, which is clearly not a "black" country.
Thats higher then the majority Latin American countries, is serioulsy doubt the black population of Urguay is that high. There are not many black folks in the southern cone.
Caribbean descent populations are pretty sizable and number in the multimillions. Caribbean people are large enough that there could be some representation as a unique ethnopolitical and cultural group. In addition many people in government and the arts and entertainment come from such heritage as well.
I believe 2020 will see Caribbean being counted as a politically documented ethnic group
And who do you define "Caribbean" people as belonging to a unique ethnopolitical and cultural group.
Does a devout Cuban Catholic who is 100% derived from Asturia Spain, belong in the same category as a devout Hindu from Suriname who speaks Sarnami (Surinames Hindi) as his first language?
Let the fun and games begin!
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