Jamaica Is An Ethnically Diverse Africa Nation

A woman name Lorna Chin took to social media days ago referring to Jamaican-American citizens as “a set of rass dunce” for not having a Jamaican passport, and this was not satire. She showed the passports of her grandparents. Further into her rant she said the unexpected. “Jamaica is not an African nation, not a black nation,” “we identify as an ethnicity diverse society,” “we do not use hyphens like the US.” For example Jamaican-American or Chinese-American. People who emigrate to other countries should not be bothered by hyphens. It is ok to say you are from Jamaica living in another country.

Let’s put what she said into perspective.

First, her tone and “dunce” reference is degrading. Second, she is dismissing and denying the history of Jamaica that we are a predominantly black nation of people from Africa. What makes Jamaica an African and black nation is our history and population.

Today, Jamaica’s population is 3 million. Jamaicans who identify as black make up 90% of the population. Asians, particularly Chinese, make up about 3 % of the population. Indians also make up about 3% of the population. Chinese and Indians came to Jamaica in 1854 as indentured workers as opposed to Africans who were captured, sold, kidnapped, forced into slavery, and abused in the most horrendous ways to sustain slavery on the island until it was abolished in the 1800s.

Why does she say Jamaica not a black nation with such a huge majority, and heavy African cultural influence?

Yes, we are ethnically diverse, and as our motto says “Out of Many We Are One.” We should not dismiss or exclude other groups. However, it is also important that we do not deny and dismiss the fact that Jamaica is an African nation or black nation that is diverse.

In Africa, there are whites, Asians, and other ethnic groups. That does not negate the fact that Africa is still a predominantly black nation.

Here are the facts:

The First Jamaicans

The first Jamaicans were the Taino Indians who settled in Jamaica around 600 AD. They were stone — age peoples who had migrated to Jamaica from the northern coast of South America. After living continuously in Jamaica for almost 900 years, the Tainos were wiped out within 50 years of the Spanish conquest in 1494, due to exploitation by the Spanish settlers, starvation and a lack of resistance to European diseases. Many Tainos fiercely resisted the Spanish occupation of their land and some even committed suicide rather than serve as slaves.

Africa in the Caribbean and the Resistance to Slavery

The importation of African slave labour, begun by the Spanish, continued under the British with much greater intensity, and grew steadily in volume as sugar production increased in extent and value. Most Jamaican slaves came from the region of modern day Ghana, Nigeria and Central Africa, and included the Akan, Ashanti, Yoruba, Ibo and Ibibio peoples. By the 18th century, Jamaica had become one of the most valuable British colonies. But the conditions endured by the slaves were horrendous. Families were routinely separated. Housing and sanitary conditions were abysmal. Beatings and torture were rampant. Many died from overwork and starvation. Life expectancy of a West African slave in Jamaica was 7 years. The slave trade was abolished in 1807. By then, almost 2 million slaves were traded to Jamaica, with tens of thousands dying on slave ships in the brutal middle passage between West Africa and the Caribbean.

Asia and the Middle East in the Caribbean

The Jews were among the first ethnic group to settle in Jamaica, arriving in the early sixteenth century to work in sugar manufacturing. After completing their period of indentured labour, they moved into business and other professions, and although small in number they still have significant influence in Jamaica in these areas. In 1845 the first Indians arrived in Jamaica to work as indentured servants on the sugar plantations that had been abandoned by the African-Jamaicans after the abolition of slavery. The first labourers came from Northern India, but others arrived later from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, the Central Provinces, Punjab and the North West Frontiers. In 1854 the first Chinese migrants arrived as indentured labourers. Most were from Hong Kong and from the Kwang Tung Province in southeast China. In the early years of the twentieth century migrants from Palestine and Lebanon settled in Jamaica, fleeing political and religious persecution in their home countries and in search of a better way of life.

Jamaican Identity

The legacy of Africa lives on in Jamaica in countless ways. It is most evident in the ethnic composition of the Jamaican people; in the Jamaican language called patois whose grammar and pronunciation are heavily influenced by the Twi language spoken in West Africa; in Jamaican music and dance; in religious worship and rituals; and in food and dress.

The Britain rule lives on in Jamaica. English is the official language; His Majesty the King is the Head of Jamaica’s Parliament; Jamaica’s system of government is based on the Westminster parliamentary model; Jamaica’s jurisprudence is based on English common law and practice; and the game of cricket is the national sport, however today track and field (sprint racing) is the dominant sport.

The Jamaican national motto “Out of many, one people” reflects the fact that peoples of different races and creeds have lived side by side. However classism based on skin color, hair texture, and wealth, is still prevalent, against Africans/blacks.

Most major business owners on the island are whites, Spanish, Chinese, and Indians.

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Lorna Chin: https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cl5ENzWJZqP/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link