Country: Jamaica

Group: Indo-Jamaicans

Date Finalized: 10/30/2020

Team: Ethan Pelland (lead), Abi Pentecost, Maya Shrikant

Content Warning: Discrimination, slavery, human trafficking

Approximate Time Period: 1845-1917

            Indo-Jamaicans are a small minority group in Jamaica which comprise about 76,000 of the 2.1 million individuals in the country. The roots of the Indo-Jamaicans existence in Jamaica is in the exploitation of their labor. Under British Colonial Policy, an estimated 36,000 East Indian indentured servants signed 3-5 year long contracts and were sent to work on sugarcane plantations (Kumar, 1999). The practice was in effect from 1845 to 1917. After their contracts expired and another 5 years passed, Indo-Jamaicans were allowed to apply for repatriation to India, about 53% chose to stay in Jamaica (Tortello, n.d.). Plantation owners and the colonial government hoped that bringing in indentured laborers would depress wages and maintain the exploitative plantation system. This motivated anti-slavery and black jamaican political organizations to oppose the settlement of Indians in Jamaica as well as general anti-indian sentiments amongst the broader population. The derogatory term “coolies”, which is frequently used in former British African and Caribbean holdings, is descended from this adversarial relationship between the two populations.  However, ther is no evidence the level of modern resentment arises to the levels seen in the Former British Guyana, where there is frequent political strife and racial sectarianism. While Indo-Jamaicans do continue to face a certain degree of racial discrimination, they are not presently facing a situation of wide-scale forced labor. There is some evidence however of an increase in human trafficking from India into Jamaica (Mueller, 2017).  We rated data quality of 3 due to the prevalence of sociological and anthropological scholarly works available on the social and racial dynamics of Jamaica.

Sources

  1. Tortello, R (n.d.) Jamaica Gleaner : Pieces of the Past:The Arrival Of The Indians. https://old.jamaica-gleaner.com/pages/history/story0057.htm.
  2. Kumar, M., & Kumari, R. (1999). INDIAN CULTURE IN JAMAICA — PAST AND PRESENT. Proceedings of the Indian History Congress, 60, 1027-1033.
  3. Mueller, C. (2017, September 04). Indians Trafficked to Jamaica Assisted by IOM Highlights Increase in Trafficking from India to the Caribbean. Retrieved October 25, 2020, from https://www.iom.int/news/indians-trafficked-jamaica-assisted-iom-highlights-increase-trafficking-india-caribbean