New York as a Locality in a Global Family Network
New York was viewed as a place where immigrants could be turned into new citizens. This migration process would be complete when the immigrants become fully incorporated into the American society. An outcome is that the immigrants will be assimilated partially and will belong to a set of subcultures rather than the American society. “The result is that the present-day Caribbean population of New York is integrated into a transnational sociocultural system that is only partially grounded in American soil.” This means that the Caribbean population has ties to places other than America.
In this reading, there are three family networks of Caribbean origin that had the same ancestors. Over time the family have been scattered throughout the world, from Barbados to the Virgin Islands. New York played a role in the family network because it was a place that had a considerable amount of movement. The family network had roots in Jamaica and it began with William and Marie. William was born in a seaport and Marie was born in a small village. Together they had eight children but their roots wasn’t pure Jamaican. Marie’s paternal grandfather was from Portugal and William’s paternal grandfather moved from Scotland to Jamaica. This created a unique family network that has roots from European and Afro Jamaican descent.
Marie and William valued a good education for their children so they earned money to send their children to the finest private schools. When Marie and William began struggling financially in Jamaica they sent their children, who traveled as sponsors from other relatives, to America. In America the children pursued a greater education. Bill, one of the children who went to America, was under a lot of pressure from his family because he was going to New York to become a doctor. A doctor position was a high point because it would raise the status of the Jamaican family. The family viewed profession over commerce.
New York was initially a place to go where families could find better educational and economical opportunities. However, it has changed to becoming more family orientated. Doreen, who lives in London, came to New York and found out that she was surrounded with family. Marie also moved back to New York to join her family. New York became the center stage for the family because of all the kin relations associated with it.
At first when the family moved to New York they lived in Harlem. As they improved financially, they moved to a better place in Brooklyn. Brooklyn was described as “pristine and beautiful.” It was also described as being safe due to the fact that police constantly patrolled the area. Everyone who lived in Brooklyn also seemed to have some type of profession. They were either a doctor, lawyer, teacher, etc. In Brooklyn, the family frequently visited one another about three times a week. Aside from the family circle, there was a problem of racism. The children experienced racism in schools because the schools were predominantly white. Kathy, for example, was forced to sit away from everyone else because of her skin color. In addition to the racism that the children had to face, they were also pressured by their families to pursue a respectable career. Kathy career choice was frowned upon because she chose dancing over becoming a doctor.
As the family became comfortable living in New York, the children wanted to leave. Kathy, for example, declined a full scholarship to a local school and decided to go to a school in Massachusetts with only a partial scholarship. This idea of leaving imitates middle class white families where the children want to become independent and make it on their own. Aside from the children, the parents also left. They felt like they didn’t belong in New York because they weren’t black nor white. They were considered foreigners and their accent distinguishes them from everyone else. This type of situation leaves them anonymous because they don’t have a strong American nor Jamaican identity.
West indian Migration to New York
The West Indian population has been exponentially increasing in New York for the past four decades. New York is described as being “Caribbeanized” because West Indians are the largest immigrant group in New York. The reason that there are so many Caribbeans in New York is because of “scarce resources, overpopulation, high unemployment, and underemployment,” in their home countries. Areas around New York and New York City itself, are popular destinations because of the influence of tourists and the import of bananas in the early twentieth century. This established New York as a migration center. West Indians were described as “migrating machines: sending networks that articulated with particular receiving networks in which new migrants could find jobs, housing, and sociability.”
The West Indian population coming in today is completely different from the population coming in years ago. The once British colonies have transformed under American influence. Immigrants now have a view of what American life is about before actually going there. The city’s population of West Indian have also majorly increased so that now new migrants are able to move into places where whites have moved out.
A uniting factor of all West Indian migrants is transnationalism. The West Indians that live in New York constantly send goods back to their families at home. There was this one barrel sent by a Trinidadian domestic worker that contained “three gallons of cooking oil, forty pounds of rice, twenty pounds of detergent, flour, tea, cocoa, toothpaste and other items.” This shows that even though West Indians reside in one place they still have a connection to another place. Transnationalism was also influenced with technology. In today’s world with the invention of airplanes and jets, it is easier, faster, and cheaper to fly back and forth. This only applies to the middle-class immigrants because for the lower class and undocumented, traveling is not easy. The invention of the telephone also helped influence transnationalism. The telephone allowed migrants to learn information regarding their family in another country immediately. This allows them to contribute or participate in any event in their country even if they are somewhere else.
Race and ethnicity is an important factor in the lives of West Indians. West Indians are always thought of as an ethnic group in a larger black population because they are constantly grouped with African Americans. However, after the civil rights movement, American whites became better informed about the situation. Race also influences where West Indians settle when they come to America. West Indians usually find a place where there is a kin connection because it makes them feel more comfortable and safe.
Trust Networks in Transnational Migration
A trust network is a group of people who are connected through similar ties and within these ties a person heavily relies on another, which creates a strong tie. Within these connections the people would have to go through long term interactions such as long distance trade, religion, etc. These connections include, “communication, mutual recognition, and shared participation in some activity, flows of goods or services, transmission of diseases, and other forms of consequential interaction.” These trust networks sometimes get damaged or even worse disappear in long distance migrations. What happens is that in these trust networks the people without other professional connections end up relying on the members of the trust networks. This causes chain-migration where people of the same village end up living together after migration. This puts the long term interactions at risk of failing.
Remittances plays a role in trust networks. Remittances alters the power and organization of a country, changes the lives of the citizens and it helps form a set of transnational trust network. Transnational migration provides a continuous flow of income in two communities. This is beneficial in most circumstances because the money that is transmitted helps fund projects. For example, Tuscanese New Yorkers helped fund two thirds of a new water system for a village. In doing this, they got involved in Ticuani politics. Trust networks are highly dependent on transnationalism. Transnationalism allows communities to function because the government of these communities do not provide enough financially to support certain projects. The two way stream of commerce allows migrants to get involved with their home country’s politics as well as their economy.
