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The Role of the Single Story in the Development of Caribbean Stereotypes.

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The Role of the Single Story in the Development of Caribbean Stereotypes.

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September 27th, 2017.
The Danger of a Single Story is what Chimamanda Adichie referred to as the act of stereotyping that result from the conveyance of a Westernized perspective of another’s story. Adichie stated that stereotypes are derived from incomplete stories, as groups of people are generalized based on one prominent story rather than the multitude that exists.

Persons of different races, ethnicities and social class among others, are repeatedly depicted inaccurately through these stories which ultimately rob them of their dignity, humanity and identity. She referenced Mourid Barghouti, who noted that most of these stories begin with the second course of action rather than the first. For example, the story of the Caribbean Neo-Indians began with their hostility towards the Spaniards upon Columbus’ arrival in 1492. However, Columbus and his men were greeted by friendly inhabitants. The hostility spoken of in the Eurocentric version of the Neo-Indian’s single story, occurred after the Spaniards exploited, raped and abused the inhabitants. As a result of entries found in Columbus’ diary, the Neo-Indians were referred to as the “Caribs and Arawaks,” with the former being characterized as “one-eyed men…with the snouts of dogs, who ate men," and the latter being described as peaceful heathens. Only recently these misconceptions were addressed as through research, historians found that, the labels, Caribs and Arawaks, were incorrect, as this division was according to the language they spoke, and the term Neo-Indian however, was more appropriate as it represented the era in which they existed rather than their ethnicity, as these inhabitants did not all originate from the same tribe. It was also discovered that the Neo-Indians were a peaceful and developed group unlike the primitive and hostile savages they were depicted as. Lastly, the cannibalistic nature of the inhabitants was disregarded as there was no evidence supporting this claim. Historians concluded that due to their advanced skills in agriculture and hunting, they consumed various animals such as agouti and fish and agricultural produce, principally, maize. The Eurocentric version of the Caribbean inhabitants defined the Neo-Indians in the eyes of the world for centuries. According to Adichie, “this demonstrates how impressionable and vulnerable we are in the face of a story.”

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The History of Gender Inequality in the Caribbean.

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The History of Gender Inequality in the Caribbean.

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October 19th, 2017.
With the arrival of the Europeans in 1492, came the spread of Christianity to the Caribbean. Through the forced adaption of the religion by the neo-Indians, immigrants and others, the gender roles that have been legitimized by the Bible were practiced within the region. According to the Old Testament, a wife’s duty was to care for her family and home, abide to her husband and to procreate. This formed the basis of the gendered division of labour within the Caribbean where men toiled in the public sphere while women labored in the private sphere.

Within Neo-Indian societies, women were regarded as both reproductively and agriculturally fertile, and so were involved in the planting, nurturing, and harvesting of crops. In some instances, the men assisted by clearing the land. However, their primary jobs were the procurement of food and defending the village from attacks. Women were also responsible for creating accessories, hammocks, ceramics, utensils and other crafts.

During the plantation era, the division of labour remained gender based as men were deemed stronger and smarter than women. This division allotted male immigrants jobs in the field and factory leaving the less strenuous, menial field jobs for the women.  Domestic tasks such as cooking, cleaning, washing, child rearing, provision ground cultivation, huckstering, domestic animal rearing and clothing production and repair were gender specific tasks that female immigrants had to endure.

The gendered division of labour continued after the end of enslavement in 1838, as through education boys were taught skills that allowed them to attain high paying jobs like fishing, seafaring, boat building, timber cutters and diamond miners. Girls were taught skills that would aid in their domestic endeavors such as sewing. Women who were able to migrate into the towns participated in traditional gendered jobs like those of domestics, seamstresses, washerwomen, petty traders and shopkeepers.

A gendered division of labour is present within each era of our history resulting from the norms passed on from the Christian faith. The stereotypical male and female roles are still present in the 21st century although through education, women are now more able to break the glass ceiling and attain equality.

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The Immigration situation between Haiti and the Dominican Republic. 

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The Immigration situation between Haiti and the Dominican Republic. 

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November 23rd, 2017.
The island of Hispaniola is currently divided politically into two nations, with Haiti on the West and the Dominican Republic on the East.Christopher Columbus established the first European settlement on this island in the year 1492. In 1697 however, the western third of Hispaniola was allotted to France, and by 1795, the entire island was under French rule. Thirteen years later, in 1808, the Dominicans began war to retrieve the eastern section of the island that previously held Spanish rule. By 1809, the Spanish reclaimed what they then called Santo Domingo.  Spanish control however, was short lived as by 1822, the island was once again under Haitian rule. After years to and fro between both nations, the Dominican Republic gained its independence in 1844.

In 1937, Rafael Truillo, a Dominican dictator who held the belief that fair skin complexion was a sign of superiority began cleansing the Eastern section of the island of dark-skinned Haitians. This was known as the Parsley Massacre as over the course of a few weeks, approximately ten thousand to twenty-five thousand Haitians were killed because their inability to roll the "r" in perejil, the Spanish word for parsley, exposed their identity.

In 2013, Dominican legislation that aimed to help disenfranchised Dominicans reclaim their citizenship stripped almost 200,000 Haitian immigrants of their Dominican citizenship, an act similar to that of Truillo. Failure to provide evidence of birth in the Dominican Republic would result in deportation. Approximately 14,000 people have been deported thus far, along with almost 70,000 others who voluntarily left.

The fact still remains however, that the Haitian nationals who migrate to the Dominican Republic are those who are employed in sectors that are usually left unoccupied by the Dominican labour force. It should also be noted that because of the Haitian migrant’s participation in the Dominican Republic’s workforce, their GDP grew approximately 5.4 percent per annum. This indicates that the cleansing of the nation for job availabilities for nationals of the Dominican Republic is invalid and can therefore mean that it move is racially motivated.

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Boarder between Haiti and Dominican Republic

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November 27th, 2017.
After achieving a grade one in Caribbean Studies for the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE), I was initially upset that I was required to do yet another Caribbean course during my first year at the University of the West Indies (UWI). My first semester is now over and my feelings towards this course have drastically changed. The online nature of the course was new, interesting and extremely beneficial as the recorded plenaries that were saved on the course page, allowed for easy access at a later time, where, every aspect of the lecture was available, including student contributions. The course material, reinforced previous knowledge from Caribbean Studies, and also introduced me to new information and concepts such as revisionism, subjugated knowledge; standpoint epistemology and many others. This course allowed me to experience the views and opinions of persons from various Caribbean islands which aided in my understanding of the region. Through tutorials I was able to apply what I had learnt to various scenarios, answer questions and even debate with my fellow classmates. The organization of the course material, activities and the music videos displayed at both the beginning and ending of each session aided in my understanding and subsequently my intellectual growth, as I am now more aware of the challenges that were faced by our peoples in attaining our present state. Overall, I believe that this subject is crucial as students will attain a greater insight regarding out region’s history as well as current events and develop a deep appreciation for our ancestors and all that they did in getting us to where we are at present.

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Adichie, Chimamanda. The Danger of a Single Story. TED Talk, 2009.

AFP. "Columbus’ First Steps in the Americas have been the subject of many Paintings." BBC, http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-36884261. Accessed 27 September 2017.

Anonymous. "Natives Massacre the Spaniards Left at La Navidad by Columbus in 1492." Traveling Haiti, http://www.travelinghaiti.com/spanish-discovery-colonization/. Accessed 27 September 2017.

Anonymous. "Taino Natives Cooking Fish." All Posters, http://www.allposters.com.au/-sp/Taino-Natives-Cooking-Fish-posters_i12127330_.htm. Accessed 27 September 2017.

Campbell, John F. "Lecture 12." Online Lecture [November, 2017]. University of the West Indies.

Campbell, John F. "Unit 9: Caribbean Gender and Sexuality." Online Lecture [November, 2017]. University of the West Indies.

Nicholls, Mark. "Things which seem Incredible: Cannibalism in Early Jamestown." Colonial Williamsburg Journal, http://www.history.org/foundation/journal/winter07/jamestown.cfm. Accessed 27 September 2017.

NLJ. "Washerwomen at Work." National Library of Jamaica, http://nlj.gov.jm/2017/08/08/celebration-emancipation-new-poem-lorna-goodison-poet-laureate-jamaica/. Accessed 19 October 2017.

Perez, Amalia. "Stateless but Imperative: Haitian Workers in the Dominican Economy." Brown Political Review, http://www.brownpoliticalreview.org/2014/11/stateless-but-imperative-haitian-workers-in-the-dominican-economy/. Accessed 27 November 2017.

Pringle, Heather. "Sugar Masters in a New World." Smithsonian Magazine, https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/sugar-masters-in-a-new-world-5212993/. Accessed 19 October 2017.