Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Cabo Verde is so similar to the Caribbean in many ways. Their language (Krioulu) is even mutually intelligible and probably the source of Papiamento (spoken in Aruba Bonaire and Curacao).
yea a lot of people think they're West Indians even in Boston locally. People forget they're from Africa. Ive been guilty of it. Some older white people think theyre "some type of fancy Porto Rican"
Dana Barros and Dart Adams.. a Cape Verdean and Afro-Honduran who i dont think a lot of people know their ethnicity even though they may have seen them ball or know their writing. They discuss the Boston basketball scene and ting slike that in the 1980s. Peep Dana's accent. Dana also revealed he never did a basketball visit to BC, they were both football visits as he was a top 50 football player in the country at DB and QB.
The first Cape Verdean islanders settled in the United States in the middle of the nineteenth century. The cranberry industry concentrated south of Boston and on Cape Cod required many workers to harvest which brought more islanders and families to work in the bogs. At the end of the twentieth century, the majority of Cape Verdeans remained in the New England area, mostly Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Population estimates vary for that region, with figures of 13,000 to 21,000 people.
Cape Verdeans before World War I, shaped an identity separate from their African ancestors. They did not think of themselves as "African Americans" in the same way that the descendants of America's slaves did. For them, their European blood was as much a part of their ancestry as was their African blood. Because a majority of them were Roman Catholics in a country where few African Americans shared in that faith, Cape Verdean Americans more often found themselves in the company of other white Catholics. Many of these white Catholics were immigrants from Eastern Europe, also struggling to blend into their new country.
By the 1960s, when the Civil Rights Movement for African Americans gained full strength, Cape Verdean Americans began to interact more frequently as a community. As Cape Verdean Americans intermarried with African Americans of a different background, many of whom were descendants of African slaves and American slave-holders, the cultures began to share traditions and find common sympathies.
NOw that there's a bunch of Haitian and Latinos the catholic world is more diverse (yet still smaller) locally. The little catholic charter schools are all Dominican Haitan and Cape Verdean kids. SO there's no possible delusion that they're not black. But IRL very few Cape Verdeans born after the 1960s attend church with any frequency. Many of them are also in Baptist or Pentecostal churches in 2022. Like I had a Puerto Rican and Cape Verdean pastor at my church on Noforlk street in Dorchester for a hot minute lol.
Sounds very similar to Louisiana Creole story and how they eventually integrated and assimilated into the African American community basically after WW2.
California metros are the least black in the entire country and declining every year. Some other Western metros also have a minority black population. Surprisingly Boston is one of the least black metros in the entire country and if you exclude African immigrants, it's even less black.
teeheehee, the bolded cracks me up. i remember in college some of my boys would say like i'm not truly black becuz i'm haitian. i be like: ------, there are more black people in haiti; than, there are in the united states.
y'all gatekeep way too much on whos allowed to call themselves black.
Sounds very similar to Louisiana Creole story and how they eventually integrated and assimilated into the African American community basically after WW2.
Yea biggest difference being Cape Verdeans still have an immigration stream here.
Depends. In Boston they absolutely do, frequently.
NYC? Much less so.
Cape Verdean are black that's really not even a question. Many of them are very dark and they're unambiguously black by and large. They've been in the US for 150+ years. Like, do people really question if Ryan Gomes, Michael Beach, Dana Barros, or Left Eye identify as black? That's- umm..interesting.
Depending on phenotype and recency do identify as other or mixed race though. But that's mostly due to how the Census was handled this year. For instance, Brockton MA went from 4% mixed race to 17% mixed race from 2010 to 2020... regardless mixed-race black means you still identify as black.
People not from New England have a truly terrible understanding of black groups there. Really, unless you have experience there it should just be an ears-open learning thing because there's no other area in the country with similar dynamics. People think its an over-exaggeration but the New England town (home rule and government structure, cultures) and the politics in New England (rural areas can be more liberal, often are more liberal than cities- even high minority cities), lack of religiosity, high inequality, extreme high share of recent immigrants, as well as the unique ethnic tapestry combined, is closely replicated anywhere.
That's no shade to anyone here but yea. I think trying to extrapolate how these groups you really have no personal connections to in states you haven't been to is really not accurate at all. I don't mean to be condescending but I am just being honest. People can try their best and should-but the best advice is to just go with the census numbers.
Cape Verdeans want to be respected for their culture and identity as Cape Verdeanbut they don't self-segregate in that way unless recently arrived and dont speak English well. Typically Cape Verdeans are wayyy wayyy more like African Americans and hang out with them much more than continental Africans or even Haitians.
With far more Black American intermarriage, similar socioeconomic standing, accents, mannerisms, and fashions. Its not even close.
For instance, you're not gonna find a whole lot of Cape Verdean music at clubs, or Cape Verdean restaurants the way you do Jamaican, Haitian, West African, Dominican. They're a lot more assimilated due to their longevity in the states. Things like Kompa, Zouk, Afrobeat, Reggaeton, Dancehall are all ways those other groups have recognition in Black Boston- that simply doesn't exist for Cape Verdeans (or Garifuna).
Hispanics not identifying with black folks goes all the way back to their country so how is it no for some places but yes for Boston? (In reference to the person you commented on that said Hispanics do not identify with black)
A lot of you people on the internet love making things up.
Puerto Ricans and Dominicans act the same way in Boston, NY, Philly, Baltimore all the way down to Florida.
The people from the islands aren’t really claiming their Afro side like that. And the ones born here are mixed with their identity. Despite being raised around black culture some will happily claim their African side while others will still be on that “no black papi” rant while blasting hip hop and I am sure it’s the same in Boston
^ i think most hispanics are moreno so they may not associate with black as much. some hispanics are spanish so they are identify with their european ancestry (ghiselle bunchin); but, almost as many are african colonized slave descendents and identify as such (al horford, dave ortiz, ...).
Hispanics not identifying with black folks goes all the way back to their country so how is it no for some places but yes for Boston? (In reference to the person you commented on that said Hispanics do not identify with black)
A lot of you people on the internet love making things up.
Puerto Ricans and Dominicans act the same way in Boston, NY, Philly, Baltimore all the way down to Florida.
The people from the islands aren’t really claiming their Afro side like that. And the ones born here are mixed with their identity. Despite being raised around black culture some will happily claim their African side while others will still be on that “no black papi” rant while blasting hip hop and I am sure it’s the same in Boston
I’m glad you asked.
-In Boston the black population and neighborhood is much smaller and there’s really no segregation of tropical Latinos and black in any neighborhood. Hispanics are also smaller in the metro than NYC. So there really isn’t the ability to self segregate as there is in NYC or Philly.
- Puerto Ricans in Boston are nothing like Baltimore, these Puerto Ricans here live with and identify more with Hondurans and Salvadorans..it’s weird. You might as well say Florida Haitian and Boston Haitians act the same lol, it’s not true.
- Because of numbers Blacks and Latinos in Boston are grouped together socially and political- especially in the eyes of many white people.
-in New England Latinos occupy a lower economic academic and social rung than black people so they benefit from all of our “black” programs a lot.
-The sort of Latino-Black tensions that exist in NYC simply don’t exist in Boston and never have at least not anywhere I’ve ever heard or read. If you can find that I’d be interested in seeing it, honestly. Even in Hartford there was much more black(north side)/Latino(south side) division than Boston.
-Add to this, most of the blacks in the Boston Metro share an immigrant/2nd generation background with Hispanics
-During the 1970s and 1980s black and Latinos had to come together in order to protect themselves somewhat from the racist ideology and attacks of some white city of Boston residents. Both commmunities were being harassed.
- Finally the Cape Verdeans heavily heavily blur the line between Latinos and black and act as a hugger in a way that doesn’t exist in NYC, and in general a higher share of Boston and Rhode Latinos are black than in the mid Atlantic.
Essentially in NYC you have a slightly higher share of non-Afro Latinos, bigger and more notable Latin enclaves for PRs and DRs Boston really never had the luxury. And the way the city is now in terms of expense I don’t see that happening. Even a place like Lawrence is very Pilar for shows and it’s hip hop culture albeit it’s absent of any black community, it’s still a place black people pop out too.
But you shouldn’t assume that what’s happening in Philly or NYC is the same in Boston- it’s a different region with a different mix, different vibe. There was always a need for strength in numbers and some blurred lines that don’t exist in the mid-Atlantic At least not the same way. I don’t know why this would benefit me to “make this up” as if I wasn’t there for decades lol. I’m not even Latino….
Now are these people identifying as black in their everyday. No they identify as Dominicans, however this generally depends on education level and age in my experience.
And please keep in mind in talking about people with orangey/brown skin and/or obvious African phenotypes like Hair, Nice, lios etc. which is very very common in Boston and Providence. I’m not talking about very light skinned, straight hair folks.
“Boston prolly more progressive than most of the country when it come to "identifying as black" Twitter think we the most racist. For the most part Africans, Dominicans and Haitians here are true allies of African American and identify as "Black" more than the rest of the country.“
“Never met a Dominican that didn’t claim they weren’t Black. I grew up in Boston mind you. Which has one of the highest populations of Dominicans in the country. Like come on.“
Last edited by BostonBornMassMade; 07-04-2022 at 08:44 AM..
teeheehee, the bolded cracks me up. i remember in college some of my boys would say like i'm not truly black becuz i'm haitian. i be like: ------, there are more black people in haiti; than, there are in the united states.
y'all gatekeep way too much on whos allowed to call themselves black.
this isn't true (there's over 40 million black Americans and Haiti's population is roughly 11 million) and the person's statement about Boston is correct if looking at the percentages . It's not a knock on Boston, it's just a fact.
Hispanics not identifying with black folks goes all the way back to their country so how is it no for some places but yes for Boston? (In reference to the person you commented on that said Hispanics do not identify with black)
A lot of you people on the internet love making things up.
Puerto Ricans and Dominicans act the same way in Boston, NY, Philly, Baltimore all the way down to Florida.
The people from the islands aren’t really claiming their Afro side like that. And the ones born here are mixed with their identity. Despite being raised around black culture some will happily claim their African side while others will still be on that “no black papi” rant while blasting hip hop and I am sure it’s the same in Boston
The difference is Boston has much more Black Latinos (proportion wise) and a smaller black population (so less distinctions). Boston is similar to NYC/NJ but it's not the same.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
