Race and Caribbean Culture

The country that I chose to conduct a culture analysis on is Jamaica. Jamaica is a third world country located in North America and the 3rd largest island in the Caribbean Sea. There is a 2.5 million population, which equally divided between urban and rural areas. The country runs approximately 146 miles long and varies between 21- 52 miles wide. The climate is tropical and its main tourist attraction is their beautiful beaches. The capital of Jamaica is Kingston, which has a population of more than 645,000. Kingston is the chief port of Jamaica and is along the southeastern coast of the island. It is covered by the “Blue Mountains”, which is thickly covered which tree ferns. The Blue Mountains experiences an average of 200 inches of rain annually, resulting in topsoil erosion and an abundance of streams. Peasants nurture coffee, usually grown on large plantations, in the valleys of the mountains. It is amongst the most expensive coffees in the world and is exported mainly to Japan.

The term Hispanic refers to people who are capable of speaking and comprehending the Spanish language, and whose ancestry identifies with the Hispanic culture. The three main Hispanic groups in the United States are Cubans, Mexicans, and Puerto Ricans. Puerto Ricans are people who identify themselves as Hispanics of Puerto Rican origin, meaning they were either born in Puerto Rico, or have family ancestry that traces back to Puerto Rico. According to Lopez & Patten (2015), in 2013, Puerto Ricans were the second-largest Hispanic origin population living in the United States, accounting for 9.5%. This population continues to grow. In fact, between 1980 and 2013, the Puerto Rican population in the United States had increased by 56% (Lopez & Patten, 2015). Puerto Rican culture is unique, and quite complex. To gain knowledge and a better understanding of the Puerto Rican culture, I attended the Puerto Rican Festival held in Milwaukee, and conducted an interview with Melinda Nieves, a Puerto Rican woman living in Appleton. Through these experiences, I found that Puerto Rican culture is centered around language, family, and religion, as well as music and delicious food.

Puerto Rican culture is very unique and diverse and is mainly influenced by its past. It is a melting pot of Taino Indian, Spanish, African, and American cultures, which is what makes Puerto Rico unique. Puerto Rican music, clothing, food, traditions, holidays, languages, and religions are all influenced from the diversity of the population. The official languages are Spanish and English because of the long period of time when Spain ruled and then later, when it became U.S. territory. The majority of the population of Puerto Rico is also Roman Catholic or Protestant again, because it was ruled by the Spanish Crown for over an extended period of time.

Exploration during the postcolonial era was very popular in footings for people to try and reach out to find ways to set up ground for themselves. In Gilgamesh, the Tempest, and Heart of Darkness, it seems oppression and race played an important factor as to how one coexisted from events that took place to express all that existed during this period. From both good to bad, one feeling strong to weak, or even included or excluded, oppression and race were amongst the many postcolonial lenses that could be viewed from these three pieces of literature. These three stories reveal how racial difference is used to justify oppression during the time of the colonial period.

Miami Florida has the biggest Latin population than any other city in the United States. The majority of Latin's being of Cuban descent. Since the Cuban revolution there have been constant waves of immigrating Cubans to Miami. The result has been a Cuban American society that has created culture diversity within. In order to understand the Cuban American culture you must understand its ethnic origin, politics, and the varying times of immigration.

When reading this blog I honestly did not understand the point the writing was trying to get across in its entirety until I saw the photo. The visual made the message loud and clear for me and the cartoon image solidified the memo. Both of these women in my opinion have received some sort of oppression because their look is what society has deemed acceptable and worthy of attention and in some cases a mate. Being Haitian-American, I’ve experienced both sides of this dilemma. Haiti in some ways is very conservative; some women in many areas are not even allowed to wear pants, pierce their ears or wear extensions but I was born and raised in Florida. In American culture, the more skin you show the more beautiful and appealing you are. I’ve always struggled between the two extremes so I believe I have a level of empathy for both sides. I can’t really say that one is more oppressed than the other because they experience 2 different extremes of oppression.

The belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal God or gods is what is defined as Religion. In many religions text is believed to have scriptural status and moral authority. In some religions like Voodoo, there are no moral authority or text. It is a community centered around individual experiences, empowerment, and responsibility and is practiced by people who are imperfect and may use religion for their own purposes. It is a religion that originates from Africa. Voodoo is thought to be a various combination of African, Catholic, and Native traditions.

Before the popularization of Son, Cuban music and dance was largely influenced by Europe. Compositions in the early period closely resemble songs from middle-class Europe. These genres include: the creole, canción and danzón (Moore 17). While these genres were seen as the model of Cuban expression at the turn of the century, the Afrocuban music known as “Son” would soon become (and remain) the paragon of Cuban artistic and cultural expression; the previous genres paled in comparison in terms of popularity. Fusing African, Indigenous and European elements, Son exemplified the transculturation that so many of the elites in Cuba were promoting as Cuba’s identity; however, the most prominent elements in Son music originated from Africa, which did

The African tribal religion that Europeans named Voodoo is known for its mystical secrets. Voodoo existed a long time before organized religions like Christianity and Hinduism. The way of life for the indigenous people of Africa was to keep a constant contact with the spirits in nature. This religion originates from Africa and eventually moved into the Caribbean by traveling slaves. Eventually, this powerful, culture spread to Europe, and the Americas. Many practice this sacred religion every day to protect their families, financially support their families, and for guidance. Voodoo devotees acknowledge their deceased ancestors and spirits who have protected the individuals throughout their lives. Practitioners engage in rituals to say thank you, to celebrate victory, and to ask for prosperity. Often animal sacrifice has negative outlook, although it should not because the meat is shared with family

The Caribbean is a vastly diverse area representing the effects of colonialism, slavery, and the combination of many cultures.

For the philosophy, Berlin concentrates on the general history of a zone, for instance, the enclaves or "costal plants" that served as "locales of business meeting for all way of transoceanic traders."[6] By portraying the range's past, Berlin permits the peruser to see the improvement of society that prompted the making of such individuals as the Atlantic creoles, result of their time and place. Later, when the Atlantic creoles are moved to terrain North America, Berlin again depicts the range and creating social orders that permitted the creoles to adjust and acclimatize to a degree. Once the foundation of the range is known, Ira Berlin moves onto particular samples to demonstrate precisely how the Atlantic creoles responded to their surroundings.

People who adopted piracy had to adapt because of colonialism and the battles between England and the Spanish. “Those who couldn’t find work chose to use their skill in the only way they knew how that could still earn them a living: piracy” (gohistory.com). Piracy was based on skill and was the only thing left for people who had to deal with the after effect of the war between the Spanish and the English. The type of skills werecriminal activites such as stealing, killing and taking over the sea’s. In the 1500’s Spain ruled the oceans and established the colonies in America.

Caribbean Civilisation deals with the history of the Caribbean beginning from before the arrival of Christopher Columbus to the today’s world and how the past impacts the culture and the identity of the modern Caribbean. The novel Through It All written by Giselle Mills carry us through the journey of a teenage girl life as she found love and how it ties in with her family and social life. The novel which consists of twenty chapters brings out themes in the everyday Caribbean society which gives the Caribbean its identity.

During the war in Britain, many Caribbean natives from different islands fought together to help out in British combat. As soon as the war was finally done, all Caribbean migrants saw the true colors of the British people. The British people started to ask the migrants when they are returning to their country and this was the start of Caribbean people observing the concept they wasn’t welcomed. In the Windrush articles, it explains the belief of Caribbean not being welcomed and even mentions some of the people in Britain had imperialist views which made it tough to receive people from the colonies working amongst them. Only people from the colonies should be working on planting crops, what the Britain believed. The crops they grew especially was chocolate and bananas. Windrush had a breakdown people into thirds, one third are the ones with imperialist views, second third are who didn’t matter that much and last third are ordinary. For the few migrants who were heading to Britain , they saw chimneys on houses and they were connected to the factories. Chimneys in the Caribbean indicated factories and said that these places must have a lot of work.

It's really shocking to actually realize how Caribbean people are essentially owned and controlled by people who are not even Caribbean—who don't know what being Caribbean means or have no idea of the culture behind every island. But, who exactly owns the Caribbean? This is where a lot of the tension came into play. There's really all these different groups of people who settled and created a culture but then there's the colonizers who came and claimed it as their own. Who got there first? No one knows because the colonizers will always have the upper hand and more power to silence the people of color. This beautiful island turned into a place where one must fight to define a space to be legitimate. It has became clear that how one chooses to identify themselves affect their sense of belonging and legitimacy. Ones sex/ gender affects their hierarchy which changes their entire class because they represent the idea of “otherness”. Living in the Caribbean sometimes meant changing your identity and leaving your own behind to adapt to a new culture to be accepted and to have a better life.