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Portfolio Learning Activity 2.1 - Critical thinking on Columbus and "discovery"

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Portfolio Learning Activity 2.1 - Critical thinking on Columbus and "discovery"

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Question: On October 12, 1492, Italian explorer Christopher Columbus made landfall in what is now the Bahamas, he went on to further explore other Caribbean islands in successive maritime explorations. The history of the “New World” was from then was put into motion. Suffice it to say Columbus discovered the Caribbean and opened its doors to much development and civilization.

1.      Reflect on and share your thoughts on the idea that “Columbus discovered the Caribbean”.

2.      How accurate is it to describe the earliest inhabitants of the Caribbean as primitive and to state that the “New World” only experienced civilisation following Columbus’s arrival?

3.      Give your answer in approximately 300 words and place it into your portfolio.

When Christopher Columbus made landfall in the Caribbean in 1492 numerous events unfolded. Because of his Eurocentric, ethnocentric, androcentric perspectives and documentation of the Caribbean, along with the pre-literature of the natives it was believed that Columbus discovered the Caribbean. Despite beliefs, Christopher Columbus did not discover the Caribbean or open its doors too much development and civilisation.

Historical and archaeological evidence has proven that Christopher Columbus did not discover the Caribbean. Columbus accidentally arrived to the Caribbean on his quest to the East. The ‘Indigenous Caribbean Settlers’ were the first people to arrive to the Caribbean. They consisted of the Paleo or Archaic Indians, Meso or Saladoid Indians, and Neo or Ostinoid Indians (Reid, 2003). The Paleo Indians were the first of the three to arrive, making landfall 5000 years B.C. The Meso Indians arrived 500 BC. Historians and archaeologist relied on middens to discover the history of the first people which proved their existence decades before Columbus.

It is important to note that the early inhabitants of the Caribbean were not primitive, and the “New World” did not only experience civilisation following Columbus’ arrival. Columbus viewed the natives as primitive, sub-humans, unintelligent, prostitutes and cannibals based on his Eurocentric, ethnocentric androcentric perspective. However, they were none of those things. The natives had their own cultural norms and practices before Columbus’ arrival. The Indigenous Caribbean settlers had agricultural, industrial, technological, social and political advances (Reid 2003). However, because Columbus viewed his way of life as superior to the natives and did not acknowledge their culture and civilisation he decimated the natives. In addition, Columbus’ documentation of the natives lead to the belief that civilisation of the Caribbean started with the arrival of the Spanish.

To conclude, there was life, culture, and history in the Caribbean before the arrival of the Columbus. Because Columbus encountered life in the Caribbean, in itself proves that he did not discover it. The Indigenous Caribbean settlers were not primitive but developed civilised people with their own social and political organisation.

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Question: After the failure of the system of white bonded labour to effectively contribute to the development of a thriving sugar economy in the Caribbean, Africans were transplanted from West Africa to the Caribbean.

A.    Was bonded white labour equivalent to chattel slavery?

B.     In what ways did the practice of Caribbean chattel slavery differ from traditional West African slavery?

C.     Do you think that skin colour provided benefit within Caribbean slave society?

Chattel slavery was not equivalent to bonded white labour. Just, look at the terminology used to describe the two groups; one was considered ‘labourers’ whereas the other was considered ‘slaves’. However, both were subjected to harsh work environments. Bonded white labourers were persons whom signed contracts to serve a master for five to ten years because they believed that the New World was a chance for betterment (Besson 1970). Chattel slavery differed because the slaves were perceived as property that could be bought and sold with impunity (Campbell 2015). Bonded white labours were viewed as humans on contract whereas chattel slaves were perceived as disposable property with no rights.

Slavery existed in West African long before the trans-Atlantic trade. However, the slavery that existed in West Africa differed severely to the slavery introduced by the Europeans. One important factor to note about the difference between the two is that traditional West African slaves were usually enslaved to pay off their depts. and were freed when completed whereas chattel slaves were only freed through manumission from their owners which was rare. Some ways in which the practice of Caribbean chattel slavery differed from the traditional West African slavery were (Campbell 2015):

1.      West African slaves were treated like people whereas chattel slaves were primarily viewed as disposable property (and sex slaves) with no rights.

2.      Chattel slaves work extraneous hours with little or no food and water.

3.      West African Slaves were allowed individual rights such as marriage, family and religion whereas chattel slaves were secularized, dehumanised and stripped of their rights.

4.      The Chattel slaves were subjugated to daily floggings, mutilation and death if they did not abide by the rules or do their duties.

Skin colour did not provide benefit within the Caribbean slave society. The Europeans only cared about their ideologies: bullionism, mercantilism and colonialism. They only cared about wealth which would have been sustained by the sugar plantations. To the Europeans slaves were viewed as labourers and property there to do with as they please. The plantations labour had three groups: the work gang, pregnant slaves (which included slaves that newly arrived on the plantations) and children. They enslaved any and every ethnicity group to gain wealth. Skin colour was not an important factor to the European and it did not provide benefit with the slave society.

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Portfolio Learning Activity 8.1 - Caribbean Festivals (Reflection) 

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Portfolio Learning Activity 8.1 - Caribbean Festivals (Reflection) 

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Question: Choose a cultural festival from the list of Caribbean festivals provided below (or you may choose one not on the list but from your region and with which you are familiar). Answer the following questions based on your choice:

1. From the selected festival, discuss its origins and its manifestation.

2. To what extent does the festival demonstrate the notion that Caribbean culture is always evolving?

3. Are other identities subsumed for a larger general identity during the celebration of the festival?

The origins of Carnival date back to the 18th century. The festival was a tradition celebrated by the Europeans and consisted of dinners, balls, concerts, and hunting parties. However, after Emancipation in 1838, freed blacks participated in the festivities. They used Canboulay as a symbol to their freedom and defiance. Because of this “rebellion” the British government outlawed drumming, stick fighting, masquerading, and the steel pan which symbolised the manifestation of their festivals (Curley 2018). The celebrations of Carnival on Monday and Tuesday were a rebellious act against slavery. In the 21st century the manifestations of Carnival has drastically changed. However, the culture is still in the calypso music, soca music, the steel pan, masquerade, and drumming etc.

The notion that carnival is always evolving is expressed through its ability to change with the times (Norton 2009). Carnival demonstrates the evolution and richness of the Caribbean. It is a dynamic festival that creates unity and diversity of regions. However, there are various forms of pure and diluted, cultural aspects of carnival (Mintz, 2009, p.17). This is shown through calypso and soca music. Calypso music is ‘pure’ because of its social and political commentary whereas, soca music is diluted because of its blend of calypso and American music. There is a dichotomy of calypso versus soca music.

Other identities are subsumed for a larger general identity during the celebration of carnival. Carnival is now celebrated in numerous parts of the world such as: London (which supposed to be an “offshoot” to Trinidad Carnival), Jamaica, Barbados, Brazil, and the United States. However, carnival in Trinidad and Tobago has been described as “the greatest show on earth”. Many people of varied diverse backgrounds and identities come to the Caribbean to experience the culture of carnival that is reflected through the cultural expressions of Africa, Europe, and Asia. This ‘togetherness’ creates a larger general identity during the carnival season because on the diversity from various world regions.

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Video URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSI23f--Uvs
Question:  Mr. Killa – Rolly Polly; misogyny, empowerment or something else?

Give your views on the video above in the context of gender identity and relations in the Caribbean.

The nature of the Caribbean was built upon an androcentric, religious and a polygamous perspective when it came to gender and sex roles. Christianity was the basis for gender and sex roles (Barriteau 2003). The church had gender roles that were brought to the Caribbean by the Europeans which had a large impact. In addition, the roles of the male and female were seen in the native Indigenous Caribbean settlers as well as the sugar society. Women have been subjugated, objectified, exploited and oppressed throughout the Caribbean’s history. Mr. Killa’s “Rolly Polly” video was not the impediment of female empowerment but it was not misogynistic.

Gender role differences and hegemonic masculinity has existed throughout the Caribbean’s history. Dating back to the sugar plantations, women were viewed by the Europeans as prostitutes and house workers unequivalent to the male sex. However, when it came to work on the plantations, sex was insignificant to the Europeans. After emancipation, women were uneducated and unskilled to acquire jobs with some even turning to prostitution or house work (Sadanand 2016). Because of the Caribbean’s history of gender roles, androcentric prejudice and hegemonic masculinity, women have not always had opportunities that were afforded to men. Is it because of history women degrade themselves?

It may not have been Mr. Killa’s intention but the video and song was still objectifying, and degrading towards women. Whilst listening to the lyrics, the song ‘portrays’ a front of female body empowerment straying from the stereotypical “Coca-Cola” female figure; whilst still being degrading. But, when I watched the video I felt disgusted. Why women constantly need to act in such degrading ways in music videos is beyond me. The music video portrayed larger female bodies which differentiates from the norm, but still uses and objectifies the women in the same way.

To conclude, the Caribbean has a long history of androcentric, polygamous and misogynistic views. Even though Mr. Killa’s lyrics seemed to be inspiring to “large” women the video did not reflect the songs' message. In the end, the distasteful video aligned with the “trend” of women being degraded and degrading themselves to nothing more than their physical appearance; even if it deterred from the stereotypical view of the “Coca-Cola” shape.

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Barriteau, E. 2003. Confronting power, theorizing gender in the Commonwealth

Caribbean. In Confronting Power, Theorizing Gender: Interdisciplinary
Perspectives in the Caribbean, edited by E. Barriteau. Kingston, Jamaica: UWI
Press, pp. 3-26.

Besson, Gerard A. “White Servants in the Caribbean.” The Caribbean History
Archives, Paria Publishing Co. Ltd. , 1 Jan. 1970,
caribbeanhistoryarchives.blogspot.com/2012/07/white-servants-in-
caribbean.html.

Campbell, J. F. (2015). “Fixed melancholy”: Suicide on an 18th Century British West
Indian plantation.
Mintz. S, (2009). Caribbean Transformations. Aldine Transaction. London.

Norton, Noel. (2009). Noel Norton's 20 Years of Trinidad Carnival. Trinidad &
Tobago Insurance Limited, 1990.

One Reid,B.A.(n.d.).Caribbean Space/Physical Environment/Amerindian Peoples
and Cultures: Their Legacy. Retrieved from: http://courses.sta.uwi.edu,
December 2003.

Sadanand, Shreya. “Women through History: Subjugation, Emancipation and
Social Movements.” Qrius    (Formerly The Indian Economist), Qrius (Formerly,
The Indian Economist), 8 June 2016, qrius.com/social-feminist-movements/.