The three articles related to Caribbean identity were very interesting reads. I found that most were accurate and the content can be connected to the experience of people from other cultures. It is amazing how much immigration can affect a person and his/her family’s life. I always wondered why my father suffered through a depression. I guess that coming here very little is a much more different experience than coming here as an adult. Since you do not remember ever being in your homeland, then you do not miss anything or anyone. Adults on the other hand miss their origins. It is even worse when these people do not have any transnational networks or ties to anyone because then they have to make something of themselves on their own. In “Caribbean Transnationalism As a Gendered Process,” Ho discusses the role that Caribbean women play in transnationalism and the suffering that they go through due to the system. Ho starts out by describing the effects of capitalism and a global economy on men and women. Men were usually the ones who worked, made a living, bought the food and supported their families economically. However, having this position made them superior to women because women often depended on their husbands to come to their aid. As capitalism and globalization came into place in the Caribbean islands, women began to work as well, making them less dependent on their husbands. Caribbean families tend to be matrifocal. There is also a stronger relationship between a mother and her children than the relationship between a father and his children. This familial structure led to less-involved fathers, placing a greater burden or role on the mother, who would provide for her children both economically and emotionally.
Caribbean men often did not have the best jobs in their countries or even when they arrived in the United States due to racism. Women would have to go to work as well to make ends meet. However, them getting a job did not take away the other responsibilities they had at home. Women were still expected to do household chores, take care of the kids, and serve their husband. The jobs that were offered to women were often menial and low paying. A lack of job for the husband was not good because many times, the husband would decide immigrate, leaving behind his family and his other responsibilities. Although the husband’s intentions were good, once the husband immigrated, the wife and children inevitably suffered. They no longer had that support right next to them to provide aid. Thus, many Caribbean women resorted to migration. They did not want to experience the suffering that came from the economic situation they were in.
According to Ho, women play an important role in immigration and the establishment of transnational networks and overseas familial ties. Women often immigrated to the U.S. to work, make money and send that money back to their families in the Caribbean. Remittances were an important part of the lives of these people and their families. Immigration had a huge effect on the family and sometimes it led to a family’s disintegration. In some situations, a mother immigrated to the U.S. to work, the father abandoned the family, and the children are left with family members in the Caribbean. This separation is very dangerous and heartbreaking. Parents do not have bad intentions when they immigrate to the United States. Rather they want their whole family to move up the social ladder. I personally view immigrating to a different country to make money and be successful as a sweet and bitter type of action. You can never have anything complete in life. What I mean to say is that, after immigrating to the U.S. you can have a better life than you did in your homeland and send back remittances, but you do not experience a family life since your family is back in your country. And the relationship between you and your family becomes strained. Also, like we mentioned last Thursday, sometimes your family members, who live in the homeland, begin to take advantage of you because they ignorantly come to believe that you have a lot of money just because you live in New York. However, they do not know the backbreaking labor you have to do just to get by.
Something interesting that Ho mentions in the beginning of his article is that the Caribbean elite tend to migrate to New York in families, but that for the working class only women migrate. These women pave way for their families. So in a way women can be considered the leaders of their families. Although it is always believed that men are the heads of the household, I think that women are the heads of the households because they are the ones who raise the kids, have side jobs and provide both emotional and financial support for their families. It is truly shocking to me when I see that men get more credit than women do for their role in the family. Women do all the back stage work so that the family can continue to remain “united.”
Lastly, Ho reminds us of trust networks and their importance to both Caribbean immigrants and their families back at home. Many times Caribbean people would immigrate to work for their nuclear family and their extended family’s economic benefit. However, in exchange for the money they would send back, some Caribbean people left behind their children to be cared for by others. The children were often times why the trust network continued. Both ends had dues for each other. However, once the second or third generations grew up, the networks were gone because neither people in the Caribbean nor the people here in New York felt that they owed anything to each other.
In “Black Like Who?” Rogers explores the issue of Afro-Caribbean group identification and underlying political implications. On a side note, the issues and themes that Rogers presents in his article can be related to any non-white race that has immigrated to this country. In the same way that West Indians did not want to be associated with black people, there are many Latinos that do not want to be meshed into the whole minority group. I have experienced this where I am often confused as Mexican because of the stereotype that most Hispanic immigrants come from Mexico. There is a complicated relationship between regional pride and national pride. I think that it depends on the situation. When you are amongst people of the same region, you want to stand out by portraying national pride. But when you are amongst people who do not know that much about your nation and have a vague idea of the area where you are from, your portray regional pride. Any ways, Rogers mentions that as the amount of Caribbean immigrants in New York increase, the notion of a homogeneous group of black people is disappearing. The presence of Afro-Caribbeans in the city has made the black race more complex. There are ethnic and class differences amongst people from different countries. Although Caribbean people acknowledge that they have roots in Africa, they do not consider themselves African nor do they have the same culture as Africans. The important question that Rogers had was whether, immigrants and second and third generations, identified themselves as West Indian, black, American or the country from where they were from.
It was discovered that some West Indians identify ethnically to avoid being even remotely associated with native blacks. They know how much native blacks suffer due to race in this country and so some believe that coming off as a foreigner would make success more attainable. However, an issue that unites both native and foreign blacks is that of racial discrimination. To an ignorant outsider, an Afro-Caribbean person and a person of African descent look the same, talk the same and have similar impressions. Thus, racism has mobilized native and foreign blacks to join forces and fight against it. Institutions such as volunteer organizations, churches, schools, etc. have served as mobilization grounds.
It is interesting to see how West Indians embrace both their ethnicity and their race. However, most of the population seems to use their homeland as their primary identity. Although most acknowledge that they are related to African Americans, they do not portray racial group awareness and consciousness to the rest. I guess that it is because (like is said in the article) slavery in the West Indies ended much earlier than it did in the United States. West Indians initially come to the United States with a I am going to work and then leave this wretched place kind of mindset. Thus to them, at least initially, race problems are the least of their concerns. The first generation to migrate particularly believes that hard work, demonstration of values and good etiquette will make people overcome racism. The later generations are the ones who begin to truly experience racism at school and other public places. Adult immigrants who work in menial jobs are already in one way or another accepting their position in society. However, the later generations that receive education and become part of American society are the ones who are always shocked by where they end up on the social mobility ladder. Many expect to be treated a certain way because of their pre-supposed intellect and when they get treated like trash, they become angry and is experiences like this one that make later generations associate themselves more and more with native blacks, who have experienced this for a much longer stretch of time.
An interesting idea brought up by Rogers is that African Americans tend to compare their situation with that of whites while Caribbean immigrants compare their situation with the situation that they were in back in their homeland. African Americans will never be satisfied by they will always believe that they are not being treated correctly; whereas, West Indians see a positive change, generally speaking of course. Also, West Indians have the exit option, meaning if the situation gets worse they can always go back home. This option is just a way for Caribbean immigrants to cope with their issues. I am pretty sure no one would go back.
I personally think that there is truly a shared identity amongst African Americans and Afro-Caribbeans. Before this class, I had ignorantly believed that they even shared the same cultures. This idea sounds so idiotic to me now. It is like saying that Ecuador has the same culture as Spain just because at one point Spaniards colonized Ecuador and resided in it. Although we may have a shard language, and certain cultural aspects like religion, dance and cuisine, there are many differences between both groups of people. The stigmatization of native blacks in this country is what makes it difficult for Caribbean immigrants to fully identify with the native black population.
In “Growing Up West Indian and African American,” Waters talks about the development of an identity, amongst West Indians, be it ethnic or racial and the effects of leaning towards one over the other. On a side note, I never knew the difference between race and ethnicity before this class. Through an intensive study, Waters discovered that most first generation West Indian immigrants identified themselves with their country of birth and some tried to maintain a huge distance from African Americans. However, the second generation had a more variety of responses. Waters believe this is because of race, class, gender, and the experience that these people have in the U.S. It was seen that people who identified themselves ethnically were mostly from a middle/working class while people who identified racially were of a lower class. What is implied is that those who identified themselves ethnically wanted a distinction between them and African Americans because they have no reason to be associated with them, whereas, those in the lower class are often victims of racism and maltreatment, causing them to form an alliance with African Americans as a way of fighting back the system.
I found it interesting and understandable that many believed being a black American to be the worst possible label. These people are often the victims of racial prejudices and stereotypes. In terms of gender, Waters described it as boys identified being black in terms of racial solidarity while girls discussed it as freedom from parental control. Also, the reason why West Indian immigrants had more access to jobs and opportunities when compared to the native blacks was because of the networks that many established. The establishment of networks was necessary for West Indian immigrants because they needed to be sure they would have opportunities waiting for them once they arrived to the U.S.
Waters’ article focuses more on individual identification. The inclusion of the study responses were very interesting and made the article more appealing to me. I admire Waters for being so direct, to the point and sure of what she was saying. The way she analyzes her interviews and comes up with many generalizations was very interesting and must have require a lot of work and effort on her part. She raises some very good ideas like the fact that decent jobs, good schools and low crime rates are universal ideas that would benefit everyone.
I look forward to discussing this more in depth in class.
