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Caribbean Islands SOCIAL AND CULTURAL CHARACTERISTICS
With the exception of Trinidad, where East Indians and Africans
are nearly equal in number, the Caribbean states have predominantly
African-derived populations. Race, ethnicity, class, and color,
however, do not constitute the mutually reinforcing cleavages found
elsewhere. No regional political or social organization is based
exclusively on race, class, or color. Overt forms of segregation
and discrimination do not exist, and crude political appeals to
race and color have not been successful. Nevertheless, color
consciousness permeates the societies, and various forms of more
subtle social discrimination against non-Christians and East
Indians, for example, have persisted.
Despite the common official language, common institutions, and
common historical experience, each island and state has a distinct
set of characteristics. For example, the local inflection of the
English spoken in Jamaica varies significantly from that spoken in
Barbados or Trinidad. Literacy rates also vary greatly from between
75 and 80 percent in Jamaica and St. Lucia to almost universal
literacy in Trinidad, Barbados, and the Bahamas.
In a region where a constant racial and cultural mixing over
centuries have resulted in extreme heterogeneity, any ethnic ideal
clashes with the observed reality of everyday life. Nevertheless,
ideals exist, often based on European models, and are at variance
with the expressed rhetoric of the political majority, which tries
to emphasize the African cultural heritage. At all levels of
Caribbean societies, tensions exist between centrifugal state
policies and ideals on the one hand and individual beliefs, family,
and kin on the other. These tensions are exacerbated by the fragile
political structures and even more delicate economic foundations on
which a viable, cohesive nationalism must be forged among the
Commonwealth Caribbean peoples. The most urgent challenges for the
new political leaders lie in satisfying the constantly rising
expectations amid the reality of constantly shrinking resources.
Perhaps as a result of its heterogeneity, the area is extremely
dynamic culturally, producing a veritable explosion of local talent
after World War II. Poets and novelists of international renown
include Samuel Selvon, V.S. Naipaul, and Earl Lovelace from
Trinidad; Derek Walcott from St. Lucia; George Lamming from
Barbados; and Mervyn Morris, Vic Reid, John Hearne, Andrew Salkey,
and Roger Mais from Jamaica. In painting and sculpture, the late
Edna Manley was universally recognized. Commonwealth Caribbean
music in the form of the calypso, reggae, ska, and steelband
orchestra have captivated listeners around the world. Like the
people themselves, art forms in the Caribbean demonstrate an
eclectic variety harmoniously combining elements of European,
African, Asian, and indigenous American traditions.
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General regional historical background on the islands of the
Commonwealth Caribbean may be obtained from Franklin W. Knight,
The Caribbean: The Genesis of a Fragmented Nationalism; Eric
Williams, From Columbus to Castro. The History of the Caribbean,
1492-1969; John Parry and Philip Sherlock, A Short History
of the West Indies; and Gordon K. Lewis, The Growth of the
Modern West Indies. Much useful information also is available
in Baedeker's Caribbean Including Bermuda, as well as EPICA,
The Caribbean. Survival, Struggle and Sovereignty. For
individual political histories, see Michael Craton, A History of
the Bahamas; George E. Eaton, Alexander Bustamante and
Modern Jamaica, Norman Washington Manley, The New Jamaica:
Selected Speeches and Writings, 1938-1968; Trevor Munroe,
The Politics of Constitutional Decolonization; George
Brizan, Grenada, Island of Conflict; W. Richard Jacobs and
Ian Jacobs, Grenada: Route to Revolution; David Lewis,
Reform and Revolution in Grenada, 1950-1981; and Bridget
Brereton, A History of Modern Trinidad. Economic information
may be found in the annual reports published by the Inter-American
Development Bank for the member states, i.e., the Bahamas,
Barbados, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago. For other views, see
J.R. Mandle, Patterns of Caribbean Development: An
Interpretative Essay on Economic Change; Ransford Palmer,
Problems of Development in Beautiful Countries and
Caribbean Dependence on the United States Economy; Anthony
Payne and Paul Sutton, Dependency Under Challenge: The Political
Economy of the Commonwealth Caribbean; and Clive Y. Thomas,
Plantations, Peasants and State. For migration information,
see Robert Pastor, ed., Migration and Development in the
Caribbean. For information about relations with the United
States, Lester Langley's The United States and the Caribbean in
the Twentieth Century is very useful. (For complete citations
and further information, see Bibliography.)
Data as of November 1987
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