| Abstract: | This article compares the significance of race among Jamaicans in London and NewYork. Drawing on research among 1st generation migrants in both cities, it is contended that being a black Jamaican must be understood in terms of the racial context of the receiving area. In New York, where segregation of blacks is more pronounced, being part of the large and residentially concentrated local black population cushions Jamaican migrants from some of the sting of racial prejudice and provides them with easier access to certain occupations and social institutions. In the US, women, not men, dominate the Jamaican immigration movement, and it is common for women to migrate 1st, later followed by their children and, in many cases their husbands as well. Whether Jamaicans settle in London or New York, they experience a painful change: being black is more of a stigma than it is in Jamaica. One reason why the Jamaicans interviewed in New York complained less about racial prejudice than the London migrants is that they had more realistic expectations of the racial situation, and thus were less disillusioned when they arrived abroad. The presence and residential segregation of the large black community in New York means that Jamaicans there are less apt than in London to meet whites, and thus to have painful contacts with whites in various neighborhood arenas. A key aspect of New York Jamaicans' own identity--and a source of pride and a sense of self-worth--is their feeling of superiority to black Americans. |
