Throughout the book Blood Relation, written by Irma Watkins-Owens, the history of Harlem and its growth in the 1900s to the 1930s is extensively discussed and analyzed. At a first glance of the book, one cannot tell how the book will organize and define the stages of Caribbean colonization in Harlem, NY. In chapter 1, called Introduction- Intraracial Ethnicity in Harlem (1900-1930), the state of Harlem at the time is discussed. It is interesting to note that Harlem was previously a white centered community. It was known as a “residential heaven” of the city of Manhattan. Slowly over time, the black African Americans moved into the Harlem area for many reasons. First, the building of Penn Station started to push the blacks out of those blocks and into the Harlem area. Something important to note that the chapter mentioned was that foreign blacks were treated with better equality than native black Americans. When seemingly black looking people spoke Spanish or French, they were taken care of and treated with respect whereas native African Americans were subjected to following the Jim Crow laws. I found this really interesting because most textbooks always portrayed that all blacks were treated unequally due to their skin color. However, this book showed a different side of what most people perceived. It showed that the injustice that certain blacks faced were more likely related to status signs. Native black Americans were seen as belonging to a lower status compared to foreign literate blacks. This thought process raises many questions about what the real problem was; was it more than just a racial problem that blacks faced?
In chapter 2, Panama Silver Meets Jim Crow, the first and starting reasons for why the Caribbean migration to the Americas started is discussed. Inter-territorial movements from the Caribbean first started between the years 1835 to 1885 when slavery ended and unemployment increased. With the ending of slavery, many of the previous slaves had nowhere to go so they were just forced to work on the same plots as laborers. It was hard for them to get jobs or to get well paid. With the onset of the Panama Canal Project in 1904 to 1914, Caribbean people had the incentive to leave to Panama for work. However, the labor at the Canal was very cheap so workers received very little money. The only people who really made enough money were artisans, who were then able to send the “Panama Money” back home to be used to bring relatives to New York. After the Panama Canal project was completed, the workers who made little profits, with the help of the United Fruit Company, took ships to New York in search of new jobs. This immediately led to the mass immigration of Caribbean people to Harlem; the emigration from the West Indies was known as the “Exodus”. It was interesting to note how family connections helped create communities in Harlem, which was such a new environment to the immigrants. Immigrants in Harlem would make enough money to bring other family members to NY to live with them. Pregnant women would bring their sisters to live with them in Harlem and help out with the housework. I was amazed at how well family ties were kept without advanced technology between family members and the immigrants in NY. The families would send food and letters every week to the immigrants on the transatlantic, showing how strong the bond was between families far apart from each other.
In chapter 3, On to Harlem, the book discusses how Harlem evolved from a white-based community into a black-based community. First of all, it was important to note that the community surrounding Harlem largely consisted of Russian and Italian immigrants. Philip A. Payton was a native-born black real estate broker who helped initiate the black movement towards Harlem. Payton convinced some white tenant owners to rent out their apartments to black people. Slowly, white people started leaving the community as more blacks came into the area. Churches started to collect money to buy houses for black immigrants who had no place to go. The White Rose Mission helped many female immigrants gain temporary housing and employment in the Harlem area. Many of the people living together started to pool their money and resources in order to buy more houses. Houses started to become larger as they included more people. The community became the essential foundation of support for immigrants, with many similar workers living together in the same tenement houses. I found it interesting that the Caribbean people followed the native black population into Harlem. However, over time, problems within the black community formed between the Caribbean people and the native blacks. Varying political differences brought tension between the two types of blacks. Certain Caribbean immigrants, known as “Rabble Rousers”, would stand at the corners of streets and spread the word about their political ideologies.
It is interesting to note how in the beginning of the migration of immigrants from different countries, foreign blacks were treated well in the United States of America. Native black African Americans, however, were treated in unequal ways. However, as many Caribbean immigrants came into the city, restrictions were created to tighten the immigration of certain types of people, typically Japanese and Caribbean. Many Caribbean immigrants ended up sneaking onto random ships as stowaways and then they would escape to Harlem. This polarization of opinions was startling because at one point, these immigrants were welcomed into America. At another point then, these immigrants were restricted from entering, showing a complete turn in opinionated views of immigrants. I thought it was interesting that even though the officials tried their best to limit immigration, it was hard to stop it completely. Stowaways kept sneaking onto various ships and many of the officials didn’t strictly regulate and upkeep the regulation policies.
One of the main things I wondered about when reading the book was the impact that the Caribbean nations may have had with the loss of all their workers to the United States of America. Many of the young workers were leaving the plantations of the country to go to the States to work there. Some of the communities in the Caribbean nations were alarmed at the fast rate at which all the workers were leaving the nation. However, many of the Caribbean family members who had immigrants in the US were happy because they were receiving more money than they ever had. They now had an increased living standard of life. I would definitely like to learn more about how the economies of the Caribbean nations were impacted from the emigration to the States and how this impacted the immigrants back at the States.
