Singer Justine Skye took to her Instagram account to address those who challenge her choice to identify solely as Jamaican and not American, despite being born here.
I noticed some people getting upset that I say Iām Jamaican although I was born in America.. I donāt need to prove myself to anyone.. but Iāve grown up all my life, coming to Jamaica multiple times a year, visiting my Jamaican family with my Jamaican parents and grandparents, in a Jamaican house hold.
thatās the problem, everyone is so busy trying to tell everyone else who they are.. when they donāt even know what theyāre talking about let alone know themselves.
Hispanic kids not born in DR or PR arenāt Dominican or Puerto Rican? Asian kids born in America arenāt Chinese, Korean, Japanese, etc?
America is a melting pot, filled with people of all colors, shapes and sizes from different places in the world. different cultures.. who are you to tell someone where they come from?
https://www.instagram.com/p/BH-IS63hJra/
Justine has a point. Many bi-cultural Americans identify solely with their non-US ethnicity (Dominican, Puerto Rican, Nigerian), and this could be for a variety of reasons ā family influence, a stronger feeling of identification, feeling rejected within American culture. On the other hand, āotheringā in black culture is nothing new. Also it is disingenuous, on some level, to exist in, benefit from and be influenced by American culture without acknowledging it in any way. If weāre being 100% real, itās not like Justine launched her singing career in Jamaica. Itās here in the United States.
Does identifying strongly with a home culture always boil down to othering? And do we allow for enough diversity *within* the black experience in America? What are your thoughts?
Sorry, sheās othering. As mentioned, she launched her singing career here in America, where she was born, so it sounds disingenious to note that she identifies āonlyā as Jamaican (her ethnicity), but not her nationality (American). Which is puzzling since sheās clearly both. And another thing, her music is lacking in the Jamaican cultural influence that sheās so proud to be associated wit, so her need to identify as other, while doing the exact same r&b/pop/hiphop American songs that she was clearly influenced by, says this is a publicity stunt. Iām also from the caribbean, but I barely relate to… Read more »
If her mother is Jamaican, then she is Jamaican. Thatās our law. Itās now her choice to identify as Jamaican (or not) and she does. Her music has nothing to do with that. I grew up in Jamaica. My favourite music is rock/pop/soca. Iām not a fan of reggae/dancehall. That doesnāt make me less Jamaican. As to the argument about Caribbean Americans feeling superior, itās more a case of Caribbean Americans not seeing themselves as inferior. We donāt identify racially. We identify nationality. Probably because our racial makeup is so similar and our countries are so small. I have never… Read more »
Saying you are an African American does not make one any less American neither is it āseparating āanyone as USA was just as much āseparatedā when the term was black , coloured or negro , anyone who knows a scrap about American History , knows white folks dont really need a name to discriminate With all due respect as a fellow Jamaican , you are doing exactly what you are criticizing others of doing that is not allowing people to identify as they see fit, it is not your place to tell African āAmericans how to identify though our histories… Read more »
āit is UNHEARD of for any White Jamaican , Bajan or Trini (and we have quite a few ) to tell their black counterpart to ā Go Back to Africa ā ā Not true. One of my Jamaican friends told me he was faced with this exact discrimination by a White Jamaican who told him that the only reason my friend was in Jamaica was because his white ancestors brought his ancestors there as slaves and he wasnāt simply giving him a history lesson. Letās not pretend that The Caribbean was built on White Supremacy and it is still in… Read more »
Nowhere in my comment did i pretend that the Caribbean is some post racial Utopia and that we were never enslaved, colonized or subject to white supremacy . I acknowledged that we share similar history but also had some differences with the Black American experience .which is why we tend to self identify differently In essence I was pointing out the fallacy of a Jamaican who on the one hand insists that Justine had the right to identify as Jamaican , yet on the other hand wants to admonish AA for identifying as African Americans which quite simply is not… Read more »
My parents are from the Caribbean so I can relate to some of the sentiments on this subject. However, we may be the majority but trust me we are not running things the way we should be. We talk about our independence from the Colonisers but Jamaica at least still has a white queen as head of state and correct me if Iām wrong the education system, which was based on the European one anyway, refuses to include the education of Marcus Garvey in the curriculum. I love the Caribbean but it saddens me that a lot of our people… Read more »
Hello!!!! Yet I see all these idiots posting that white yardie on they timeline meanwhile they will hide all their dark skin relatives kmt #fuckery and indoctrination
āIf her mother is Jamaican, then she is Jamaican. Thatās our law. Itās now her choice to identify as Jamaican (or not) and she does.āāThatās fine for Jamaica, but weāre speaking about the US, and the US thatās not how it works when it comes to your nationality. But she does indeed have a choice and how she chooses to identify. āHer music has nothing to do with that. I grew up in Jamaica. My favourite music is rock/pop/soca. Iām not a fan of reggae/dancehall. That doesnāt make me less Jamaican.āāI didnāt say her music had anything to do with… Read more »
Would you tell a white American that they should discount the fact that their ancestors were European.Their habits are not completely devoid of European ones and the majority of places in America were named after European people who decided that theyāre status was above that of anyone elseās. The same in the Caribbean.
I agree with Justine identifying as Jamaican and was kinna with you until your last paragraphs, As a West Indian , I know that many of us identify with island of origin for patriotic reasons Not because we are ashamed of our African Heritage( The Afro-Caribbean ID may be used outside the region but at home is rarely used as the āAfro āis obvious or a given.) You however seem to be on some New black patronizing BS and are clearly not very educated about world history or socially aware with these type of comments āAfrica is far removed from your… Read more »
āAnd another thing, her music is lacking in the Jamaican cultural influence that sheās so proud to be associated wit, so her need to identify as other, while doing the exact same r&b/pop/hiphopā.ā¦are you remotely aware of how many genres of music Jamaica/Jamaicans have created and/or influenced? Letās see ā hip hop, EDM, dubstep, grime to name a few. So this idea that she should stick to whatever āJamaican cultural influenceā your refering to is irrelevant. And just because you donāt relate to the Caribbean doesnāt mean that applies to her. She clearly relates more to her Jamaican heritage than… Read more »
Still black
Hello!
Yaāll do know claiming your ethnicity has nothing to do with denying that youāre black right? Its possible for me to be proud of my heritage while being aware that Im black. Why should people from the Caribbean or anywhere else lose their cultural identity simply bc Americans will āstill see them as Blackāā¦And? no one is saying Jamaicans, Haitians, Africans, etc arenāt black. Just like Americans love to rep their cities, I like to rep my country! When people rep Brooklynā¦do you also yell. āYou still Black?ā.
Well, she never said she wasnt. She looks unambiguously black to me
One can be Jamaican and Black at the same time the two are not mutually exclusive
African Americans do not hold some patent on blackness
She never said she wasnāt. Thats the thing. You see, people tend to look at black American culture as a monolith, it is not. Black people come from all over the world, speak different languages, eat different foods.ā¦ being from the south, or being a descendant of black American slaves is NOT the only way to be black. Eating cornbread and collards is NOT the only way to be blackā¦ She is correcting people. In Jamaica-we donāt āother,ā ourselves, because most of us are black- we are the majority, unlike the US (which is also my home) and we look… Read more »
I understand her point. Both of her parents are Jamaican. Therefore, she grew up with that perspective. She didnāt say one her parents is American, so she isnāt bi-cultural.
Totally agree im jamaican American too and always thought this.?????
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I definitely agree with Justineās perspective. I identify myself as haitian or Haitian-American. If your household is ran 100% Haitian, Jamaican, Domincan, Ghanaian, etc and the language of your parents homeland, the method of cooking, the social norms, etc, you have every right to identify your self with that culture. Think about the latino born kids who grow up having THICK accents yet they were born right here in the US of A. If they say, Iām American, youāre going to keep fishing for their cultural background. She is Jamaican (or Jamerican if youāre familiar, lol) who just benefits from… Read more »
I hear your point, but you also generalized a great deal. Carribean Americans actually arenāt African American (despite most having African ancestry). Sounds confusing, right? Let me put it this way. Would you call Naomi Campbell a African American? probably not, bc she isnāt American; she comes from a different cultureā¦would you call a Afro-German an AA bc they touched US soil?? No, bc they are Germanā¦so why would you call West Indians, āAfrican Americansā when our cultures are so substantially different? If you lived in Jamaica for letās sayātwo yrs (im assuming youāre black American) would you then tell… Read more »
āI hear your point, but you also generalized a great deal. Carribean Americans actually arenāt African American (despite most having African ancestry). ā It seems obvious that for any given person, they come with a mix of cultural background and exposure. Some people have family trees with their roots so deep in American history that they truly are African-American. Others though, they donāt, and thatās fine. Sometimes I wonder if black people in the US arenāt so focused on solidarity for political/social reasons that some people lose sight of the fact that theyāre just as diverse a group as any other. Culture… Read more »
My point exactly!
My point exactly. Iām Black and American, my husband, Jamaican. Our daughter sees herself as BLACK American. We share, celebrate, and embrace both cultures. We recognize the African roots deeply embedded in both. We are well aware that together and as a race we are a Black family.
Well, I believe black people should be free to identify as they want. We are not a monolithic group of people. I just get so annoyed when other black people try and put us in a box. Noā¦let us be free. We know who we are. I identify as Black..clearly based on the color of my skinā¦ However, if you ask me about who I amā¦I claim MY cultural background which is bigger than being Black in the eyes of White or Black Americans.
Why do people have a problem with her only identifying with her Jamaican side? After all, Mexicans refer to themselves as Mexicans, and Indians refer to themselves as Indian.
Donāt understand why so many black Americans struggle. As a black American, youāre only identity is āBlack Americanā because that is the only culture you know and canāt trace your customs to one specific area outside of America. Just as a commenter below said, being from the south and eating collard greens is not the definition of blackness. Black cultures existed LONG before the United States of America and continue to exist outside of the US. Black is a race, not an ethnicity. It is a color, not a culture. She says she is Jamaican because SHE IS JAMAICAN! Born… Read more »
I disagree. There is a black American culture that many people identify with. Arenāt there different ethnic groups in Nigeria? Same goes for America
I donāt think thatās what she meantā¦ When people talk about āBlack cultureā, they often mean āBlack Americanā culture, which is its own culture to be sure. But the cultures of the Caribbean, of various parts of Africa, etc. will all be different from that. Sheās saying that when you have close ties to a culture outside of āBlack Americanā, it makes sense that you could identify with that culture, maybe even more than with Black American culture, even if you were born & raised in the US.
YESSSS, this is exactly what Iāve spent years trying to explain to people. Anyone who has an issue with this type of thing must have an inferiority complex. And itās funny because most people who refer to themselves as āAfrican Americanā have never been to Africa, nor do they practice African customs, nor have any direct African upbringing. Funny how that double standard works.
Well, bloop!
āā¦America is not the center of the Black universe.ā THANK YOU!
Why is this such a problem. I live in England and itās common for those who have parents from the Caribbean, Africa, Asia other parts of Europe to acknowledge and identify with their parents birth place because culture or race may be stronger than nationality.
Yes, but truth be told, when those British-born go back to their parentās birth country, theyāre viewed as British. And in actuality, they are!
I understand the conundrum and dynamics. When youāre in England, youāre never English, only British. You also have to deal with racism. But because you grew up in the UKāyou act British, talk British, think British and walk British. Definitely stand out when you go back āhomeā.
Me personally, I would never consider myself English (they are white skinned) not even British. There are many Black people who have parents from the Caribbean, especially those my age who are far from the descriptions you give. They speak patois, the only time we might not is at the work place, eat the same food we ate growing up and Iām not saying that the British lifestyle hasnāt had any influence over the way we behave or do things but you can tell us apart. Weāve actually developed a street culture rooted in our Caribbean background which White and… Read more »
Youāre ignorant and wrong many people are referring to The Americas not just the United States of America when they say African American Naomi Campbell is a jamaican brit so not sure why you even brought her up smh thatās a false equivalency. My dad is a rasta from Dwaney park and my mom is from St Andrew and Iāll be darned if you would be uppity Jamaicans copying the stuck up traditions of the people who enslaved you are going to tell me different! Smh this is exactly why the black race canāt get any where because people like… Read more »
I think you meanāt to tag Danny and not me since I did not mention anything about Naomi Campbell. Further I am not Jamaican, nor do I have any Jamaican roots and I have never lived in the States. I am a born and bred Caribbean person who actually lives and works in my country of birth. Hence the reason why I believe that I was tagged by mistake. However since I was tagged I will respond by saying this. People act like if black people are the only ones that are not united when low and behold when you… Read more »
That may be how YOU define yourself. And thatās fine. So Iāll tell you what: Define yourself by your own terms. West Indians have the right to culturally identify with it if they want! If they erase their West Indian heritage, what do they have left?
Why should they erase their food, dialect, and culture just bc they set foot in the US?
In a land where black people have had their african culture virtually erased, I am thankful to still maintain some link to Africa through mine.
Live how you want to live, boo! Good luck you!
Eh, I donāt think itās a big deal. It really isnāt uncommon for someone to identify strongly with the culture of their heritage, even if they were born elsewhere ā and itās not uncommon for people to not identify at all with the place they were born and raised in. No biggie.
āHowever it always boggles my mind when Americans equate blackness with being African American. ā
Haha, this reminds me of a guy I used to work with, but in reverse š He was black, and always would talk about how this or that was so offensive cos of the history of slavery of his peopleā¦ then one day we found out his family immigrated here (Canada) from North Africa (I think it was Djibouti?) and none of them had ever set foot in the US, much less been enslaved by anyone. It was so bizarre.
Ok so, lets flip the script for a second a take a look at Black Americans who call themselves āAfrican Americansā?? Most Black Americans who identify as āAfricanā American have 0 direct connection to any African country or their customs, in fact, they donāt eat African food in the morning, and they donāt have any direct family members they can trace to the Continent. In fact, if you ask many which countries in Africa their family hails from, they probably couldnāt tell you. 9/10 this is fact. Yet, somehow still refer to themselves as Africanā¦ how does that even make sense?… Read more »
Sis there are many AAs who have visited Africa and even settled there. No way is the Caribbean the Motherland donāt forget our Ancestors were taken to the Islands by force and were brainwashed by Europeans to see Europe as the Motherland. Black people didnāt name the Islands, the names we carry belong to foreigners, some of us still worship the British monarchy. I wish our people would indulge in reading our history more and not the one Europeans gave us we might understand the divisions we create amongst ourselves.
Honestly, I donāt care how many times AAs or anyone else have visited Africa. If you do not share the same cultural framework as Africans then youāre not African. If we go back far enough everyone is from Africa. Regardless of where the settlement began, we on the islands, have a very unique culture specific to our region just like every other region has a culture of their own. If you grew up eating collard greens, mashed potatoes and chitlins and you donāt eat Fufu, jollof rice and red sauceā¦ how can you call yourself African? Makes 0 sense. You… Read more »
Iām a black American and have no issues with this. But as someone that spent several years living around west indians and africans in London (including living in Jamaica) I have a more holistic view. 1- Americans are the ones passionate about hyphenating. Once you step outside of the US, Britain (fill in the blank), no one cares about where your parents or ancestors came from. They view you by your birth country or wherever you grew up. But itās important to consider the next point. 2- People from developing countries tend to view living in the West as a sign… Read more »
ā āAnd another thing, her music is lacking in the Jamaican cultural influence that sheās so proud to be associated wit, so her need to identify as other, while doing the exact same r&b/pop/hiphopā .ā¦are you remotely aware of how many genres of music Jamaica/Jamaicans have created and/or influenced? Letās see ā hip hop, EDM, dubstep, grime to name a few.āāThat maybe so, but that still doesnāt change the fact that her primary genre of music is American, not Jamaican. American music has influenced many other musical genres around the world as well, including the carribbean, but those other musical genres… Read more »
Both of my parents are west indian, but I was born and raised in America. I classify as West Indian American because that is who I am. In fact, my entire family is from the West Indies. People tend to stereotype based on appearances. If someone looks Puerto Rican, Asian, Indianā¦they are automatically classified as such without insight to where they were born and true ethnicity. I was raised like Justine so I understand her struggle. I am not trying to deny being a Black American, but I will never deny my West Indian rootsā¦ever.
I consider myself an āAmerican-bornā Nigerian, which people donāt always get. Iām a dual citizen of both countries, but my Nigerian and Igbo roots mean so much more to me. I donāt actually ever think of myself as being American until I travel abroad. Iāve suffered discrimination in America for being African, so triumphing over that and embracing my heritage and beauty in a very eurocentric environment is poignant for me. I live in America, so American culture is omnipresent. But my Nigerian and Igbo heritage are precious to me and they bind me to my family and to my… Read more »
Also, I think this also has to do with the sort of superiority Caribbean-Americans feel over African-Americans. They will do anything to try and distinguish themselves, as if there is something wrong with being African-American. Even if they arenāt that close to their Caribbean culture, and actually even closer to American culture. It just seems like another one of those casesā¦
African american is a specific ethnic group and based on my understanding refers to black people whose ancestors were slaves in the United States of America. I am not American nor do I live in America. I live and work in the Caribbean. However it always boggles my mind when Americans equate blackness with being African American. The two are not the same. All African Americanās are black but not all Black people are African Americanās. Also based on what Justine Skye said she grew up with both Jamaican parents and grand parents and she said she travels to her… Read more »
I wholeheartedly agree with her calling herself Jamaican. Whatever your culture at home is defines who you are. Of course, she has been influenced by American culture to a degree but her roots are Jamaican. She is American by convenience of birth.
I donāt know why its a problem for her to say she is jamaican. Thatās what she is. Jamaicans (who are black ) know they are black. I remember being told Iām not black and Iām not american all the time. (I grew up both in nyc and jamaica) from black americans. how many of yall grew up in nyc when ppl find out you have immigrant parents and all of a sudden you are not black? Iām saying this not to pass judgment, but to understand that when you are black in this country it is usually for african… Read more »
Letās remember that CITIZENSHIP is acquired by birth or naturalization. CULTURE is also acquired by birth but also heritage & tradition. It all depends on how deeply one delves into other peopleās traditions & customs. If for example all whites assimilated to the indigenous culture of the original tribes of North America youād have some bonafide white Americanās but as it stands what you clearly have in America is an extension of Europe with every ethnic class conforming to the English standard, customs & traditions & this only changes when other ethnicities refuse to conform or assimilate to the ruling… Read more »