Caribbean Diaspora in the USA: Diversity of Caribbean Religions in New York City

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Variations of Caribbean Culture(s) in New York City 13 Apart from these public stages in New York City there is also a private dimension of public social life. Access to this is granted only to those who are invited, to relatives or friends of the host. In particular religious communities observe the strict rule of ‘controlled otherness’, but other groups also follow this rule. Whoever behaves badly or prefers individuality and freedom to community and bond is excluded from this kind of urban culture. This observation seems to be in opposition to the image of New York as a symbol of individualism. However, New York City is more than a city for the marginalized. A characteristic of many if not all migrant communities is the high number of social activities, of social and cultural groups and organizations. Some institutions are identical to those in the home country, other are founded in particular for migrants in the Diaspora. As a consequence, leisure time activities remain ethnically divided. Caribbean Culture in New York City I: Carnival At this point I will turn to the most striking public performance of the Caribbean community directed to the outside world: the West Indian American Day Carnival in Brooklyn. Similar to the Caribbean carnival in London and Toronto, the Labor Day Parade in Brooklyn is based on the Trinidadian version of carnival which has led to the development of a pan-Caribbean identity, with the exception of the Spanishspeaking Caribbean. For this reason the carnival cannot be seen as representative of all Caribbean migrants, as Anglophone migrants remain the dominant part. Nevertheless, it has influenced the representation of Caribbean immigrants in New York City (their public image, that is), and continues to do so today. The first Caribbean festivals were celebrated in New York City in the 1920s, during the first major phase of Caribbean immigration. Though the first migrants from the West Indies arrived in the USA shortly after the abolishment of slavery, immigration increased at the turn of the century: in 1899 only 832 migrants lived in New York City, in 1924 this number had already grown to 12,243 (Kasinitz 1995: 24). The relatively large number of Caribbean immigrants arriving in the USA during the first decades of the twentieth century integrated with African-Americans in an almost problem-free manner, settling in their neighbourhoods, for instance in Harlem where the first carnival festivals were celebrated (celebrations took place indoors due to the weather conditions; Kasinitz 1995: 140). Because of the outstanding economic success of migrants in this first phase, people often stereotypically consider migrants from the West Indies as very good at business. During the second phase of Caribbean immigration (from the depression until the change of the immigration act in 1965), only a few migrants from the Anglophone Caribbean arrived in the USA. They were predominately educated middle-class people, speaking better English than other immigrants. Like other migrant groups (see, for instance, Figure 2.1) Caribbean migrants organized an ethnic parade to celebrate their identity, in the case of the Caribbean migrants a carnival parade. The first one took place on Labor Day in 1947 in Harlem. These Caribbean migrants insisted on keeping their British passports instead of applying for US citizenship.
14 Caribbean Diaspora in the USA Figure 2.1 The Columbus Day Parade (1998) The start of mass migration from the Caribbean to the USA after 1965 changed the Caribbean community in New York City. Large Caribbean communities developed during the 1970s and 1980s, for instance in Brooklyn, where the carnival parade has been celebrated during Labor Day weekend since 1969. Affirmative Action programmes at public schools and in particular the effort of the City University of New York – which founded its own college for the economically weaker population in every district – supported higher education for migrants. Hence, work opportunities for migrants during the third phase increased, especially in the service industry (Kasinitz 1995: 93ff.). . Brooklyn College in Flatbush is particularly important for the Caribbean community, not only to Anglophones but also to the Hispano-phone migrants. Nevertheless, the latter have not participated in the Caribbean carnival from the beginning. Kasinitz’s study demonstrates that the Labor Day Parade is not a typical ethnic parade, which would normally be celebrated in New York City on Fifth Avenue. The attempt to move the parade to Manhattan failed at the beginning of the 1980s. Kasinitz explains this by comparing the carnival with other ethnic parades in New York City such as the Puerto Rican Parade or the St Patrick’s Day Parade, which are events based on military metaphors and leadership. ‘The dramatic structure of [such] celebrations … serves to interweave the interests of the group with the careers of individual politicians.’ He further argues that ‘the Parade presents the image of a unified people marching behind their leaders’ (Kasinitz 1995: 147). The carnival in Brooklyn is totally different. Remco van Capelleveen even describes the Caribbean carnival as a big chaos (1993: 139). With more than 3.5 million spectators (in 1999) arriving from all over the USA and Canada, the carnival parade is the largest gathering of Caribbean migrants in North America (the audience is predominately Caribbean).
Page 2 and 3: CARIBBEAN DIASPORA IN THE USA Carib
Page 4 and 5: Caribbean Diaspora in the USA Diver
Page 6 and 7: Contents List of Figures Acknowledg
Page 8 and 9: List of Figures 2.1 The Columbus Da
Page 10 and 11: Acknowledgements My interest in Car
Page 12 and 13: Chapter 1 The Multiple Dimensions o
Page 14 and 15: The Multiple Dimensions of Caribbea
Page 16 and 17: The Multiple Dimensions of Caribbea
Page 18 and 19: Chapter 2 Variations of Caribbean C
Page 20 and 21: Variations of Caribbean Culture(s)
Page 44 and 45: Chapter 3 Caribbean Religions in Ne
Page 46 and 47: Caribbean Religions in New York Cit
Page 74 and 75:
Caribbean Religions in New York Cit
Page 76 and 77:
Page 78 and 79:
Page 80 and 81:
Page 82 and 83:
Page 84 and 85:
Page 86 and 87:
Page 88 and 89:
Page 90 and 91:
Page 92 and 93:
Page 94 and 95:
Page 96 and 97:
Page 98 and 99:
Chapter 4 Cultural Theories from La
Page 100 and 101:
Cultural Theories from Latin Americ
Page 102 and 103:
Page 104 and 105:
Page 106 and 107:
Page 108 and 109:
Page 110 and 111:
Page 112 and 113:
Page 114 and 115:
Page 116 and 117:
Page 118 and 119:
Page 120 and 121:
Page 122 and 123:
Page 124 and 125:
Page 126 and 127:
Page 128 and 129:
Page 130 and 131:
Page 132 and 133:
Page 134 and 135:
Page 136 and 137:
Page 138 and 139:
Page 140 and 141:
Page 142 and 143:
Page 144 and 145:
Page 146 and 147:
Page 148 and 149:
Page 150 and 151:
Page 152 and 153:
Page 154 and 155:
Page 156 and 157:
Chapter 5 A New Composition of Cult
Page 158 and 159:
A New Composition of Culture 147 an
Page 160 and 161:
A New Composition of Culture 149 Ho
Page 162 and 163:
A New Composition of Culture 151 pe
Page 164 and 165:
A New Composition of Culture 153 on
Page 166 and 167:
Bricolage as a Caribbean Cultural M
Page 168 and 169:
A New Composition of Culture 157 of
Page 170 and 171:
A New Composition of Culture 159 le
Page 172 and 173:
A New Composition of Culture 161 Te
Page 174 and 175:
A New Composition of Culture 163 Do
Page 176 and 177:
A New Composition of Culture 165 co
Page 178 and 179:
A New Composition of Culture 167 in
Page 180 and 181:
Chapter 6 Caribbean vs. Monologue E
Page 182 and 183:
Caribbean vs. Monologue Europe? 171
Page 184 and 185:
Caribbean vs. Monologue Europe? 173
Page 186 and 187:
Bibliography Aguirre Beltrán, Gonz
Page 188 and 189:
Bibliography 177 Bhabha, Homi K. (1
Page 190 and 191:
Bibliography 179 Cohen, Robin (1997
Page 192 and 193:
Bibliography 181 Foner, Nancy (1987
Page 194 and 195:
Bibliography 183 Halbwachs, Maurice
Page 196 and 197:
Bibliography 185 Johnson, Paul Chri
Page 198 and 199:
Bibliography 187 Mason, Michael Atw
Page 200 and 201:
Bibliography 189 —— (1987b),
Page 202 and 203:
Bibliography 191 —— (1994), ‘
Page 204 and 205:
Bibliography 193 Stutzman, Ronald (
Page 206 and 207:
Index African-Americans 12-13, 16,
Page 208 and 209:
Index 197 Mestize 2 mestizos 90-92,
show all

Caribbean Diaspora in the USA: Diversity of Caribbean Religions in New York City

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?