Afro-Jamaicans are Jamaicans of predominantly African descent. They represent the largest ethnic group in the country. The ethnogenesis of the Black Jamaican people stemmed from the Atlantic slave trade of the 16th century, when enslaved Africans were transported as slaves to Jamaica and other parts of the Americas.
Most Jamaican slaves came from the region of modern day Ghana, Nigeria and Central Africa, and included the Akan, Ashanti, Yoruba, Ibo and Ibibio peoples.
The majority of the population (90 per cent, 2006 Census) is of Jamaica is of West African origin. The rest are people of mixed heritage with combinations that include European-African, Afro-indigenous, Chinese-African and East Indian-African.
If appropriate, specific terms such as Kenyan or Nigerian may also be used. Black is broader and more inclusive than African American – someone within your target audience could be born in Jamaica and live in the U.S. and identify as Black but not African American.
But according to a more precise study conducted by the local University of the West Indies - Jamaica's population is more accurately 76.3% African descent or Black, 15.1% Afro-European (or locally called the Brown Man or Browning Class), 3.4% East Indian and Afro-East Indian, 3.2% Caucasian, 1.2% Chinese and 0.8% Other ...
Jamaican is not a race ( culture and race are not the same )
Are any Jamaicans white?
The racial demographics in the island of Jamaica are as follows: 76.3% African, 15.1% Afro-European, 3.4% Indian or Afro-Indian, 3.2% White, 1.2% Chinese or Afro-Chinese and 0.8% Others (2024 est.).
Their roots are more Afro-Caribbean, and while they may share space in the Caribbean with Spanish-speaking islands, the cultural context is different. So are Jamaicans or Bajans Latino? No, not really. They're proudly Caribbean, and they've got their own identity that doesn't need to fit into a Latin American label.
Although English is the official language of Jamaica, the majority of the population speak Jamaican Patois. This is a creole language (See the lesson on creole on this web site) made up of an English superstrate and African substrate.
The original inhabitants of Jamaica are believed to be the Arawaks, also called Tainos. They came from South America 2,500 years ago and named the island Xaymaca, which meant “land of wood and water”.
Merchants, sailors, clergy and people in other professions immigrated to the island. Some were sent to the island as indentured servants. Others were prisoners who were sentenced to transportation to the island. The British surnames of all these people represent the bulk of the surnames found in Jamaica.
• 1y ago. Jamaican born afro-Jamaicans - generally consider themselves as just Jamaicans (but obv with African roots). American born afro-Jamaicans - consider themselves as Jamaican Americans and check off as “African-American or Black” on forms because they are lumped as one category.
'Likkle'; slang meaning small. ' Tallawah'; from Jamaican patois, which means gutsy, strong, powerful, resilient. We may be a small outfit (for now), but our values and the way in which we deliver those values can match even those perceived as mightier.
Irish people in Jamaica or Irish Jamaicans, are Jamaican citizens whose ancestors originated from Ireland. If counted separately, Irish people would be the second-largest reported ethnic group in Jamaica, after Afro-Jamaicans.
Some enslaved people or newly freed people may have taken the name of the slave owner, or if they were on multiple plantations it could be the name of a previous slave owner, or once freed taken a different name entirely.
Were there black people in the Caribbean before slavery?
While historians have uncovered indications that African sailors arrived in the Caribbean before the Europeans,the vast majority of Africans were brought as slaves when the colonial powers divided our lands among themselves, based on conquest and began to import Africans.
The overwhelming majority were taken from the area of western Africa stretching from present-day Senegal to Angola, where political and social organization as well as art, music, and dance were highly advanced. On or near the African coast had emerged the major kingdoms of Oyo, Ashanti, Benin, Dahomey, and the Congo.
The Spanish crown granted the island to the Columbus family, but for decades it was something of a backwater, valued chiefly as a supply base for food and animal hides. In 1509 Juan de Esquivel founded the first permanent European settlement, the town of Sevilla la Nueva (New Seville), on the north coast of the island.
The largest ethnic groups in Barbados is black (92.4%) or mixed (3.1%). 2.7% of Barbados' population is white and 1.3% South Asian. The remaining 0.4% are East Asians (0.1%) and Middle Easterners (0.1%).
The story of how Washington became the “blackest name” begins with slavery and takes a sharp turn after the Civil War, when all blacks were allowed the dignity of a surname. Even before Emancipation, many enslaved black people chose their surnames to establish their identities.
A professor told my class years ago that slaves would call their enslavers Mr. First Name because calling them by Mr. Last Name was too formal, while calling them by just their first name was too informal.
Afro-Jamaicans are Jamaicans of predominantly African descent. They represent the largest ethnic group in the country. The ethnogenesis of the Black Jamaican people stemmed from the Atlantic slave trade of the 16th century, when enslaved Africans were transported as slaves to Jamaica and other parts of the Americas.
They were also found to have most similarity to two main ancestral sources: a 'Northwestern France' component which reached highest levels in the Irish and other Celtic populations (Welsh, Highland Scots and Cornish); and a 'West Norway' component related to the Viking era.
