Adrian Horczak
Professor J. Lutton
People of New York
March 16, 2015
Weekly journal 8
Global capitalism and gender roles brought on by Caribbean transnationalism are described in Caribbean Transnationalism as a Gendered Process, written by Christine Ho. In the reading, Ho discloses West Indians’ family structures and how women have to struggle more than their male counterparts when they migrate to other countries. They are burdened with the responsibilities of taking care of children, running the household, and working for low wages. Therefore, they must rely on their male partners for economic support. This makes men seem like very important.
Reuel Rogers compares Caribbean immigrants’ thoughts on racism with African American thoughts on the topic in Black Like Who? Moreover, he looks at how the two groups of people relate with their ethnic and racial identity. Their strong ties with their race make them participate in politics with similar values. West Indians tend to associate with their ethnicity much more than they do with their race. However, Africans tend to categorize themselves with their race much more.
Growing Up West Indian and African American discusses the ways in which West Indians identify themselves and involves a study with different people in New York. In the article, Mary Waters explains how West Indians feel treated in the USA and how others perceive them. West Indians who immigrate to New York do not feel the presence of racism as much as African Americans because they feel their situation in this country is better than in the Caribbean. However, future generations of West Indians tend to feel a much closer affinity to African Americans because they notice that people treat them poorly. Waters explains at the end of the article that if blacks were shown more respect, they would not feel the presence of racism and people of all races will be equal.
I like the point Waters makes at the end because she recognizes that although racism officially has been stopped, there are prejuduces present. Blacks find it difficult at this point to stop this kind of racism because some whites are friendly to them while others are not. Now they do not know who is good and who is evil, so confronting all of them would not work properly. This makes me see how racism is really present and why it is difficult to completely end it.
Ho’s article presents something different than the other two because she describes the hardships transnational women face. I was always aware that there are certain gender roles that function in society and I was finally made aware of why these roles make women’s lives more difficult.
