What does it mean to be white in a black majority population? That’s the question addressed in ongoing research into racial identity and ethnicity by Michiru Ito from Japan’s Otsuma Women’s University. Focusing on ‘whiteness’ in the Caribbean islands of Barbados and Trinidad, Ms Ito’s work reveals substantial differences between the two islands in how people who identify as white perceive their heritage and place in modern, post-colonial society.
Whiteness studies – a subfield ofracial studies – is an academic discipline which provides a new way of looking at race and racism. Pioneered in the United States in the late 20th century, there has so far been little research into how whiteness as a historical and social construct can be used to understand societies in the Caribbean.
However, ongoing research by aJapanese academic into what it means to be white in black majority populations in the Caribbean is producing valuable insights. Most importantly, it reveals that a sense ofcolonial superiority remains rooted inthe minds of some white people, even though younger generations try todeny the existence of white privilege.
Michiru Ito from Japan’s Otsuma Women’s University specifically examines what makes people consider themselves ‘white’ and different from non-white ‘others’ and what constitutes their whiteness in relation to non-whites.
Ms Ito’s research is based on oral histories gathered by face-to-face interviews with white residents of Barbados and Trinidad who have lived there for more than three generations. She explained: “Although oral history might not be able to generate scientific statistical data to generalise who is white in Barbados and Trinidad, itdoes provide insights, explanations, and space for interpretation, to understand a marginalised segment of Caribbean society – the white population.”
Colonial history Despite their similarities as former European colonies with black majority populations, Barbados and Trinidad have different racial demographics.
In Barbados around 92.3% of the population is black African-descended, 2.7% is white European-descended, and the remaining 5% is made up of people of Indian and Chinese origin. However, in Trinidad around 31.6% of the population is black African-descended, 37.1% is of Indian heritage, 0.7% is white European-descended, and the remaining 25.6% comprises people of Chinese and otherorigins.
The differences in the islands’ population groups can be explained bytheir colonial histories. Barbados and Trinidad were both ‘discovered’ inthe late 15th century by Europeans who seized land from the native populations.
While maintaining the concept of racial purity as white is difficult in the globalised Caribbean, colonial notions of whiteness still remain in Barbados and Trinidad.
Barbados developed as a British colony, which mainly depended first on convict labour from Britain and then on slave labour from Africa to work the sugar plantations established by settlers. Trinidad developed as a Spanish colony but was unable to attract enough Spanish settlers and offered incentives to people from other Catholic nations to settle there. Many of those who established Trinidad’s sugar plantations, which also depended on slave labour from Africa, were from France. As a result, even though the island was surrendered to Britain in 1797, Trinidad’s society and culture continued to be governed by French morals, customs and language for some time.
When slavery was abolished in the British Caribbean in 1834 and plantation owners required a new source of labour, employment on theislands was offered to people from other parts of the British Empire. Desperate to escape poverty at home, many of those who came to theCaribbean as indentured labourers were from India.
Although Barbados and Trinidad both gained independence in the 1960s, Ms Ito’s interviews reveal the ongoing impact of the islands’ colonial history. She explained: “While maintaining the concept of racial purity as white isdifficult in the globalised Caribbean, colonial notions of whiteness still remain.” In other words, many of thewhite population in Barbados andTrinidad are still taking advantage of the idea of white supremacy in the21st century, which is derived from the historical and social significance of colonial ‘race’ relations in each island.
Ms Ito’s research therefore looks at who is considered white today, what constitutes their whiteness in relation to non-white others, and whether there are differences in that experience between the islands of Barbados and Trinidad.
Ms Ito has based her latest study on interviews carried out between 2016 and 2019 with 53 men and women. 26interviewees live in Trinidad and 27in Barbados. Aged 18 to 78, all identify as coming from white families who have lived on the islands for more than three generations.
Barbados interviews In Barbados Ms Ito found that white people feel free to speak about their ethnicity and that ‘whiteness’ is a relative term. Even though they identify as European-descended white, some interviewees said that they had an interracial family background. Their construction of whiteness derives in part from their awareness ofdifferences in physical features. As one interviewee explained, they identify as white because they “look white, act white and belong to white society in Barbados”. They also acknowledged that they might not beable to “pass as white” in Trinidad.
Class is also an important part of white identity in Barbados. Interviewees explained that white society is divided into groups according to income, educational background, membership of religious and social groups and skin colour.
Whiteness is not of itself sufficient to allow people entry into high society. Interviews with economically disadvantaged white people – the ‘Poor White’ descendants of Irish andEnglish labourers transported tothe Caribbean– revealed they felt that all Barbadians are now the same. They had the same jobs as African-descended Barbadians and had no objections to interracial marriages.
White Barbadian interviewees of all ages said that they no longer believed in white supremacy or white privilege, although in reality many ofthem enjoyed financially fortunate circ*mstances. On the contrary, some said that being white can make life more difficult and be a disadvantage, for example because white people can sometimes be bullied by non-white ‘others’ based on the difference in their physical features and their ‘colonial sin’ as slave owners.
As we enrich our understanding of whiteness in the Caribbean, our balanced understanding of the Caribbean will be fostered.
Trinidad interviews While white Barbadian interviewees voiced little opposition to interracial relationships, marriages and having children of mixed race, Ms Ito found that this was not the case in Trinidad. Here, European-descended white people, especially older people, placed greater emphasis on ‘racial purity’.
The interviews also revealed gender discrimination. Ms Ito explained: “For white males, having illegitimate interracial children is one thing, but interracial marriage is another. For white females, having interracial children andinterracial marriage will directly lead them to be cut off from the family.”
In Trinidad interviewees of all ages were even more insistent than those in Barbados on the importance of class as an indicator of white identity. However, the issue is complex. For example, older interviewees said that a man of black African descent, of high class and with a good income may still not be thought a suitable match forawhite woman.
Younger interviewees said that white supremacy no longer exists in Trinidad and that they don’t abuse their whiteness, even though their stories revealed that whiteness still works in their favour. For example, they are more likely to get a better job and to be treated leniently if they have dealings with the police. They are also aware that whiteness signifies their ancestors’ historical roles as slave owners and will therefore try to distance themselves from ‘whiteness’ in order to forge closer relationships with non-white ‘others’.
However, Ms Ito’s interviews suggest that older people in Trinidad do still believe in white supremacy. One interviewee explained the complex power dynamic between white people and non-white employees. For example, she abhorred how some elderly white people mistreated their non-white domestic workers but explained that workers might not complain because working in a white household gave them status.
Balanced understanding Ms Ito’s research suggests that there are significant differences in the historical and social constructs of white identity between Barbados and Trinidad and between different age groups in the islands.
Most notably, while people who identify as white in Barbados said that white privilege no longer exists in Barbadian society, whites of European heritage regarded themselves as belonging to elite social groups in Trinidad. And while people of all ages in Barbados and younger people in Trinidad said that white supremacy no longer exists inthe societies in Barbados and Trinidad, that belief is not shared byTrinidad’s older generations whohave a much stronger insistence onracial purity.
It is unusual today for white people to speak so candidly about race and Ms Ito’s insights into white identity in Barbados and Trinidad are a valuable contribution to racial studies. She commented: “Caribbean whiteness is a product of the colonial experience and the Caribbean islands are diverse intheir cultures and elements in societies depending on their colonial histories. As we enrich our understanding of whiteness in the Caribbean, our balanced understanding of the Caribbean will be fostered.”
Personal Response
Some of the interviews make uncomfortable reading in modern, post-colonial society, especially when interviewees spoke candidly about topics such as ‘racial purity’. Was there an awareness among interviewees that some of their views are problematic?
Yes, there was. At the beginning of the interviews, many interviewees tended to avoid any racist remarks, some were offended, manipulative or disgraceful, and then many insisted they were ‘pure’ white. Undoubtedly, in the modern 21st century, not many people wish to voice the opinion that a certain ‘race’ is superior to others, because that argument is scientifically baseless and therefore considered unsophisticated. Nevertheless, what I tried to do was not to judge but to face the uncomfortable realities – white supremacy, white privilege and social inequality have continued from the colonial days – and then to question what allowed them to continue in the post-colonial societies. Those might have been untouchable topics, but I believe Iwas successful in providing some insights to foster a balanced understanding of those uncomfortable realities (to some degree).
White Caribbean or European Caribbean is the term for people who are born in the Caribbean whose ancestors are from Europe or people who emigrated to the Caribbean from Europe and had acquired citizenship in their respective Caribbean countries. White Caribbeans include: BékéWhite Bahamians. White Barbadians.
Caribbean identity is related to how Caribbean immigrants maintain and express their cultural practices despite living hundreds, if not thousands of miles away from their homelands. Each culture has its own unique foods, philosophy, religious practices, perceptions of beauty and music.
Our main ethnicities are: Groups of Indigenous peoples, Africans, Indians, Europeans, Chinese and Portuguese. Indigenous peoples: Our earliest inhabitants were the Carib, Arawak and Ciboney groups of indigenous peoples who migrated from South America.
Caribbean identity has been defined based on geography. Language, cuisine, and music for example can set apart Caribbean people from others who may be Canadian or British based on their own cultural practices and peculiarities.
Caribbean Americans are a multi-ethnic and multi-racial group that trace their ancestry further in time mostly to Africa, as well as Asia, the Indigenous peoples of the Americas, and to Europe. As of 2016, about 13 million — about 4% of the total U.S. population — have Caribbean ancestry.
A Caribbean national is simply someone who is born in the Caribbean region. They share many similarities but also display unique differences. The same way Europeans are identified by their nationalities. A Caribbean identity is more of a cultural, social experience.
White Jamaicans (also known as European-Jamaicans) are Jamaican people whose ancestry lies within the continent of Europe, most notably Great Britain and Ireland. There are also communities of people who are descendants of people who arrived from Spain, Germany and Portugal. White Jamaicans.
Official symbols of the Caribbean include the parrot, palm, and the shell. Many official symbols of the country such as the flags of the Caribbean have been changed or modified over the past years in order to "Caribbeanize" them and de-emphasize or remove references to the United Kingdom.
Modern Caribbean people usually further identify by their own specific ethnic ancestry, therefore constituting various subgroups, of which are: Afro-Caribbean (largely descendants of bonded African slaves), Hispanic/Latino-Caribbean (people from the Spanish-speaking Caribbean who descend from solely or a mixture of ...
The Caribbean is a melting pot of cultures with influences from European colonizers, the native community who lived there before colonization, and the waves of immigration. In Jamaica, people believe that the soul of the dead can linger for nine days. African culture has left an indelible mark in Caribbean history.
It's become commonplace to refer to people from the Caribbean/West Indies as Caribbeans, Caribbeaners, even Antillians, in addition to the historical label of West Indians. More recently Afro-Caribbean and African-Caribbean have been added to the lexicon, to describe those who are of African descent.
“'Carib' is pronounced with the accent on the first syllable: 'CAR-ib. ' Therefore most natives of the islands pronounce 'Caribbean' with some version of emphasis on the first and third syllables.”
The Caribbean is a melting pot of many different cultures; Caribbean people are the most ethnically diverse in the world. The Caribbean ethnicity is a fusion of Indigenous, African, European, and Asian. Many of the cultures of the Caribbean are formed by these four ethnic groups of the Caribbean.
Much of it is an ocean, and the Caribbean region includes about 700 islands, islets, reefs, and cays in and surrounding the Caribbean Sea. Across the Caribbean region, there is diverse topography, including coral reefs, mountains, tropical forests, low-lying plantations, valleys, waterfalls, and volcanoes.
White Trinidadians and Tobagonians account for less than 1% of the population of Trinidad and Tobago. However, the classification is primarily a superficial description based on phenotypic description opposed to genotypical classification.
White Barbadians or European Barbadians are Barbadian citizens or residents of European descent. The majority of European Barbadians are descended from English, Portuguese, and Scottish settlers and Irish indentured servants and settlers, who arrived during the British colonial period.
The ethnic breakdown of the people of Barbados is primarily black (92.4%) or mixed (3.1%). 2.7% of the population is white, and 1.3% South Asian. The remaining 0.4% of the population includes East Asians (0.1%) and Middle Easterners (0.1%).
The vast majority of Jamaicans are of Sub-Saharan African descent, with minorities of Europeans, East Indians, Chinese, Middle Eastern, and others of mixed ancestry. The bulk of the Jamaican diaspora resides in other Anglophone countries, namely Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom.
Caribbean means “of or pertaining to the Caribs” and comes from the Spanish word for Caribbean: Caribe. Caribs or Island Caribs are names used to refer to the Indigenous people of the Lesser Antilles.
Nationality is sometimes used to mean ethnicity, although the two are technically different. People can share the same nationality but be of different ethnic groups and people who share an ethnic identity can be of different nationalities.
English last names have a large presence in Jamaica (since it is a commonwealth country and most slave owners were British). Irish and Scottish last names are also common throughout after Oliver Cromwell sent convicts and indentured servants there during the 1600s.
It wasn't just the physical. It was the mental. Y'all call it Christmas lights, but in Jamaica we say "peppa light," which is the lights on the Christmas tree.
Afro-Trinidadians and Tobagonians accounted for 34.22 percent of the population of Trinidad and Tobago according to the 2011 Census. However, the classification is primarily a superficial description based on phenotypical (physical) description as opposed to genotypical (genetic) classification.
Barbados is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. What is this? You may think that these waters are ideal habitats for many different species of sharks, and they are. However, there are no sharks closer to the shore in Barbados.
In the Caribbean, you will find that there are many different kinds of people from different cultures. You will also find that people are very friendly and welcoming. They like to have fun and enjoy life, just like you do!
The Caribbean is one region, and in many ways, one united community, but with myriad vibrant, individual cultures. Each island has its own historical influences, resulting in different traditions, cuisine, co*cktails, festivals, and music.
Early life. Born in Baltimore, Maryland, Jada Koren Pinkett was named after her mother's favorite soap opera actress, Jada Rowland. She is of Jamaican and Bajan descent on her mother's side and African-American descent on her father's side.
Women and men make up almost equal numbers of the population and East Indians and Africans are the two largest ethnic groups in Trinidad and Tobago, with a growing Mixed (dohgla or dougla) population.There are small populations of Chinese and Syrians. The country also has a rich religious composition.
In the Caribbean, cultural expectations of male behaviour are informed by an extremely hard, macho, masculine sex/gender identity which is associated with maleness. Anything which is seen as not male is relegated to the realms of femaleness and devalued as 'nurdish', 'sissyish' and 'effeminate'.
The Caribbean is home to the smallest shared landmass in the world. At just 87 square kilometres, the island of St. Maarten/St. Martin is the smallest inhabited island on Earth and it is shared by two nations.
Islands of the Caribbean Sea tend to be small. Topographies vary from the flat plains of Barbados to the rugged coasts of Martinique and Guadeloupe. A few of the islands, like Cuba and Jamaica, have rolling hills and substantial mountain ranges.The climate is mild, rainfall is abundant, and soil is fertile.
The Taíno were an Arawak people who were the indigenous people of the Caribbean and Florida. At the time of European contact in the late 15th century, they were the principal inhabitants of most of Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola (the Dominican Republic and Haiti), and Puerto Rico.
In appearance the Taino were short and muscular and had a brown olive complexion and straight hair. They wore little clothes but decorated their bodies with dyes. Religion was a very important aspect of their lives and they were mainly an agricultural people although they did have some technological innovations.
The correct pronunciation is “care-ih-BEE-an.” So, have you been getting it right? How do we know this is the right way to say Caribbean? A few ways. First, most people who live in the islands say “care-ih-BEE-an.” If you're going to trust anyone's opinion on how to say Caribbean, I'd go with the region's residents.
Some Facts about the Americas. Strictly speaking, the American continent consists of two continents and the largest island in the world, North America, South America and Greenland. Central America and the Caribbean are usually considered part of North America.
Of the 38 million West Indians (as of 2001), about 62% speak Spanish (a west Caribbean lingua franca). About 25% speak French, about 15% speak English, and 5% speak Dutch. Spanish and English are important second languages: 24 million and 9 million speak them as second languages.
The first Europeans to arrive in the Caribbean were Spaniards who discovered Hispaniola. Many white people in the Caribbean owned Afro-Caribbean slaves. Many whites came to the Caribbean during the colonial era.
A thousand-year-old tooth has provided genetic evidence that the so-called "Taíno," the first indigenous Americans to feel the full impact of European colonisation after Columbus arrived in the New World, still have living descendants in the Caribbean today.
Black Caribbean Countries. Black Caribbeans account for a majority of the foreign-born black citizens in the U.S. The main Black Caribbean countries include:
Our main ethnicities are: Groups of Indigenous peoples, Africans, Indians, Europeans, Chinese and Portuguese. Indigenous peoples: Our earliest inhabitants were the Carib, Arawak and Ciboney groups of indigenous peoples who migrated from South America.
Roughly 60 percent of the Caribbean speaks Spanish, and Spanish names and customs appear widely throughout the area. In nations such as Cuba and Puerto Rico, Spanish heritage almost entirely dominates ethnic identity.
Culture is the shared characteristics of a group of people, which encompasses , place of birth, religion, language, cuisine, social behaviors, art, literature, and music.
What are cultural identity issues? Cultural issues cover a broad range of concerns including race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender, and disability. Culture is a term that we use to refer to beliefs and customs employed by a particular group.
Caribbean identity is complex and multi-layered influenced by the various ways people arrived to the Caribbean— through the transatlantic slave trade, indentureship, refuge, etc. With this migration people brought their origin histories, traditions, and culture to create the beautiful mosaic of the Caribbean.
You or a Family member was born in a Country surrounded by the Caribbean sea, That is the "Caribbean's Identity". We are all Caribbean People , we are nationals of the country of our birth. I am Dominican by birth but a Caribbean person, who lives and works in the UK.
The term Caribbean culture summarizes the artistic, musical, literary, culinary, political and social elements that are representative of Caribbean people all over the world.
The majority of the population (around 70 per cent) are of mixed African and European (Spanish) descent, with the remainder black (around 16 per cent) and white (14 per cent). During the early colonial period indigenous Taíno-Arawak communities were also part of the overall population.
Chinese, Amerindians, Europeans, Arabs, Hispanic/Latinos, Douglas (mixed Indian and African), multiracial people, and Jews, reside in Trinidad and Tobago. White Trinidadians are descendants of Spanish, British, Portuguese or German settlers.
Barbados's population is predominantly of African ancestry. While it is technically an Atlantic island, Barbados is closely associated with the Caribbean and is ranked as one of its leading tourist destinations.
Most Barbadians are of African or mixed-race descent. They are descendants of enslaved people brought from West Africa. White Barbadians are mainly of British and Irish descent. There is also a small population of Syrians, Lebanese, Jewish, Indian and Chinese people in the country.
White Barbadians or European Barbadians are Barbadian citizens or residents of European descent. The majority of European Barbadians are descended from English, Portuguese, and Scottish settlers and Irish indentured servants and settlers, who arrived during the British colonial period.
The White population would dramatically decrease during the 1800s, making up only 4% of the population at a peak. According to the 2011 Census of Population and Housing for Jamaica, 0.2% of Jamaica's population is considered White. Over half of the White population lives in the Saint Andrew Parish.
The population of the Bahamas is 85% African, 12% European and 3% Asian and 3% Latin Americans. Baptists account for 35% of the population, followed by Anglican (15%), Roman Catholic (13%) and Pentecostal (8%).
It's become commonplace to refer to people from the Caribbean/West Indies as Caribbeans, Caribbeaners, even Antillians, in addition to the historical label of West Indians.
“Cuh-RIB-be-an” is incorrect. Why is this? “If you grew up in the Caribbean, you learned in school that the word derives from an indigenous tribe called the Caribs,” she explains. “'Carib' is pronounced with the accent on the first syllable: 'CAR-ib.
While many nations in Africa, Asia, and South America can claim literally hundreds of distinct ethnic groups within its borders, the US Census only recognizes six ethnic categories: white, black, Asian, Amerindian/Alaska native, native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, and mixed ethnicity.
OMB requires five minimum categories (White, Black or African American, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, and Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander) for race. OMB permits the Census Bureau to also use a sixth category - Some Other Race.
The Taíno were an Arawak people who were the indigenous people of the Caribbean and Florida. At the time of European contact in the late 15th century, they were the principal inhabitants of most of Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola (the Dominican Republic and Haiti), and Puerto Rico.
Caribbean means “of or pertaining to the Caribs” and comes from the Spanish word for Caribbean: Caribe. Caribs or Island Caribs are names used to refer to the Indigenous people of the Lesser Antilles.
The ethnic breakdown of the people of Barbados is primarily black (92.4%) or mixed (3.1%). 2.7% of the population is white, and 1.3% South Asian. The remaining 0.4% of the population includes East Asians (0.1%) and Middle Easterners (0.1%).
The official definition of a white indentured servant was a man or woman who would emigrate after signing an agreement to serve a planter in the colonies for a period of five to seven years. The contract guaranteed that their passage would be paid, and they would be maintained at the expense of the planter.
In appearance the Taino were short and muscular and had a brown olive complexion and straight hair. They wore little clothes but decorated their bodies with dyes. Religion was a very important aspect of their lives and they were mainly an agricultural people although they did have some technological innovations.
The Caribs were taller than the Arawaks, but still only of medium height. They were described as being stronger than the Arawaks due to the emphasis placed on training for fighting. Their skin was brown and they usually went naked.
The vast majority of Jamaicans are of Sub-Saharan African descent, with minorities of Europeans, East Indians, Chinese, Middle Eastern, and others of mixed ancestry.
Though the region contains more than 20 states and territories, the three Hispanic Caribbean nations make up the largest islands in the region; Cuba, the Dominican Republic (which shares the island of Hispaniola with French- and Creole-speaking Haiti), and Puerto Rico.
The Caribbean is known for many things – friendly locals, lively music, colourful carnivals, and as a place where you can enjoy some spectacularly good holidays with stunning sandy beaches, reefs bustling with life and luscious rainforests.
Introduction: My name is Aracelis Kilback, I am a nice, gentle, agreeable, joyous, attractive, combative, gifted person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
We notice you're using an ad blocker
Without advertising income, we can't keep making this site awesome for you.