West Indian Americans

West Indian Americans
Total population

(West Indian American (except Hispanic groups):
2,672,753

0.9% of the US population
)
Regions with significant populations
New York, New York City, New York Metropolitan area, Florida, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Georgia, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, California, Illinois, Maryland, Washington D.C.
Languages

Mainly English-based creole languages (Jamaican Creole, Jamaican Patois, Trinidadian Creole, Sranan Tongo, etc.), French, French-based creole languages (Haitian Creole, Antillean Creole), English, Papiamento

Minority Dutch, Caribbean Hindi
Religion
Predominantly Christianity
Related ethnic groups
Taíno, Arawak, African Americans, Indians, English, French, Dutch, German, Asian, Caribbean Canadians
Caribbean born Populations, 1960-2009[1]
Year Number
1960
193,922
1970
675,108
1980
1,258,363
1990
1,938,348
2000
2,953,066
2009
3,465,890

West Indian Americans or Caribbean Americans are Americans who can trace their ancestry to the Caribbean. About 2,532,380 Americans— 0.83% of the total population—reported Caribbean ancestry in 2008.[2]

The Caribbean is the source of the U.S.’ earliest and largest Black immigrant group and the primary source of growth of the Black population in the U.S. The region has exported more of its people than any other region of the world since the abolition of slavery in 1834.[3] While the largest Caribbean immigrant sources to the U.S. are Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica and Haiti, U.S. citizen migrants also come from Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

Caribbean immigration to the United States

17th to mid-19th century

The history of African-Caribbean immigration in the United States can be traced back to slavery when the British colonies in the Americas shifted enslaved Africans to different territories, as the demands of capital and plantation economy dictated.

First Africans from the West Indies who arrived in the United States were slaves brought to South Carolina in the 17th century. These slaves, many of whom were born in Africa, number among the first people of African origin imported to the British colonies of North America. Over time, Barbadian slaves would make up a significant part of the Black population in Virginia, mainly in the Virginia tidewater region of the Chesapeake Bay. The number of enslaved Africans bought from the Caribbean increased in the 18th century, as the continental U.S. broadened its trade relations with other Caribbean islands.

The number of enslaved Africans imported from the Caribbean decreased after the New York City Slave revolt of 1712, as many white colonists blamed the incident on slaves recently arrived from the Caribbean. Nevertheless, between 1715 and 1741 most of the slaves of the colony remained being West Antilles (hailed from Jamaica, Barbados and Antigua). However, after the New York slave revolt of 1741, slaves imported from the Caribbean were severely curtailed, and most enslaved Africans were brought directly from Africa.

Albeit, Caribbean immigration to the United States was relatively small in the first years of 19th century, it grew of significant manner after the American Civil War, in 1865, which brought about the abolition of slavery. In the 19th century the U.S. attracted many Caribbeans who excelled in various professions such as craftsmen, scholars, teachers, preachers, doctors, inventors, religious (the Barbadian Joseph Sandiford Atwell was the first black man after the Civil War to be ordained in the Episcopal Church),[4] comedians (as the Bahamian Bert Williams), politics (as Robert Brown Elliott, U.S Congressman and Attorney General of South Carolina), poets, songwriters, and activists (as the brothers James Weldon and John Rosamond Johnson). From the end of the 19th century up to 1905, most West Indian people emigrated to South Florida, New York and Massachusetts. However, shortly after, New York would become the main destination for the West Indian immigrants.[3]

World War II through the 21st century

Immigration from the region to the U.S. gained momentum during World War II when 50,000 Caribbean, Black and white, arrived in the 1940s, taking advantage of the rapidly expanding war economy and post-war economic growth. Thousands came as legal migrant workers brought to work in agriculture, primarily on Florida’s sugar plantations. By the end of the war, thousands of contract workers from the Caribbean were employed as W2 workers [3]

Most of the Caribbean, Central America, and South America historically have had little tradition of immigration to America, before the 1960s. Post 1965 saw a tremendous influx of rural working-class migrants. Proximity to the U.S., fluency in English and Civil Rights legislation were reasons for the disproportionate numbers of Caribbean outflows.The collapse of agriculture in many islands had devastated their economies, the growing replacement of agriculture by tourism in the Eastern Caribbean had greatly increased the urban population and led to neglect of rural communities as well as greater migration to the U.S. from the Caribbean countryside.[3]

The influx of direct, capital-intensive and labor-intensive foreign investment has accelerated the push to migrate out of the region, to the extent that these investments overwhelmed small scale agriculture and manufacturing and displace workers who sought jobs elsewhere.[3]

Today, there is a fourth wave of Caribbean migration in United States.[5] The number of Caribbean immigrants grew up from 193,922 in 1960 to 2 million in 2009.[6]

Caribbean American communities

West Indian American Ancestries (excluding Latino groups) in 2000
Country/region of ancestry Caribbean
American
population
(2000 Census)[7]
Jamaican 965,355
Haitian 881,488
Guyanese 214,315
Trinidadian and Tobagonian 200,000
British West Indies 84,678
Barbadian 58,215
Belizean 54,925
Bahamian 48,043
Dutch West Indian 37,681
Grenadian 25,924
Antiguan and Barbudan 15,199
Virgin Islands 15,014
Vincentian 13,547
Saint Lucian 10,364
Saint Kitts and Nevis 6,368
Dominica 6,071
Bermudian 6,054
Surinamese 2,833
Aruban 1,970
French West Indies 1,915
French Guiana 1,128
Sint Maarten 352
Other West Indians 38,070
Total 2,672,753

The vast majority of West Indian Americans are of African Afro-Caribbean descent, with the remaining portion mainly made up of multi-racials and Indo-Caribbean people, especially in the Guyanese and Trinidadian communities, where people of Indo-Caribbean descent make up a significant portion of the populations. Over 70 percent of non-Latino Caribbean immigrants were from Jamaica and Haiti, as of 2010. Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, Belize, the Bahamas, Barbados, and Grenada, among others, also have significant immigrant populations within the United States. Though sometimes divided by language, West Indian Americans share a common Caribbean culture. Of the Latino population, the Puerto Rican, Dominican, Panamanian, Cuban, and Costa Rican populations are the most culturally similar to the non-Latino West Indian community.[8]

Location

About 69 percent of Caribbean immigrants resided in Florida and New York in 2009. In 2009, Florida had the largest number of resident Caribbean immigrants with 1,388,014, or 40.0 percent of the total Caribbean-born population in the United States, followed by New York (1,008,134, or 29.1 percent).[8]

Other states with relatively large Caribbean immigrant populations (greater than 65,000) included: New Jersey (253,010, or 7.3 percent), Massachusetts (136,578, or 3.9 percent), Georgia (83,735, or 2.4 percent), Connecticut (78,957, or 2.3 percent), Pennsylvania (77,527, or 2.2 percent), and California (72,251, or 2.1 percent).[8]

State/territory Non-Latino West Indian-American
population (2010 Census)[9][10] 		Percentage[note 1][11]
 Alabama 8,850 0.1
 Alaska 1,195 0.1
 Arizona 7,676 0.1
 Arkansas 5,499 0.2
 California 76,968 0.2
 Colorado 7,076 0.1
 Connecticut 87,149 2.4
 Delaware 6,454 0.8
 District of Columbia 7,785 1.2
 Florida 809,985 4.3
Georgia (U.S. state) Georgia 113,728 1.1
 Hawaii 2,816 0.2
 Idaho 694 0.0
 Illinois 27,038 0.2
 Indiana 7,420 0.1
 Iowa 1,710 0.0
 Kansas 2,775 0.0
 Kentucky 5,407 0.1
 Louisiana 7,290 0.1
 Maine 2,023 0.1
 Maryland 62,358 1.0
 Massachusetts 123,226 1.9
 Michigan 15,482 0.1
 Minnesota 6,034 0.1
 Mississippi 1,889 0.0
 Missouri 6,509 0.1
 Montana 593 0.0
 Nebraska 1,629 0.0
 Nevada 5,967 0.2
 New Hampshire 2,766 0.2
 New Jersey 141,828 1.6
 New Mexico 2,869 0.1
 New York 815,516 4.2
 North Carolina 32,283 0.3
  North Dakota 377 0.0
 Ohio 14,844 0.1
 Oklahoma 21,187 0.5
 Oregon 3,896 0.1
 Pennsylvania 74,799 0.6
 Rhode Island 6,880 0.7
 South Carolina 10,865 0.2
 South Dakota 474 0.0
 Tennessee 6,130 0.0
 Texas 66,705 0.2
 Utah 1,675 0.0
 Vermont 375 0.0
 Virginia 40,172 0.5
 Washington 8,766 0.1
 West Virginia 1,555 0.0
 Wisconsin 5,623 0.0
 Wyoming 526 0.0
USA 2,672,753 0.9

Language

More than half of Caribbean immigrants either spoke only English or spoke English "very well." In 2009, 33.0 percent of Caribbean immigrants reported speaking only English and 23.9 percent reported speaking English "very well." In contrast, 42.8 percent of Caribbean immigrants were limited English proficient (LEP), meaning they reported speaking English less than "very well." Within this group, 9.7 percent reported that they did not speak English at all, 16.5 percent reported speaking English "well," and 16.7 percent reported speaking English "but not well."[8]

Occupations

Employed Caribbean immigrants were concentrated in service jobs; construction, extraction, and transportation occupations; and administrative support positions.

Among the 976,931 Caribbean immigrant male workers age 16 and older in 2009, 25.5 percent were employed in construction, extraction, and transportation occupations; 19.5 percent worked in service jobs; and 14.3 percent were in manufacturing, installation, and repair occupations.[8]

Among the 1.0 million Caribbean-born female workers age 16 and older, 21.7 percent reported working in service occupations, 16.5 percent occupied administrative support positions, and 16.2 percent were in healthcare roles.[8]

Related ethnic groups and topics

Contributions to American culture

There are close to 50 Caribbean carnivals throughout North America that attest to the permanence of the Caribbean immigration experience. West Indians brought music, such as soca, calypso, reggae, compas (kompa) and now reggaeton, which has a profound impact on U.S. popular culture. Cultural expressions, and the prominence of first-and second-generation Caribbean figures in U.S. labor and grassroots politics for many decades also testify to the long tradition and established presence.[3]

In June 2005, the House of Representatives unanimously adopted H. Con. Res. 71, sponsored by Congresswoman Barbara Lee, recognizing the significance of Caribbean people and their descendants in the history and culture of the United States. Since the declaration, the White House has issued an annual proclamation recognizing June as Caribbean-American Heritage Month.[12]

See also

Further reading

Notes

  1. ↑ Percentage of the state population that identifies itself as West Indian relative to the state/territory population as a whole.

References

  1. ↑ "Historical Census Statistics on the Foreign-born Population of the United States: 1850-1990". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 5 May 2014.
  2. ↑ "United States - Selected Population Profile in the United States (West Indian (excluding Hispanic origin groups) (300-359))". 2008 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates. U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 2010-03-18.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Fraizer, Martin. "Continuity and change in Caribbean immigration". People's World. Retrieved 6 May 2014.
  4. ↑ Dickerson, Dennis C. "Joseph Sandiford Atwell (1831–1881)". Encyclopedia Virginia. Retrieved 26 August 2015.
  5. ↑ Caribbean Migration - AAME - In Motion: The African-American.
  6. ↑ US in Foco: Caribbean Immigrants in the United States. Posted by Kristen McCabe, from Migration Policy Institute, in April 2011. Retrieved December 19, 2013.
  7. ↑ "Table 1. First, Second, and Total Responses to the Ancestry Question by Detailed Ancestry Code: 2000". U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 2013-06-09.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 McCabe, Kristine. "Caribbean Immigrants in the United States". Migration Policy Institute. Retrieved 6 May 2014.
  9. ↑ "2010 Census". Medgar Evers College. Retrieved 2010-04-13.
  10. ↑ US Census Bureau: Table QT-P10 Hispanic or Latino by Type: 2010 retrieved January 22, 2012 - select state from drop-down menu
  11. ↑ http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=DEC_10_SF1_QTP10&prodType=table
  12. ↑ National Caribbean-American Heritage Month
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