African American And The Caribbean - 1770 Words

BLACKS IN AMERICAN AND THE CARIBBEAN Ariel Holder SOCL 141 Dr. Danielle James Caribbean people view race differently than African Americans. Caribbean immigrants who arrive to the United States are often shell-shocked by the tangible presence of racism there. What is all the more surprising is that some of these tensions are more so perpetuated by African-Americans. Before an immigrant can experience â€Å"the American dream†, a life of joys and hardship, they are adequately discouraged, or warned to reconsider moving to America. They are warned that success will most certainly be harder for them. Warned that things are different ‘here’ and that the color of your skin has, in more ways than one, already set them up for failure. But why is†¦show more content†¦Nationality, maybe; but not race. They never faced the outright hatred that African American or Blacks in America face, which makes Islanders view themselves in a different way. It is most likely, socioeconomic class separates that the Caribbean nation. On the other hand, Afri can Americans have intense and often times unnecessary sense of racial awareness. There are some things that both groups can relate to as Black people and yet there are many more things that sets them apart. What sets African Americans and Islanders apart is indeed their history, which is why we are so different. I would like to start at the beginning on what first shaped these two groups. Many can trace of the groups’ heritage of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade back to Africa or other countries such as India, Asian (indentured servants); however Caribbean people have mainly held onto that heritage, mostly for cultural aspects of ancestry rather for racial heritage. And many islands still practice this culture today. It is seen in the way we speak (a fusion of African language with other languages, creole, patois, Portuguese and numerous dialects), in our holidays, and festivities. Slaves that survived the voyage from Africa were sold to various places, several islands within the Caribbean and