After 1838, European colonies in the Caribbean with expanding sugar industries imported large numbers of immigrants to meet their acute labor shortage. Large numbers of Jamaicans were recruited to work in Panama and Costa Rica in the 1850s. After slavery was abolished in the United States in 1865, American planters imported temporary workers, called "swallow migrants", to harvest crops on an annual basis. These workers, many of them Jamaicans, returned to their countries after harvest. Between 1881 and the beginning of World War I, the United States recruited over 250,000 workers from the Caribbean, 90,000 of whom were Jamaicans, to work on the Panama Canal.[3][4] During both world wars, the United States again recruited Jamaican men for service on various American bases in the region.
Jamaican immigration to the U.S. increased during the civil rights era of the 1960s. As with many other sources of Caribbean immigration, the geographical nearness of Jamaica to the U.S. increased the likelihood of migration. The economic attractiveness and general Jamaican perception of the U.S. as a land of opportunity explain continued migration flows despite economic downturn in America. Traditionally, America has experienced increased migration through means of family preference, in which U.S. citizens sponsor their immediate family. Through this category a substantial amount of Jamaican immigrants were able to enter mainly urban cities within the U.S that provided blue-collar work opportunities. Jamaican immigrants utilized employment opportunities despite the discriminatory policies that affected some Caribbean émigrés.[5]
Jamaicans comprise the largest nationality of U.S. immigrants from the English-speaking Caribbean. Because so many have assimilated into the black community, it is difficult to estimate their number. The 1990 U.S. census placed the number of documented Jamaican Americans at 435,025.
Demographics
An estimated 554,897 Jamaican-born people lived in the U.S. in 2000.[6] This represents 61% of the approximate 911,000 Americans of Jamaican ancestry. Many Jamaicans are second, third and descend from even older generations, as there have been Jamaicans in the U.S. as early as the early twentieth Century. The regional composition is as follows: 59 percent live in the Northeast, mainly in the State of New York; 4.8 percent in the Midwest; 30.6 percent in the South, particularly South Florida; and 5.6 percent on the West. The New York metropolitan area and South Florida have the largest number of Jamaican immigrants in the United States. South Florida is home to the highest number of undocumented Jamaicans, whereas most documented immigrants tend to reside in Brooklyn. Jamaicans refer to Miami metropolitan area and Brooklyn colloquially as "Kingston 21" and "Little Jamaica" respectively. Jamaicans in the Miami metropolitan area mostly live in Broward County and Jamaicans in New York City have formed communities in Brooklyn, The Bronx and Queens. Especially Central Brooklyn, particularly East Flatbush, Crown Heights, Flatbush, and Flatlands, parts of East Brooklyn like Brownsville and especially Canarsie and the Northeast Bronx, particularly Wakefield and Williamsbridge neighborhoods holding the largest Jamaican populace.[7] Large communities of Jamaican immigrants have formed in New York City and the whole New York Metro Area, which includes Long Island and much of New Jersey and Connecticut, along with Florida (centered in and around the Miami/Broward County, Orlando and Tampa areas), which has the second largest Jamaican community in the U.S. In recent years, many Jamaicans have left New York City for its suburbs, and large Jamaican communities have also formed in many other major cities like Philadelphia (including Delaware and other parts of eastern Pennsylvania), Baltimore, Washington D.C./Central Maryland, Atlanta, Boston, Western NY State (Buffalo and Rochester) and Cleveland. Smaller numbers are in Charlotte, Houston, Chicago and Los Angeles.
U.S. states with large Jamaican populations
According to the 2020 U.S. Census, there were 1,047,117 Jamaican Americans.[8]
The 10 U.S. states with the largest Jamaican populations in 2020 census were: [9]
In 2014, the median age of Caribbean immigrants was 48 years, compared to 44 years for the general immigrant average. The median age of Jamaican immigrants was 49 years old. According to the Migration Policy Institute's tabulation of census data, 6% of Caribbean immigrants were under the age of 18, 76% between the ages of 18 and 64, and 19% were 65 and older.[15]
In 2019, the median age of Jamaican Americans was 37 years old (U.S. Census Bureau 2019).
Caribbean immigrants are more likely to be proficient in English compared to the general immigrant population. In 2017, only 2% of Jamaicans were Limited English Proficient (LEP).[16] By 2019, the figure had reduced to just 0.9% of Jamaicans who were LEP (U.S. Census Bureau 2019).
Jamaica is an English Speaking country. A Jamaican with Limited English proficiency, either had very little education or a serious disability. Hence the low percentage as compared to other immigrants.
Education and employment
Caribbean immigrants perform better than the general immigrant population in terms of high school graduation rates.[17]
In 2017, 24% of Jamaican immigrants had a bachelor's degree. This was higher than the Caribbean average of 21% (compared to 31% in the general immigrant population).[16]
In 2019, 30% of Jamaican Americans had a bachelor's degree. This is higher than the American average of 24.3% (U.S. Census Bureau 2019).
76% of Jamaican immigrants are working age (18 to 64). An estimated 30% of Caribbean immigrants are in the service occupations, 21% are in sales and office positions, and 25% are in management, business, science, and arts occupations and only 9% of Jamaican immigrants are in construction and maintenance jobs.[15] Jamaicans specifically, 32-37% seek management, business, science, and arts positions. According to the Migration Policy Institute, Jamaican immigrants to the United States consistently compose of a high share of skilled professionals. Caribbean immigrants tend to have a higher employment participation rate than the American average.[16]
Income
In 2014, the median Jamaican immigrant yearly income was $51,000 with a 13% poverty rate. The median Jamaican immigrant income is higher than the average Caribbean immigrant income, which was about $41,000 with a 20% poverty rate. According to World Bank data, in 2014, the Caribbean as a whole was sent $9.7 billion, 8% of the US GDP as remittances, not including Cuba, which is estimated to send $1.8 billion.[18]
In 2019, Jamaican Americans had a median household income of $62,044, higher than the American average of $57,761. Jamaican Americans had a poverty rate of 11.2%, lower than the American average of 12% (U.S. Census Bureau 2019).
Homeownership
Jamaican Americans have one of the highest rates of homeownership among Latin American and Caribbean immigrants in the US.[19]
Jamaica's most popular musical forms are reggae and dancehall. There are also others such as "dub poetry" or chanted verses, Ska and Rocksteady, with its emotionally charged, celebrative beat. Jamaican Americans also listen to a great variety of other music such as: jazz, calypso, soca, rap, classical music, gospel and "high-church" choirs.
In Miami and Brooklyn, especially in the neighborhood of Flatbush along Flatbush, Nostrand, Utica and Church Avenues, one sees groceries filled with a variety of Caribbean cuisines, including sugar cane, jelly, coconut and yams.
Traditional costumes
In New York City, Jamaican Americans participate in the Caribbean Labor day parade in Brooklyn annually and dress in lavish and colorful costumes during the Brooklyn celebration along Eastern Parkway.
There is also a Jamaican American flag representing their heritage in the United States. The flag is a blending of the American flag and the Jamaican flag. Many Jamaican Americans tend to fly solely the Jamaican flag.
Sports
A number of Jamaican Americans have excelled in international competition and carried home many trophies. Donald Quarrie won the 200 and the 4 × 100 meters relay Olympic Gold Medal. Merlene Ottey won the 200 and the 4 × 100 meters relay. George Headley, who was born in Panama in 1909, transported to Cuba, grew up in Jamaica. and lived in the United States. Sanya Richards-Ross won gold in the 400 metres after finishing third at the 2008 Summer Olympics. Richards-Ross has also won Olympic gold in the 4×400 meters relay at the 2004 Summer Olympics, the 2008 Summer Olympics, and the 2012 Summer Olympics. She was the best 400m runner in the world for a decade, ranking No. 1 in the world from 2005-2009 and again in 2012.
There are also several Jamaican-American world-renowned boxers including boxing greats Mike Tyson and Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Colin Powell, the first African-American Secretary of StateKamala Harris, the first female vice president and the highest-ranking female official in U.S. history, as well as the first African-American vice president.
Politics
Jamaicans have been involved in American political issues since the 1800s. John B. Russwurm fought against slavery and co-founded America's first black press, Freedom's Journal, in 1827.[22]Ferdinand Smith co-founded the National Maritime Union and was considered one of the most powerful black labor leaders in U.S. history.[23][24]Marcus Garvey became one of the most influential activists during the 1920s and 30s and it was Garvey's ideas that had a profound influence on the views of American civil rights leader, Martin Luther King.[25] Some academics and experts claim Garvey "helped paved the way" for the American civil rights movement.[26]
Christopher Huie, Virgin Galactic astronaut and Senior Engineering Manager, Flight Sciences. Successfully completed Unity 25 space mission. He is also co-founder of the Black Leaders in Aerospace Scholarship & Training (BLAST) Program.[30][31]
Paul S Ramphal is Adjunct Assistant Professor of Surgery at the University of North Carolina and inventor of the (Ramphal) Cardiac Surgery Simulator.[34][35] The Ramphal Simulator is used in the training of many cardiothoracic surgery residents in the United States.[36]
Robert Rashford co-invented the world's first portable 3D non-destructive evaluation (NDE) system. The system was used in the maintenance of the United States Government's Hubble Space Telescope.[37][38] He also invented a protective enclosure for use transporting orbital replacement units (orus).[39] Rashford designed and developed unique spacecraft support systems for the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) Airborne Support Equipment (UASE) at the Orbital Sciences Corporation (OSC). At General Electric, he designed and tested a variety of spacecraft for both commercial and military applications. At Bechtel Corporation, he designed a nuclear reactor support structure. He has designed numerous highly complex engineering systems that successfully flew on board NASA's Manned Space Flight Programs.[40][41]
Mercedes Richards was a pioneering scientist who was the first astronomer to make images of the gravitational flow of gas between the stars in any interacting binary; the first to image the chromospheres and accretion disks in Algol binaries; the first in astronomy to apply the technique of tomography; the first astrophysicist to make theoretical hydrodynamic simulations of the Algol binary stars; the first astronomer to discover starspots on the cool star in an Algol binary and the first astrophysicist to apply novel distance correlation statistical methods to large astronomical databases.[42][43][44][45]
John Henry Thompson, who studied and worked in the US, invented the Lingo programming language used in Adobe Director. The language is used for animation, web design, graphics, sound and video games.[46]
The New York metropolitan area, broadly referred to as the Tri-State area and often also called Greater New York, is the largest metropolitan area in the world by urban landmass, encompassing 4,669.0 sq mi (12,093 km2). The New York metropolitan area is one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world, the largest metropolitan area in the U.S., and the only U.S. metropolitan area home to more than 20 million residents as of the 2020 United States census.
Greek Americans are Americans of full or partial Greek ancestry. The lowest estimate is that 1.2 million Americans are of Greek descent while the highest estimate suggests over 3 million. According to the US census, 264,066 people older than five spoke Greek at home in 2019.
The Miami metropolitan area is a coastal metropolitan area in southeastern Florida. It is the ninth-largest metropolitan statistical area (MSA) in the United States, the fifth-largest metropolitan area in the Southern United States, and the largest metropolitan area in Florida. It is also known as South Florida, SoFlo, SoFla, the Gold Coast, Southeast Florida, the Tri-County Area, or Greater Miami, and officially as the Miami–Fort Lauderdale–West Palm Beach Metropolitan Statistical Area. With a population of 6.18 million, its population exceeds 31 of the nation's 50 states as of 2023. It comprises the three most populated counties in the state, Miami-Dade County, Broward County, and Palm Beach County, which rank as the first, second, and third-most populous counties in the state, respectively. Miami-Dade County, with 2,701,767 people in 2020, is the seventh-most populous county in the United States.
Cuban Americans are Americans who immigrated from or are descended from immigrants from Cuba, regardless of racial or ethnic origin. As of 2023, Cuban Americans were the fourth largest Hispanic and Latino American group in the United States after Mexican Americans, Stateside Puerto Ricans and Salvadoran Americans.
Dominican Americans are Americans who trace their ancestry to the Dominican Republic. The phrase may refer to someone born in the United States of Dominican descent or to someone who has migrated to the United States from the Dominican Republic. As of 2021, there were approximately 2.4 million people of Dominican descent in the United States, including both native and foreign-born. They are the second largest Hispanic group in the Northeastern region of the United States after Puerto Ricans, and the fifth-largest Hispanic/Latino group nationwide.
Haitian Americans are a group of Americans of full or partial Haitian origin or descent. The largest proportion of Haitians in the United States live in Little Haiti to the South Florida area. In addition, they have settled in major Northeast cities such as New York City, Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, D.C., and in Chicago and Detroit in the Midwest. Most are immigrants or their descendants from the mid-late 20th-century migrations to the United States. Haitian Americans represent the largest group within the Haitian diaspora.
Colombian Americans, are Americans who have Colombian ancestry. The word may refer to someone born in the United States of full or partial Colombian descent or to someone who has immigrated to the United States from Colombia. Colombian Americans are the largest South American Hispanic group in the United States.
Stateside Puerto Ricans, also ambiguously known as Puerto Rican Americans, or Puerto Ricans in the United States, are Puerto Ricans who are in the United States proper of the 50 states and the District of Columbia who were born in or trace any family ancestry to the unincorporated US territory of Puerto Rico.
Chilean Americans are Americans who have full or partial origin from Chile.
Argentine Americans are Americans whose full or partial origin hails from Argentina.
A Nicaraguan American is an American of Nicaraguan descent. They are also referred to as "nica" or "nicoya".
Ecuadorian Americans are Americans of full or partial Ecuadorian ancestry. Ecuadorian Americans are the 9th largest Latin American group in the United States.
Venezuelan Americans are Americans who trace their heritage, or part of their heritage, to the nation of Venezuela. The word may refer to someone born in the U.S. of Venezuelan descent or to someone who has immigrated to the U.S. from Venezuela.
Trinidadian and Tobagonian Americans are people with Trinidadian and Tobagonian ancestry or immigrants who were born in Trinidad and Tobago. Trinidad and Tobago is home to people of many different national, ethnic and religious origins. As a result, people of Trinidadian and Tobagonian descent do not equate their nationality with ethnicity. The largest proportion of Trinidadians lives in the New York metropolitan area, with other large communities located in South Florida, Central Florida, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Texas, Minnesota, Georgia, and Massachusetts. There are more than 223,639 Trinbagonian Americans living in the United States.
Bolivian Americans or Bolivia-Americans are Americans of at least partial Bolivian descent.
Guatemalan Americans are Americans of full or partial Guatemalan descent. The Guatemalan American population at the 2010 Census was 1,044,209. Guatemalans are the sixth largest Hispanic group in the United States and the second largest Central American population after Salvadorans. Half of the Guatemalan population is situated in two parts of the country, the Northeast and Southern California.
Costa Rican Americans are Americans of at least partial Costa Rican descent.
Panamanian Americans are Americans of Panamanian descent.
Paraguayan Americans are Americans of Paraguayan descent.
↑ N. Samuel Murell, "Jamaican Americans." in Gale Encyclopedia of Multicultural America, edited by Thomas Riggs, (3rd ed., vol. 2, Gale, 2014), pp. 523-536. Online
↑ Jones, Terry-Ann. Jamaican Immigrants in the United States and Canada: Race, Transnationalism, and Social Capital. New York, NY: LFB Scholarly Publishing LLC, 2008. 2–3; 160–3. Print.
Bishop, Jacqueline. My mother who is me: life stories from Jamaican women in New York (Africa World Press, 2006).
Ferguson, Gail M., and Marc H. Bornstein. "Remote acculturation: The 'Americanization' of Jamaican islanders." International Journal of Behavioral Development 36.3 (2012): 167-177. Online
Horst, Heather A., and Andrew Garner. Jamaican Americans (Chelsea House, 2007).
Kasinitz, Philip, Juan Battle, and Ines Miyares. "Fade to black." in Ethnicities: Children of immigrant America ed by Rubén G. Rumbaut and Alejandro Portes. (2001): 267-300.
Murell, N. Samuel. "Jamaican Americans." in Gale Encyclopedia of Multicultural America, edited by Thomas Riggs, (3rd ed., vol. 2, Gale, 2014), pp. 523-536. Online
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