- Jamaican diaspora
__NOTOC__The Jamaican diaspora refers to Jamaicans who are forced or induced to leave their traditional homelands, the dispersal of such Jamaicans, and the ensuing developments in their culture.
The Jamaican diaspora exists in the
United States ,United Kingdom ,Canada , and otherCaribbean islands, but Jamaicans can be found in even the far corners of the world.Over the past several decades, close to a millionFact|date=September 2007 Jamaicans have emigrated, especially to the
United States , theUnited Kingdom andCanada . This emigration appears to have been tapering off somewhat in recent years, however the great number of Jamaicans living abroad has become known as the "Jamaican diaspora". Due to Commonwealth law and Jamaica's history with Great Britain, most Jamaican emigrants have followed a path first to the UK, and then if they do not remain in the UK, on to other Commonwealth countries such as Canada. Today that trend has changed with more Jamaican emigrants going directly to the United States, Canada, otherCaribbean nations, Central &South America (mainly inPanama andColombia ), and evenAfrica (most notablyEgypt andEthiopia ) without having to pass through the UK first. There has also been emigration of Jamaicans toCuba [cite web|title=Cuba|publisher=Microsoft Encarta|url=http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761569844_2/Cuba.html|accessdate=2008-08-31] and toNicaragua . [cite web|title=Nicaragua|publisher=Microsoft Encarta|url=http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761577584_3/Nicaragua.html|accessdate=2008-08-31]Concentrations of
expatriate Jamaicans are large in a number of cities in the United States, includingNew York City , Buffalo, the Miami metro area, Atlanta, Orlando, Tampa, Baltimore,Washington, D.C ,Philadelphia , Hartford, and Los Angeles. In Canada, the Jamaican population is centred inToronto , and there are smaller communities in cities such as Hamilton,Montreal andOttawa . In theUnited Kingdom , Jamaican communities exist in most large cities where they make up the larger part of the British-Caribbean community.The United Kingdom has a much higher percentage of Jamaicans than Canada and the United States, however population wise, the UK and USA are pretty much equal.Fact|date=December 2007 An overwhelming amount of
Jamaican American s reside in New York City, whilstJamaican Briton s are much more widespread across the UK.Fact|date=December 2007New York City is home to a large Jamaican diaspora community, with communities along Flatbush, Nostrand and Utica Avenues inBrooklyn —centred around the neighbourhoods of Prospect Heights, Lefferts Gardens, Flatbush, East Flatbush,Crown Heights ,Canarsie , and Flatlands.The Bronx , neighbourhoods such asWakefield ,Eastchester ,Baychester ,Queens , Westchester County and nearbyStamford, Connecticut also have significant Jamaican ex-pat communities. Flatbush, Nostrand, and Utica Avenues feature miles of Jamaican cuisine, food markets and other businesses, nightlife and residential enclaves.In
Toronto , the Jamaican community is also large. Caribbean areas of the city are located in parts ofRexdale , Scarborough,Jane and Finch ,Lawrence Heights , Weston, sections ofDowntown Toronto , and York, which also includes aLittle Jamaica neighbourhood that is identifiable along Eglinton Avenue West. Though in recent times most Jamaicans have been moving out to suburbs such asMississauga and Brampton. The Jamaican community has had an influence on Toronto's culture.Caribana (the celebration of Caribbean culture) is an annual event in the city. Jamaica Day is in July and the Jesus in the City Parade attracts many Jamaican Christians. This festival is held downtown every September, shutting downYonge Street - the busiest main street in Downtown Toronto. Reggae and dancehall are popular among Toronto's youth.London has a strong Jamaican diaspora. An estimated 7% of Londoners are of Jamaican heritage. Many are now at least second-, if not third- or fourth-generation Black British Caribbeans. Also a further 2% of people in London are of mixed Jamaican and British origin, the largest mixed-race group of the country and the fastest-growing.One of the largest and most famous Jamaican expatriate communities is in
Brixton ,South London . More large Jamaican communities in London areTottenham and Hackney in North London,Harlesden in North-West London, andLewisham in South-East London. The highest concentration of Jamaicans are in the Inner-city South London boroughs.On the last bank holiday of the year during late August the Annual
Notting Hill Carnival takes place inWest London which is the second biggest street party in the world afterRio Carnival . It spans areas ofWest London such asShepherd's Bush ,Ladbroke Grove , White City and of courseNotting Hill . Many other Caribbean nations have large communities in this part of London such asTrinidad and Tobago ,Barbados andAntigua . The Caribbean community including many Jamaicans are involved in the Carnival which starts on Saturday and finishes late on Monday. Jamaicans have many food stalls, soundsystems and floats involved in the procession. Well over a million londoners come to Notting Hill on the Monday. There is also a much smaller carnival called theTottenham Carnival which takes place inTottenham during June, approximately 40,000 people attend.Other Jamaican communities include the areas of St Pauls in
Bristol , Chapeltown inLeeds ,Moss Side ,Longsight andHulme inManchester ,Toxteth inLiverpool ,Burngreave inSheffield , Handsworth,Lozells , andAston inBirmingham , and St Ann's,Nottingham . More recently many resort and wild-life management skilled Jamaicans have been trending emigration toward such far-flung nations asAustralia ,New Zealand andIndonesia . The nation continues to have a severe problem withbarrel children --those left on their own by parents seeking a better life abroad.Crime
Jamaican immigration in Toronto has come under scrutiny recently following a rash of cross-border crime and the Toronto police are investigating links between gang violence in Toronto and deadly clashes in Jamaica [http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2003/02/09/jamaica_fantino030209.html] . A further source of friction with other Torontonians is the perceived prevalence of Jamaican illegal immigration. The fall of 2002 stands out in particular when nine young men were killed in a series of shootings in Toronto. One of the suspects, who was later murdered, turned out to be a Jamaican who was living in Canada illegally. [http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2003/02/09/jamaica_fantino030209.html] The consequences of this immigration has often been deportations, costly to the Canadian taxpayer; Canada deports about 200 people back to Jamaica every year. In dozens of cases, the men and women are being sent back because they've been convicted of crimes. [http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2003/02/09/jamaica_fantino030209.html]
Locations
United Kingdom
UK - around 420,000 especially in
London ,Birmingham ,Nottingham ,Liverpool ,Manchester ,Sheffield andLeeds .United States
US - around 737,000 [cite web|url=http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/DTTable?_bm=y&-context=dt&-ds_name=DEC_2000_SF3_U&-mt_name=DEC_2000_SF3_U_PCT018&-CONTEXT=dt&-tree_id=403&-redoLog=true&-all_geo_types=N&-geo_id=01000US&-search_results=01000US&-format=&-_lang=en&-SubjectID=14595646 |title=Census 2000 Detailed Tables: Ancestry|publisher=US Census Bureau|accessdate=2008-08-31] especially in
New York City (416,000),South Florida and elsewhere.Canada
Canada - around 231,000 [cite web|title=Ethnological Portrait of Canada, 2006 Census|publisher=Statistics Canada|url=http://www12.statcan.ca/english/census06/data/highlights/ethnic/pages/Page.cfm?Lang=E&Geo=PR&Code=01&Data=Count&Table=2&StartRec=1&Sort=3&Display=All&CSDFilter=5000|accessdate=2008-08-31] especially in the
Toronto metropolitan area (around 160,000) [cite web|url=http://www12.statcan.ca/english/census06/data/highlights/ethnic/pages/Page.cfm?Lang=E&Geo=CMA&Code=535__&Data=Count&Table=2&StartRec=1&Sort=3&Display=All&CSDFilter=5000|title=Ethnological Portrait of Canada, 2006 Census|publisher=Statistics Canada|accessdate=2008-08-31] and Brampton (around 31,000). [cite web|url=http://www12.statcan.ca/english/census06/data/highlights/ethnic/pages/Page.cfm?Lang=E&Geo=CSD&Code=3521010&Table=2&Data=Count&StartRec=1&Sort=3&Display=All&CSDFilter=5000|title=Ethnological Portrait of Canada, 2006 Census|publisher=Statistics Canada|accessdate=2008-08-31]References
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