r/AskTheCaribbean Caribbean American Apr 28 '25

Culture Does racism between Caribbean people disappear in the diaspora

For example growing up I was never under the impression there were conflicts between Indo and Afro Caribbean people, because the Indo Caribbean people I met were all very nice and emphasized that we're all Caribbean.

I also have a Dutch friend who explained that Surinamese people seem pretty united in the Netherlands regardless of race, but this is an outsider looking in of course.

What do you guys think? Does this imply that ethnic tensions are more superficial, or is it really not that significant? Do you all have any contradictory or complementary experiences?

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u/Professional-Plan153 Apr 28 '25

Im just speaking from my personal experience but I feel like theres racial tension between Indo and Black Caribbean people in Surniame, Guyana and Trinidad because of the british due to colonialism and that ignorance that was put onto them just stayed there. Whereas in Jamaica, I feel like that just doesnt happen but maybe I just havent noticed it šŸ¤·šŸ½ā€ā™€ļø.

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u/Joshistotle Apr 28 '25

The ethnic divisions in Guyana were fomented by the British initially, and then in recent decades by the CIA : https://foreignpolicy.com/2015/07/31/guyana-cia-meddling-race-riots-phantom-death-squad-ppp/ Their own declassified documents reveal they literally spent millions of dollars on operations to destabilize Guyana and promote racial divisions.Ā 

9

u/Easy-Carrot213 Apr 28 '25

Well we also can’t ignore the elephant in the room which is the anti-Blackness that is inherent in Indian culture. I’m not saying this to be offensive but it’s an unspoken truth.

2

u/SaltEconomist3674 May 07 '25

Same in TrinidadĀ