Jamaica Primetime
Jamaicans Attitude to Afro-Americans
Published Oct 1, 2002I have been here in the USA permanently for four years and while that is a relatively short time I have come in close contacts with a number of African Americans and remain in contact with my fellow Jamaicans. What I have realized from going between both communities is this belief that my fellow Jamaicans hold that, most African Americans are lazy, unambitious and therefore deserve whatever negative attitude they may receive from a majority class. I won't go into the old colonial belief that most of us, even my generation actually still belief that white is definitely better than black. I believe that it is an unfair belief that we hold of these people whose country we have decided to move into and who we have placed ourselves with to fight for that one bread that will be given to the black community. We must be reminded that blacks in America aren't separated in African American and non African American. We are all viewed as black and we should stop stereotyping our American brothers and sisters. Remember we are of the little nation that gave the world Marcus Garvey and Bob Marley and they didn't believe that we were a separate group. We seem to forget how the Chinese and Indians when they come to our country label us with negative labels of lazy and dishonest etc. I won't go into too many details because I don't know if this is a welcome topic in this community but its a wrong attitude and we need to get rid of it. Facts Jamaicans, first generation Americans of Jamaican parentage and of other Caribbean countries are on welfare as well, they are committing crimes as well and just as other African Americans are graduating from colleges as well. When we commit a crime for immigration purpose its place in the Jamaican category but for other purposes its just black or African American. Point is that we are viewed as one and should therefore live as one we are all the same. The same things they do, we do too in our own country and remember the drive we pick up here, we don't have at home because we feel dejected, the Chinese and the Indians have the drive and they succeed in our own country, this may make us seem lazy but we know we aren't. Its the same here we’re new and we may be willing to go the extra mile because we know in the end we have our own country. Point is we have no right to think we are better than these people, we are all black people.






Comments
4 comment(s) on this page. Add your own comment below.
funny thing about lazy. I thought it was the Jamaicans that were known to be lazy..
Wow, I agree with your statements 100 %. I am the product of a Jamaican father and African American mother (both black). I grew up in the middle, seeing both sides. From what I've seen, many Jamaicans have bought into the negative stereotypes about Black Americans or 'Yankees' as they love to refer to them. The ironic thing is in Jamaica they are doing the same things as the blacks here! Killing eachother, drugs, etc. We are all black people with the same ancestors and blood. As far as AAs being lazy that's bs. They built America for free! 400 years of blood sweat and tears. You would think your own kinfolk would understand and not take the oppresors side and oppinion of you.
@Stephen Modesty Now thats funny, U say we Jamaicans are lazy...Who more lazy than yall Americans....If u dont know, We Jamaicans are hard working people, we dont wait on handouts from people, like yall Americans...
@omari shut up you half yanky we arent like afro americans we dont like them and they give black bad looks they say all the jamaican stereotypes thee most and we own are own country and we never touched cotton like them lol
Add a Comment
Please be civil.