Two Lumps & Other Twice Divorced Losers

[Julie]

Well, I had to look up Caribbean stereotypes, and apparently common stereotypes include: dreads, cannibalism,

Woah - I've never heard of the Cannibalism thing... did your sources say anything about which island that one is associated with?

having children at a very young age,

Having children at a very young age? Hmmm..I would think that's applicable to a wide variety of people & it's more of a socio-economic thing than an ethnic thing.

lack of education, etc.

Funny....at the time my parents came here, those folks were coming to the US already educated or becoming hyper-educated. I've never heard that one...


In fact, this is something that is made fun of. How hard the parents push the kids & how strict they are.

The only 'stereotype' I've been aware of is the whole Rastafarian/pot-smoking connection (Jamaica mostly). Which I guess does include 'dreads'.

It's just not much fun to mock really. Rasta folk come to my drum circles sometimes. Cool people. They certainly don't drone on and on about racism. In fact, I've never heard it mentioned.

LOL...that's because you're not listening. Rastafarians definitely talk about race....Also, reggae music is full of lyrics about "evil whitey"...but since they're speaking patois you may not perceive it - but it's there. These folks were enslaved / colonized - no way they are not talking about race. It's just that the conversations are different because the circumstances / perspectives are different.



Growing up, I blended in pretty well - that is, unless I wanted to speak with an accent I didn't. So, some people had no idea I was who / what I was. I am sharing this because people made pretty nasty remarks about Black immigrants living in the US - kind of along the lines of how folks are speaking about the Mexicans coming here and taking all the jobs. Black Americans & Carib Blacks do not necessarily get along. Black Americans & African Blacks living in the Amercicans don't seem to get along 100% either. In both cases the Americans are saying the immigrant groups "think they are better" & take all the jobs and the immigrant groups are saying the Americans are "lazy" and "uneducated."