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Did black racism exist in the caribbean islands after slavery was abolished?
Were there any/many whites living on those islands? Were there ever slaves on the islands?
Gee thanks Lamont, that REALLY helped.
I'm mostly referring to islands like St. Lucia and Barbados
Of course. Racism, in a general sense, exists everywhere. What matters is if its in large quantity or small quantity. In the Caribbean, there's a high mix of different cultures/races. You have whites, blacks, asians, mixed people, etc. Tons. Yes, there were slaves there. Some of my family is from the Caribbean and they're mixed with African (ex-slaves), Taino Indians (Native Puerto-Rican), and Spanish. It depends on what Island you're talking about. Not all Caribbean Islands are the same/handled post-slavery the same. Cuba was *highly* racist, from what I read (and some Cubans I grew up around). Mulatto and Blacks couldn't even go into certain casinos. Couldn't even be servants! In Puerto-Rico, it wasn't so bad. My grandfather's who mixed but came out darker then the result of his siblings was often teased for his dark skin and features (kinky hair, especially lol) that weren't considered "white" (his step-siblings were lighter with green eyes and white skin, etc.). But then again, he told me if racism had gotten any worst in America he would've gone back in a heartbeat. The Dominican Republic had a bit of racial issues (they're a majority black country) under Trujillo who killed thousands of Haitians, because he believed they were 'blackening' the country. Really a sad time.
"Light" is still much preferred though in majority of the caribbean.
Oops. I'll edit it later to to switch it to Barbados and St. Lucia.
2 Responses to “Did black racism exist in the caribbean islands after slavery was abolished?”
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April 23rd, 2009 at 8:50 pm
No, Love and Light reigned supreme. It's a tropical paradise. Nothing bad ever happens in such a locale.
References :
April 23rd, 2009 at 9:26 pm
Of course. Racism, in a general sense, exists everywhere. What matters is if its in large quantity or small quantity. In the Caribbean, there's a high mix of different cultures/races. You have whites, blacks, asians, mixed people, etc. Tons. Yes, there were slaves there. Some of my family is from the Caribbean and they're mixed with African (ex-slaves), Taino Indians (Native Puerto-Rican), and Spanish. It depends on what Island you're talking about. Not all Caribbean Islands are the same/handled post-slavery the same. Cuba was *highly* racist, from what I read (and some Cubans I grew up around). Mulatto and Blacks couldn't even go into certain casinos. Couldn't even be servants! In Puerto-Rico, it wasn't so bad. My grandfather's who mixed but came out darker then the result of his siblings was often teased for his dark skin and features (kinky hair, especially lol) that weren't considered "white" (his step-siblings were lighter with green eyes and white skin, etc.). But then again, he told me if racism had gotten any worst in America he would've gone back in a heartbeat. The Dominican Republic had a bit of racial issues (they're a majority black country) under Trujillo who killed thousands of Haitians, because he believed they were 'blackening' the country. Really a sad time.
"Light" is still much preferred though in majority of the caribbean.
Oops. I'll edit it later to to switch it to Barbados and St. Lucia.
References :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_history_in_Puerto_Rico
http://web.archive.org/web/20071214000250/http://www.ipoaa.com/africa_puertorico.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afro-Cubans