Barbadian American
Encyclopedia
Barbadian Americans are Americans of Barbadian
heritage or Barbadian-born people who live in the United States of America
. The 2000 Census recorded 53,785 US residents born on the Caribbean island 52,170 of whom were born to non-American parents, and 54,509 people who described their ethnicity as Barbadian. In the 2010 U.S. Census estimation report, over 100,000 to 150,000 Barbadian Americans live in the U.S. alone, the majority in the New York City
area extending from Rhode Island
to Delaware
.
Between 1931 and 1950 West Indian immigration to the United States declined, due partly to an immigration restriction law that imposed a quota system heavily weighted in favor of newcomers arriving from northern and western European countries. The Great Depression was another factor in the drop in West Indian immigration, which reached a significant low in the 1930s.
A second wave began in the 1950s and peaked in the 1960s, when 470,213 immigrants arrived in the United States. More West Indians entered the United States during this decade than the total number that entered between 1891 and 1950. Between 1965 and 1976 a substantial number of immigrants from the Caribbean entered the United States, Barbados alone accounting for 17,400 of them. A large percentage of this wave of immigrants consisted of professional and technical workers forced to leave home because of limited economic opportunities in the Caribbean.
sections, while even more settled widely in the New York City
metropolitan area. The 1990 Census of Population Report shows that over 82 percent live in the Northeast, with over 62 percent in New York. More than 11 percent live in the South, approximately four percent live in the West, and almost two percent live in the Midwest. The five states with the highest Barbadian populations are New York, with 22,298; Massachusetts
, with 3,393; Florida
, with 1,770; New Jersey
, with 1,678; and California
, with 1,160. Unlike Chinese American
s or Italian American
s or Mexicans/Mexican Americans to compare, Barbadians—or West Indians, for that matter—do not occupy small enclaves in the cities of America where they live. They instead tend to settle wherever they can find jobs or affordable housing, and they strive for upward mobility and opportunities to improve their lives. Barbadians along with Jamaican American
s and other Caribbean Americans follow the agricultural and even more in the landscaping, construction, domestics and hospitality industries of both Florida
(i.e. Coconut Grove, Miami though came with workers from the Bahamas) and urban industrial areas of the Northeast Corridor
or Eastern Seaboard
. In the 2000's, an estimated 100,000 Barbadian-Americans live in the New York and Philadelphia areas.
or Europe
. Many Barbadian beliefs, however, are rooted in the country's own distinct culture.
(1735?-1807) was an important black leader in the eighteenth century. Accounts of his birth, parentage, early life, and career vary, but it is widely accepted that Hall was born in Bridgetown
, Barbados, in about 1735 to an English man and a woman of African descent, and that he came to America in 1765. Prince Hall was both an abolitionist and a Masonic organizer. Because of his organizing skill, a charter for the establishment of a lodge of American Negroes was issued on April 29, 1787, authorizing the organization in Boston of African Lodge No. 459, a "regular Lodge of Free and accepted Masons, under the title or denomination of the African Lodge," with Prince Hall as master. Prince Hall was also an abolitionist and spokesman. He was one of eight Masons who signed a petition on January 13, 1777, requesting the Massachusetts
state legislature to abolish slavery and declaring it as incompatible with the cause of American independence. He was later successful in urging Massachusetts to end its participation in the slave trade. He established the first school for colored children in his home in Boston in 1800. Hall ranks among the most significant black leaders in his day.
, who became governor of the colony that is known today as South Carolina
.
In the twentieth century, Shirley Chisholm
, born in 1924 to Barbadian parents, became a politician of great stature in America. Although Chisholm was born in Brooklyn
, New York, she spent the first ten years of her life in Barbados, where she received much of her primary education under the strict eye of her maternal grandmother. She gave credit for her later educational success to the well-rounded early training she received in Barbados. In 1964 Chisholm ran for the New York State Assembly
and won the election. She fought for rights and educational opportunities for women, blacks, and the poor. She served in the State Assembly until 1968, then she ran for the United States Congress
. Chisholm won the election to the U.S. House of Representatives and became the first black woman ever to be elected to the House, where she served with distinction from 1969 to 1982. In 1972 Chisholm made an unprecedented bid for the Presidential nomination of the Democratic Party
. She was the first black and first woman to run for the presidency. She is also the founder of the chair of the National Political Congress of Black Women.
Barbados
Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles. It is in length and as much as in width, amounting to . It is situated in the western area of the North Atlantic and 100 kilometres east of the Windward Islands and the Caribbean Sea; therein, it is about east of the islands of Saint...
heritage or Barbadian-born people who live in the United States of America
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The 2000 Census recorded 53,785 US residents born on the Caribbean island 52,170 of whom were born to non-American parents, and 54,509 people who described their ethnicity as Barbadian. In the 2010 U.S. Census estimation report, over 100,000 to 150,000 Barbadian Americans live in the U.S. alone, the majority in the New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
area extending from Rhode Island
Rhode Island
The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...
to Delaware
Delaware
Delaware is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Coast in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It is bordered to the south and west by Maryland, and to the north by Pennsylvania...
.
The first Barbadians in America
The first major wave of West Indian immigrants, including Barbadians, to the United States took place between 1901 and 1920, with a total of 230,972 entering the country. The majority were unskilled or semi-skilled laborers who came in search of economic opportunities. A substantial number were employed in low-paying service occupations and menial jobs that nonetheless offered higher wages than they could earn at home.Between 1931 and 1950 West Indian immigration to the United States declined, due partly to an immigration restriction law that imposed a quota system heavily weighted in favor of newcomers arriving from northern and western European countries. The Great Depression was another factor in the drop in West Indian immigration, which reached a significant low in the 1930s.
A second wave began in the 1950s and peaked in the 1960s, when 470,213 immigrants arrived in the United States. More West Indians entered the United States during this decade than the total number that entered between 1891 and 1950. Between 1965 and 1976 a substantial number of immigrants from the Caribbean entered the United States, Barbados alone accounting for 17,400 of them. A large percentage of this wave of immigrants consisted of professional and technical workers forced to leave home because of limited economic opportunities in the Caribbean.
Settlement patterns
Most Barbadian immigrants tend to live in Philadelphia esp. in the West PhiladelphiaWest Philadelphia
West Philadelphia, nicknamed West Philly, is a section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Though there is no official definition of its boundaries, it is generally considered to reach from the western shore of the Schuylkill River, to City Line Avenue to the northwest, Cobbs Creek to the southwest, and...
sections, while even more settled widely in the New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
metropolitan area. The 1990 Census of Population Report shows that over 82 percent live in the Northeast, with over 62 percent in New York. More than 11 percent live in the South, approximately four percent live in the West, and almost two percent live in the Midwest. The five states with the highest Barbadian populations are New York, with 22,298; Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
, with 3,393; Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
, with 1,770; New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
, with 1,678; and California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, with 1,160. Unlike Chinese American
Chinese American
Chinese Americans represent Americans of Chinese descent. Chinese Americans constitute one group of overseas Chinese and also a subgroup of East Asian Americans, which is further a subgroup of Asian Americans...
s or Italian American
Italian American
An Italian American , is an American of Italian ancestry. The designation may also refer to someone possessing Italian and American dual citizenship...
s or Mexicans/Mexican Americans to compare, Barbadians—or West Indians, for that matter—do not occupy small enclaves in the cities of America where they live. They instead tend to settle wherever they can find jobs or affordable housing, and they strive for upward mobility and opportunities to improve their lives. Barbadians along with Jamaican American
Jamaican American
Jamaican Americans are Americans of Jamaican heritage or Jamaican-born people who live in the United States of America. American citizenship is not a prerequisite of being a Jamaican American as permanent residents are also given this title....
s and other Caribbean Americans follow the agricultural and even more in the landscaping, construction, domestics and hospitality industries of both Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
(i.e. Coconut Grove, Miami though came with workers from the Bahamas) and urban industrial areas of the Northeast Corridor
Northeast Corridor
The Northeast Corridor is a fully electrified railway line owned primarily by Amtrak serving the Northeast megalopolis of the United States from Boston in the north, via New York to Washington, D.C. in the south, with branches serving other cities...
or Eastern Seaboard
Eastern seaboard
An Eastern seaboard can mean any easternmost part of a continent, or its countries, states and/or cities.Eastern seaboard may also refer to:* East Coast of Australia* East Coast of the United States* Eastern Seaboard of Thailand-See also:...
. In the 2000's, an estimated 100,000 Barbadian-Americans live in the New York and Philadelphia areas.
Traditions, customs, and beliefs
Barbadians have a variety of traditions that are handed down from generation to generation, especially by word of mouth. Many traditions may be traced to AfricaAfrica
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
or Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. Many Barbadian beliefs, however, are rooted in the country's own distinct culture.
Employment and economic traditions
Like most immigrants, Barbadian Americans come to America to "better themselves" economically. Over 82 percent settle in the Northeast region of the United States, 76 percent in New York state alone. Some find occupation in professional and technical fields, but the vast majority work as clerical workers, operators, craftsmen, foremen, sales workers, private household workers, service workers, managers, officials, foremen, and laborers; a very few work as farm managers and laborers. Because they believe in upward mobility, many Barbadians attend technical and professional schools and colleges, and they quickly qualify themselves for better paying jobs.Activism
Prince HallPrince Hall
Prince Hall , was a tireless abolitionist and a leader of the free black community in Boston. Hall tried to gain New England’s enslaved and free blacks a place in some of the most crucial spheres of society, Freemasonry, education and the military...
(1735?-1807) was an important black leader in the eighteenth century. Accounts of his birth, parentage, early life, and career vary, but it is widely accepted that Hall was born in Bridgetown
Bridgetown
The city of Bridgetown , metropolitan pop 96,578 , is the capital and largest city of the nation of Barbados. Formerly, the Town of Saint Michael, the Greater Bridgetown area is located within the parish of Saint Michael...
, Barbados, in about 1735 to an English man and a woman of African descent, and that he came to America in 1765. Prince Hall was both an abolitionist and a Masonic organizer. Because of his organizing skill, a charter for the establishment of a lodge of American Negroes was issued on April 29, 1787, authorizing the organization in Boston of African Lodge No. 459, a "regular Lodge of Free and accepted Masons, under the title or denomination of the African Lodge," with Prince Hall as master. Prince Hall was also an abolitionist and spokesman. He was one of eight Masons who signed a petition on January 13, 1777, requesting the Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
state legislature to abolish slavery and declaring it as incompatible with the cause of American independence. He was later successful in urging Massachusetts to end its participation in the slave trade. He established the first school for colored children in his home in Boston in 1800. Hall ranks among the most significant black leaders in his day.
Politics and government
As early as the 1670s, Barbadians have contributed to American government. Many prominent Barbadians immigrated to Carolina during that decade, among them was Sir John YeamansJohn Yeamans
Sir John Yeamans, 1st Baronet was an English colonial administrator described in his day as "a pirate ashore".-Life:...
, who became governor of the colony that is known today as South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
.
In the twentieth century, Shirley Chisholm
Shirley Chisholm
Shirley Anita St. Hill Chisholm was an American politician, educator, and author. She was a Congresswoman, representing New York's 12th Congressional District for seven terms from 1969 to 1983. In 1968, she became the first black woman elected to Congress...
, born in 1924 to Barbadian parents, became a politician of great stature in America. Although Chisholm was born in Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
, New York, she spent the first ten years of her life in Barbados, where she received much of her primary education under the strict eye of her maternal grandmother. She gave credit for her later educational success to the well-rounded early training she received in Barbados. In 1964 Chisholm ran for the New York State Assembly
New York State Assembly
The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature. The Assembly is composed of 150 members representing an equal number of districts, with each district having an average population of 128,652...
and won the election. She fought for rights and educational opportunities for women, blacks, and the poor. She served in the State Assembly until 1968, then she ran for the United States Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
. Chisholm won the election to the U.S. House of Representatives and became the first black woman ever to be elected to the House, where she served with distinction from 1969 to 1982. In 1972 Chisholm made an unprecedented bid for the Presidential nomination of the Democratic Party
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
. She was the first black and first woman to run for the presidency. She is also the founder of the chair of the National Political Congress of Black Women.