Quote:
Originally posted by lovelyivy84
My family is from the West Indies, so that is what I would have said. I identify very strongly with my Caribbean roots- it's shaped who I am.
I think that Caribbean Americans have such a different experience. In Jamaica blacks are the majority by far. So when you see someone who is rich, they're black. When you see someone poor, they're black. In politics? (Probably) black. My folks fought for freedom in the hills of Jamaica in the 1600's and sent those Brits packing (not what happened on the island as a whole, but my family is Maroon- this is a history lesson in and of itself that I wont get into here, lol). Regardless of how we got there it is OUR country.
Am I sad that I dont know what part of Africa we sailed from originally? Not really. Because I feel like I have a place. I dont know if other West Indians feel like me, but that is my experience. I just wanted to share, since everyone is talking about how they see it.
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I feel you on what you're saying. The same in the Bahamas. We too had white British rule. 90% of the population is black or some variation of black. Our people in power, rich, poor etc. black. One of my friends from the States came home w/ me this summer & we went looking at big houses. And she asked "Any of these people black?" And I said...yeahhhh. That was wierd to me but she was amazed that Black people were running things.
When people ask my name origin I usually go to the island it originates from, not the slavemaster's ancestors. I don't think of the Slavemaster name as my ancestory. So I proberbly would have said the island our name is from. So I very much feel as if the Bahamas is my home & I have no desire to seek elsewhere. Also b/c a lot of our traditions & even my accent is still reminicient (sp?)of my African heritage.