{"id":28778,"date":"2013-02-17T03:29:59","date_gmt":"2013-02-17T03:29:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mixedracestudies.org\/wordpress\/?p=28778"},"modified":"2013-02-17T03:29:59","modified_gmt":"2013-02-17T03:29:59","slug":"racialisation-in-jamaica","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/?p=28778","title":{"rendered":"Racialisation in Jamaica"},"content":{"rendered":"

Racialisation in Jamaica<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Mapping Global Racisms Project (2012- )
\n<\/a>University of Leeds
\nWorking Papers
\n13 pages<\/p>\n

Benjamin Joyce<\/strong><\/p>\n

Introduction<\/strong><\/p>\n

The processes of racialisation in Jamaica reflect a complex and sustained ideological grounding upon colonial logics which actively repress perceived racial otherness. Despite the insistence of governmental institutions and the projected image of a raceless nation, contemporary Jamaica is still subject to overt and entrenched forms of racist discourse. The island\u2019s racial climate must<\/em> be seen within the context of a potent and active colonial legacy, through which social values of worth and economic racialisation are fundamentally determined by skin colour. The class structure of Jamaica is inexorably tied to racialisation, as such it enduringly pervades and dictates all elements of Jamaican life. Specific studies of Jamaican racialisation have been limited, in conjunction with a government unwilling to explore it\u2019s domestic race problem, the operation of a racial machine is left unchecked and in no small way contributes to Jamaica\u2019s stagnant economy and warring society. It is the purpose of this essay to explore the racialisation of post-colonial Jamaica and to expose how ‘the social regulation of race’1, enduringly limits its Afro-Caribbean population in economy, society and to a certain extent politics. This focus shall not be at the expense of other races, however, black Jamaicans are at a nexus of racial judgement.<\/p>\n

The perceived identity of Jamaica<\/strong><\/p>\n

The picture painted by Jamaican governmental institutions is one of harmony in an ideologically raceless society. This post-raciality was not sought through any definitive steps to absolving racial difference, rather, the government conscripted the concealment (not removal) of racial boundaries; this is reflected in Jamaica\u2019s national Motto \u2014 “Out of Many, One People.” The desire to strip the nation of a globally perceived race does not reflect the unification of race through assimilation, rather, it serves to strengthen the divide between Jamaican \u2018races.\u2019<\/strong> Despite this, the racial diversity of the island has been seen to reference an environment of equality<\/em>, multiculturalism and diversity. Wardle describes a \u2018globalized image of a racial consciousness which defines a land of free-choice.\u2019 This image of Jamaica, must be seen in the context of a government dependent upon its tourist industry which \u2018has become, in recent years, the most vital component of the Jamaican economy.\u2019 \u00a0The instability of contemporary Jamaica\u2019s economy is attributable to the decaying foundations of a plantation economy which favours white Jamaicans over blacks. As a result of this selective presentation, there is little external recognition of race hate within Jamaica. More alarmingly and certainly symptomatic of the true nature of Jamaican race, there is little internal<\/em> administrative recognition of domestic racism.<\/p>\n

The general assessment of Jamaica is inexorably linked to the globalized identity of (predominantly black) Jamaican citizens. Hence, a prevalent global expectation to be quintessentially Jamaican; and to conform to a black dreddie phenotype exists. Whilst global expectations such as these seem trivial, in a country whose<\/em> \u2018people acquired globalized world views,\u2019 this expectation is imported and takes hold in Jamaica…<\/p>\n

…The racial identity of Jamaica<\/strong><\/p>\n

The truth of perceived Jamaican races is far more diverse than the homogenous black perception of the west, rather presents \u2018a situation of considerable racial ideological complexity.\u2019 Miller suggests \u2018Racial groups intermarried to produce Jamaican society from a varying mixture of Europeans, Jews, Africans, Indians and Chinese races.\u2019 However, these interactions were mediated through a colonial and caste system of judgement. Needless to say, the relationship between the first white and African inhabitants was one of white superiority. The arrival of east Indians and the shadist caste-system under which their society is structured, compounded the degradation of African-Jamaicans; widening the void between blacks and other Jamaican ethnicities. This process of racialisation seems to conform to Goldberg\u2019s relational methodology which suggests; \u2019colonial outlooks, interests, dispositions and arrangements set the\u2026 frameworks for\u2026 engaging and distancing, exploiting and governing, admitting and administering those conceived as racially distinct and different- and relatedly for elevating and privileging those deemed racially to belong to the dominant. Certainly, the importation of an Indian caste system had the potential to disrupt such a reading, but their subservience to whites and denigration to blacks, meant that this system correlated neatlywith sustained colonial philosophies.<\/p>\n

The colour-based classification of race, which characterizes racial relations throughout the Caribbean has evolved into a number of categories which oversimplify the genesis of racial distinction in the country; White, Brown and Black. These divisions are seen to correlate with \u2019the socioeconomic categories of upper class, middle class and working class.’ \u2018This colour scheme characterizes the social, economic and political institutions in Jamaica today, even though over time the colonial prejudices have been hidden behind education and social class.’ Again, Miller\u2019s lexical choice is a significant one; hidden<\/em>, the effects of governmental concealment are pervasive. There have been superficial social reforms, but increasing poverty and subsequent criminality; leads to the increase and fortification of a rich-poor divide…<\/p>\n

…Jamaican racialisation has established a number of modes of racist interactions. Firstly, racialisation from above; the imposition of racial categories and therefore judgements of worth, by a light skinned minority upon majority populus. Secondly, the notion of associational race, a majoritive judgement whereby a persons social status and resultant associations define their racial identity. And finally, self- racialisation; the individual\u2019s ascription to \u2018characteristics\u2019 defining ethnicity and their personal judgements of them.<\/p>\n

Racialisation from above, is arguably the basis for the other two modes, in that it is the mode which establishes a racial hierarchy. However, of increasing significance in contemporary Jamaica are the latter two. Associational race in particular factors in the interactions between \u2018Brown\u2019 Jamaicans and blacks.<\/p>\n

The illegitimate offspring of absentee plantation owners were often left in positions of authority, with benefits of such status; hence, they \u2018emerged as the elite class within Jamaican society after emancipation.\u2019 Inheritance for mixed race Jamaicans, and their perceived success through associations with a white world, further enforced the dominance of fairness and perpetuated the racial alienation African-Jamaicans.<\/strong> Protection for the offspring of whites was written into the original colonial charters, showing that de jure and de facto racism, were literally written into the hierarchy of the island.<\/p>\n

Alleyne alleges that \u2018in Jamaica, “brown”… has become the more active pole of opposition and antithesis to black.\u2019 This rift was reflected in Marcus Garvey\u2019s judgements of \u2018mulattoes<\/a>.\u2019 He stated, ‘they [mixed-race Jamaicans] train themselves to believe that in the slightest shade the coloured man is above the black man and so it runs up to white.’<\/p>\n

This view typifies the racially fractured infrastructure of thought which reacts to oppression by supporting the stratification of race. Contrary to Garvey\u2019s assertion, mixed race citizens are not training themselves, rather are subject to a pervasive and prevailing system which favours fair skin. Consequently, Jamaican mixed race citizens (in accordance with global precedent) suffer a state of suspension between poles, denied full integration to either. Considering the breadth of Jamaican mixed-race heritage; this reflects the implosive depreciation of individual race.<\/p>\n

However, the same notion of associational race does not factor in the final mode of racist interaction; self-racialisation. Both of the other modes through essentially force blacks to apologise for their racial otherness. Hence, the need for self-affirmation emerges, an identification with and celebration of racial allegiances. That being said, alongside this positive affirmation there lies \u2018a pernicious internalized form of racism which involves prejudice, stereotyping and perceptions of beauty among members of the same racial group, whereby light skin is more highly valued that dark skin.\u2019…<\/p>\n

Read the entire paper here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Racialisation in Jamaica Mapping Global Racisms Project (2012- ) University of Leeds Working Papers 13 pages Benjamin Joyce Introduction The processes of racialisation in Jamaica reflect a complex and sustained ideological grounding upon colonial logics which actively repress perceived racial otherness. Despite the insistence of governmental institutions and the projected image of a raceless nation, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,8,14,394],"tags":[13682,80,5022],"class_list":["post-28778","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-latincarib","category-media-archive","category-papers","category-socialscience","tag-benjamin-joyce","tag-jamaica","tag-university-of-leeds"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28778","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=28778"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28778\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=28778"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=28778"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=28778"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}