Although the population of Jamaica is diverse as it is large (almost 60,000 people), the majority of the people currently living in Jamaica is non-white. Based on the 2010 census, Caucasians make up for only 23.8% of the Jamaican population, while blacks and Asians make up for 55% of the population. According to the recent trend in the census data, however, this may soon change. From 2000 to 2010, the African American population in Jamaica has decreased by around nine percent while the overall population has risen by six percent. The reason for the rise in the general population despite the decline of African Americans is because of other ethnic groups, such as Asians and whites, moving in and essentially kicking the poor blacks out of their homes. This “white flight”, as this movement of whites is often called, has had a two-fold effect on Jamaica ever since it started in the late 1990s. In addition to pushing out the blacks and the hispanics to other metropolitan areas, the whites who moved into Jamaica helped to bring about gentrification faster. Although gentrification has brought its fair share of negative effects, such as the removal of minorities and the widening of the income gap, one cannot easily make the argument that the results of this white flight are strictly negative. For example, due to gentrification in Jamaica, crime rates has decreased in Jamaica while new stores, such as Whole Foods, are being constructed in place of old supermarkets. This, in turn, helps to bring about new jobs, which in turn might help someone looking for upwards mobility. However, as more and more jobs become available, the more and more people come to Jamaica to look for cheap houses and solid jobs, which is extremely detrimental to Jamaicans who already cannot afford the rapidly rising house prices.

Donald

Above is an interview with a resident of Jamaica.  We caught him as he was beginning to work on the mural in the background, an initiative called Project Pick Me Up.  He discusses his first-hand observations of employment in Jamaica and how the movement of new residents into the area negatively impacts the people that already exist there.

Sources: http://wgbhnews.org/post/jamaica-plain-ground-zero-gentrification
http://www.zip-codes.com/zip-code/11432/zip-code-11432-census-comparison.asp