Nancy Foner’s “West Indian Migration to New York” and Karen Fog Olwig’s “New York as a Locality in a Global Family Network” are two publications that transitioned the study of the first Caribbeans in America, specifically in New York, to the impact that this migration has had, both in their home nations and to the place that they moved to. Although many have been forces to migrate due to economic struggles, these migrants became important links to many transnational ties. The first migrants to foreign land go in search of opportunity and to help their families back at home. The first migrant leads to more migrants settling, some older in search for work, some who are children sent to go to school. These transnational networks cause the transfer of people, money, and goods. These transfers are made to benefit the network, both at the foreign countries, and at the origin country.
Olwig’s paper gave me a better understanding of transnational networks mostly because it was an anthropological angle. The Jamaican family that Olwig interviewed were fortunate enough to be of the middle class in Jamaica, and attempted to reach this same status in New York, but were unfortunately able to do so. In the one family, there were so many different reactions to the limitations placed on black Americans. Brooklyn became an area of the lower class, and the white Americans judged that the family belonged there because they were also black. They were lucky enough to build enough transnational ties that they could move to other states, Canada, Europe, or even back to Jamaica, and still have enough to own property there.
The later generations had through live through the racism as they grew up, and that probably fueled them to want to leave even more. The story of Kathy’s friend and her mom was horrendous, and a terrible thing to be exposed to as a child. All a kid could do is think to themselves “What is wrong with me?” and doubt themselves. Kathy’s family was lucky enough to be able to move to other places where there was less racism, but there are other migrants who are not so lucky. The less fortunate that can’t handle the racism move back to their home country, ashamed and disheartened. Others who can’t afford that or don’t want to face going home as a failure stay and slowly break their ties with their network. In Brown Girl, Brownstones by Paulle Marshall, Silla explained that what the white’s saw as lazy blacks, were actually blacks that were broken by the racism and hardships that the had to face. Thankfully there are political and social movements to help these people, but they focus more on forcing equality than helping the undermined.
Adding to the pressure on the transnational ties are the trust networks. Smaller trust networks make up a larger transnational network. There are many things that can go wrong on both ends of trust networks, however both have to trust in the other to do their part. Remittances, both to and from the transmigrant have to be in continuous flow to keep the trust up. A serious consequence for not sending back money or goods to those at home is that if they ever decide to go back home, they will not be well received. A person that has to go to a new place with a limited range of opportunity that the trust network gives will have a lot of pressure to succeed. I assume that the family that I have here that came from a small town in Ecuador is part of one trust network, although the tightest one is between my mom’s side of the family, most notably her brothers and sisters. Through this trust network, we are planning the marriage in Ecuador of my brother, who lives here, and his fiancé, who lives in Ecuador. This summer I will be a viajero who will transport goods from here to Ecuador and participate in my brother’s wedding.
