The first three chapters of Blood Relations: Caribbean Immigrants and the Harlem Community, 1900-1930, written by Irma Watkins-Owens, were very interesting and helped me gain knowledge about the history behind the formation of the Harlem community. I am not afraid to admit that before attending this class, I did not know that there were many people of Caribbean descent living in Harlem. Because of skin color and other traits that I stereotypically attribute to African Americans, I thought most of the people in Harlem were African American. This book has opened up my mind and it has also made me realize that although immigrants in America come from diverse political, socioeconomic and religious backgrounds, what they all share in common is the American Dream. In her book, Watkins-Owens analyzes the emergence of Harlem’s black community during the first three decades of the twentieth century by looking at the relationship between West Indian immigrants and American-born southern immigrants. Many times this relationship was full of tensions. West Indian immigrants were put in a higher social class than African Americans because of their work ethnic and the fact that they could speak a different language. This angered African Americans because they believed that they should be placed in a higher position in society because of the amount of time that their race lived in the U.S. West Indian immigrants were treated better just because they were born in a different place. Watkins-Owens also goes back to the beginning and explains why people from the Caribbean left their homelands and migrated to the U.S. What interested me the most out of these three chapters in the book is the role women and institutions, such as the church, had in helping Caribbean immigrants assimilate into American society.
Chapter 1 provides an in-depth explanation of the intraracial ethnicity in Harlem. I found it very interesting to read that Harlem used to be a mostly white community. Since I am living in a time period where Harlem is predominantly black, I always ignorantly believed that it was inhabited by black people. However, due to overcrowding in the tenements in downtown Manhattan, the construction of subway stations and other housing issues, African Americans were pushed towards uptown Manhattan. The movement of African Americans to Harlem created a huge change in society. Initially white tenants and landlords were upset and often times resisted this “invasion” but because of ambitious real estate agents like Payton, they eventually succumbed. Like my group discussed in class on Tuesday, more and more African Americans moved to Harlem because they found people with their same ways of thinking, their same identity, their same socioeconomic struggles and their same religion. Black Caribbean immigrants also moved to Harlem because it became such a desirable community full of people from all stages in life, social classes and with different educations. However, all of this movement spurred many issues within the community, “How would white American society perceive foreign blacks? Would black foreigners become allies with black Americans in the great American race struggle? And how would native blacks and their leaders react to a new expanding ethnic and nonracial dimension to community life?” (4). These questions were very important and were issues that caused tensions to form between foreign blacks and native blacks. Like I mentioned before, many native blacks were upset at the fact that foreigners were treated better because they could speak a second language, they were born somewhere else and their work ethnic was deemed better by the white community. At one point, foreign blacks were seen as the “model minority.” This motivated some native blacks to try and imitate the foreigners, but also caused many tensions.
Chapter 1 also discusses how myriad kinship and community networks aided both Caribbean and Southern immigrants by directing them towards employment and housing. These networks are very important because they made the lives of these immigrants a little bit easier. I may be wrong when I say this, but I do not see this for immigrants today. Many come to this country illegally and have to spend a lot of time struggling till they get themselves together. The support that may exist today is not the same as the support that the immigrants in the past received from their fellow compatriots. Many southerners and later on Caribbean people formed groups and organizations that assisted those who recently arrived to the U.S. to adjust to the system and promoted advancement. Religion also played a huge role in the adjustment of immigrants both from the Caribbean and from the southern states. Many used the kerygma as a way of helping them get through their struggles. The idea that an omnipotent being exists and is always looking after his people provided many immigrants with the courage to confront the problems they had. Many immigrants also introduced entirely new denominations of churches that were based on Caribbean culture and way of thinking. The formation of these new sects made Caribbean people feel more at home. It allowed them to express their culture and their beliefs in a god.
Chapter 2 is very interesting because it discusses the reason why Caribbean immigration to the United States started. According to the second chapter, Caribbean migration can be categorized in several phases. Movements that occurred between 1835 and 1885 were between islands. Once the black Caribbean people were freed from slavery they had to look for work. The only available work during that time was in the plantations. So people in the Caribbean immigrated to islands where there was work. This migration within the islands created diversity in each island because it spread different cultural, social, and sometimes even political ideas throughout the different areas. Each island had its own set of complex social dynamics. The fact that many islands in the Caribbean used to be English, French and/or Spanish colonies also added on to the diversity and uniqueness of each one. Colonization has many effects on the colonized. In the Caribbean, class status and economic mobility were essential to achieving recognition in the environment. This yearning to be successful encouraged migration of people. Initially, Caribbean people immigrated to islands where people thrived economically. However, once all the opportunities were taken, people decided to immigrate to the U.S.
The Panama Canal Project was heavily discussed in chapter 2. It was sort of the first project that incentivized people from the Caribbean to begin to immigrate out of their homelands. During the early years of the twentieth century, many people left the Caribbean to Panama in search of work. The Panama Canal became the first opportunity to thrive economically. However, the Caribbean immigrants quickly discovered that working on this canal would not yield them much revenue. The workers got paid very little for doing large amounts of work. Another discouraging notion with regards to the project was that workers were segregated according to skin color. White people who worked on the canal got paid in gold and received free housing. Black immigrants were paid in silver and had to find their own housing. Working conditions were also not good and many had to risk their lives for little pay. However, it is interesting to note that in order to deal with all the pain and anguish caused by this disappointment, Caribbean immigrants decided to develop their own traditions and created important social institutions as new permanent communities were created. The Church was the most important institution for these immigrants. Here we see once more how important religion was to Caribbean immigrants. The creation of communities made up of Caribbean immigrants had effects on Panama. Before reading this book, I always wondered why some foods, music and traditions from Panama were similar to those of some islands in the Caribbean. Now I understand why.
The exploitation of Caribbean immigrant women in Panama is also highly significant. I never knew that they suffered that much. In the book, Watkins-Owens says that many Caribbean women were lured to Panama by bogus agents offering them good jobs and then forced into prostitution. Had I not read this book, I would never have associated Panama Canal construction with prostitution. Something else that I found interesting was the important role that the United Fruit Company had during the time period. It virtually controlled the Caribbean labor market and had an impact on the lives of workers and their families all over the Caribbean. It offered low waged jobs to Caribbean people who did not have any other options but to accept and be exploited. Eventually, Caribbean people started to immigrate to the United States (specifically Harlem, NYC) in search of new jobs. The United States was seen as the dominant economic force of the Western Hemisphere, which led to the emigration of people from the West Indies. On a side note, this idea is still present in the minds of people from all over the world today. I have family members who want to immigrate to New York City and make their lives better. Even though for those of us who live here, New York City has many issues and problems that are yet to be solved, for those who live in other countries, this city is seen as a place where their dreams and wishes can come true.
The creation of family networks is another interesting part of Caribbean immigration and played a huge role in the formation of such a strong and united immigrant community within Harlem. Many times, people would immigrate to the United States, spend months or sometimes years working and saving up money to bring other family members to New York to live with them. Pregnant women would bring their little sisters to live with them so that the little sisters could help take care of them. The fact that immigrants kept in touch with family members back home also surprised me. Today, it is easier to keep in touch with loved ones in other countries because of the advancements in technology. It is amazing how back then, Caribbean immigrants would send packaged food, money and letters on a weekly basis and receive food from back home and letters in return. This shows me that the familial ties were very strong. But what I find very upsetting is the fact that all these people wanted was to make their lives better and when they came to the United States they confronted so much racism from most whites and had to deal with hatred from African Americans. I agree with Maida Springer when she says, “We were all strangers. The black American, the black foreigner, and we did not like one another, and the white foreigner liked us less and the white American hated all of us” (29). Although Caribbean people were thought of as higher than black Americans, they were still on the lower end of the social class hierarchal structure. This quote generalizes the tensions that existed in New York during that time period. However, it is interesting to see how over time, African Americans and descendants of Caribbean immigrants were able to ease some of these tensions and get along.
Chapter 3 provides a lot of information with regards to the evolution of Harlem from a white-based community to a predominantly black community. It is interesting how at one point, the word Harlem had become synonymous with black culture and black lifestyle in Manhattan. Many factors contributed to this change. As mentioned earlier, being “kicked out” of downtown Manhattan and other areas due to renovation and construction of new places was a huge factor for this movement. This reason reminds me of what is happening today with Dominicans who live in Harlem. Because of gentrification and rent increases, many are being kicked out of where they live and consequently are moving to the southern part of the Bronx. But anyways, it is important to note that the communities that surrounded Harlem were made up of Russian and Italian immigrants. Philip A. Payton and his wife, Maggie Payton played an important role in this movement of native blacks and black immigrants to Harlem. Since he was a real estate broker, he worked with many white landlords to allow black people to move into their properties. He, without doubt, assisted many people who otherwise would not have had a home. Little by little white people moved out of the area and so black people became owners of many houses and apartments and leased them to other black people, which expanded Harlem’s black population even more. The Church played a huge role in this area as well, by collecting money to buy houses for black immigrants. Some black people even created organizations such as the White Rose Mission, which were aimed at providing immigrants with temporary housing and employment. What’s even more interesting is how many immigrants worked together to make their lives better. They would pool their money to buy houses and increase the amount of houses available to black immigrants.
The first three chapters of this book have caught my attention. There are so many topics that I can relate to at a personal level, particularly the important role that religion plays in the life of an immigrant. It is in the Catholic Church that my parents, sister and I have found our refuge and have received assistance. Like many Caribbean immigrants, it is here that we have been able to maintain our culture and tradition alive. When we feel down and in need of guidance, we go to the church where we feel replenished and filled.
Something I feel this book has not explicitly mentioned is the effect that Caribbean immigration to the United States has had on the Caribbean. What happened to the islands’ economies?
