Colonization’s effects on Jamaica’s Cultural Identity

When discussing and analyzing contemporary Caribbean culture, particularly Jamaica, one must not fail to acknowledge the dreadful legacies of colonialism. Do to the remnants of colonial institutions

Can Jamaica succeed in developing their own cultural identity? That answer is yet to be seen. Do Jamaicans want to be categorized or identified as the survivalist or rather by some sort of cultural quality or achievement?

When Great Britain first colonized Jamaica, a type of social system was created. This social system was based around the need for slavery and the plantation systems. These two created a sort of racial distinction amongst the natives in Jamaica. It created something that Rex Nettleford refers to as whitedom and blackdom. The whitedom referred to the civilized part of the society obviously lighter in skin color. On the other hand, blackdom referred to the primitive section of the population, which were of course, darker in skin color. This was how white Jamaica and black Jamaica came about. The middle class has sought to copy British culture and patterns of behavior while the lower black classes attempt to maintain their African heritage. This ensuing clash of divergent cultures hindered any attempt to create a unifying cultural identity.

Rex Nettleford describes the Rastafarians as the ones who are defending their existence in Jamaica. The role of the Rastafarians has been to bring to the attention of the Jamaican society the urgent need to root identity and national cohesion in a recognition of the origins of its black majority and to redress the imbalance of history's systematic weakening of any claim to achievement. These qualities of defiance and self-determination are what illustrate the resilience and creative ingenuity of the Jamaican people and it is what Nettleford seeks to express.

“The successive introduction of massive new foreign populations into the lower sectors of insular social structures, under conditions of extremely restricted opportunities for upward economic, social, or political mobility.”(Mintz)

People from the Caribbean always seem to question themselves, to question their identity, and their duality. In reading Cliff’s ideas about identity one begins to wonder if in fact they are so colonized that they still seek to be whitened. Many want to whiten the race by denying the African, even if you are black. This is evident in Mr. Powell’s character. Mr. Powell is presented in a position of control, he is a teacher, and he shapes minds. He seems to think he knows his identity. He stresses the Jamaican’s separation from the outside world. He tends to separate himself from the African, African-American, all that seems to be barbarian, and ignorant. He separates himself from

Some topics in this essay:
Rex Nettleford, , Write Fire, Clare Savage, Caribbean Plantation, Michelle Cliff, Caribbean Mintz, People Caribbean, Rex Nettlford’s, Colonization Jamaica, cultural identity, social system, darker skin, skin color, slavery plantation, jamaican people, national cultural identity, survival resistance, hierarchy shade, national cultural, struggles identity, slavery plantation systems, cultural identity own, main character clare, unifying cultural identity,