Bahamian American
Encyclopedia
Bahamian Americans are citizens or residents of the United States
of Bahamian
ancestry. The United States Census of 2000
counted 31,984 people of Bahamian ancestry.
, Florida
, with the Bahamian community centered in Coconut Grove. There is also a growing Bahamian American population in the Atlanta and Oklahoma City areas.
Although the majority of Bahamian Americans live in the Southern United States
, a large population can be found in the New York City
area, with the population particularly centered in Harlem
. Bahamian Americans in the New York City area regularly provide cultural education and entertainment, particularly due to the Office of the Bahamas Consulate General in New York being located in the city.
White Bahamian Americans in Florida were often referred to as "Conch
s," and their communities in Key West
and Riviera Beach
sometimes referred to as "Conch Towns." In 1939, the Works Progress Administration
(WPA) conducted a study of white Bahamian Americans in Riviera Beach, eventually published as Conchtown USA.
in the 18th century to salvage wrecked ships
, fish, catch turtles and log tropical hardwood trees. A Bahamian settlement in the Keys was reported in 1790, but the presence of Bahamians in the keys was temporary. Early in the 19th century some 30 to 40 Bahamian ships were working in the keys every year. After 1825, Bahamian wreckers began moving to Key West in large numbers. Today, the largest Bahamian American populations are in Oklahoma City, Miami, and New York.
Bahamians were among the first Caribbeans to arrive to the mainland US in the late nineteenth century. Many went to Florida to work in agriculture or to Key West to labor in fishing, sponging, and turtling. Two main factors that contributed to increased Bahamian migration were the poor economic climate and opportunities, as well as the short distance from the Bahamas to Miami. Southern Florida developed Bahamian enclaves in certain cities including Lemon City, Coconut Grove, and Cutler. In 1896, foreign-born blacks compromised 40 percent of the black population, making Miami the largest foreign-born black city in the US aside from New York. Reimers claims that the restrictive immigration policy of the 1920s did not greatly affect the Bahamian émigrés, they continued to migrate in vast number to the US, however many also participated in return migration back to the Bahamas during this time period. Those who chose to remain created institutions in the U.S. During this time in Florida, black Bahamians too faced state-enforced racism. Blacks could not vote, were persecuted by epithets in Miami press, and were not allowed to stay in the hotels that employed them. And in 1921, the Ku Klux Klan staged a large rally attacking these black immigrants in Miami.
and rake-and-scrape
music, engage in the classic art of West Indian
storytelling
about characters like Anansi
, and create Bahamian-style art, especially straw weaving
and canvas
art.
Bahamian foods staples such as conch
, peas and rice, Johnny cake
, and duff
s (especially guava
) continue to be made by Bahamian Americans. Bahamian dialect is also spoken by many Bahamian Americans, especially in Florida.
. These organizations provide cultural
education services, social opportunities, and genealogical
records to Bahamian Americans and those interested in Bahamian and Bahamian American culture.
The National Association of the Bahamas, located in Miami, offers primarily social opportunities for the local Bahamian American community.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
of Bahamian
The Bahamas
The Bahamas , officially the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, is a nation consisting of 29 islands, 661 cays, and 2,387 islets . It is located in the Atlantic Ocean north of Cuba and Hispaniola , northwest of the Turks and Caicos Islands, and southeast of the United States...
ancestry. The United States Census of 2000
United States Census, 2000
The Twenty-second United States Census, known as Census 2000 and conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2% over the 248,709,873 persons enumerated during the 1990 Census...
counted 31,984 people of Bahamian ancestry.
Communities
The majority of Bahamian Americans, about 21,000 in total, live in and around MiamiMiami, Florida
Miami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...
, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
, with the Bahamian community centered in Coconut Grove. There is also a growing Bahamian American population in the Atlanta and Oklahoma City areas.
Although the majority of Bahamian Americans live in the Southern United States
Southern United States
The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...
, a large population can be found in the New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
area, with the population particularly centered in Harlem
Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands...
. Bahamian Americans in the New York City area regularly provide cultural education and entertainment, particularly due to the Office of the Bahamas Consulate General in New York being located in the city.
White Bahamian Americans in Florida were often referred to as "Conch
Conch (people)
Conch , was originally a slang term for native Bahamians of European descent.Several theories have been proposed for the origin of the term:*After the American Revolution, many loyalists migrated to the Bahamas...
s," and their communities in Key West
Key West, Florida
Key West is a city in Monroe County, Florida, United States. The city encompasses the island of Key West, the part of Stock Island north of U.S. 1 , Sigsbee Park , Fleming Key , and Sunset Key...
and Riviera Beach
Riviera Beach, Florida
Riviera Beach is a city in Palm Beach County, Florida, U.S.A. which was incorporated September 29, 1922. Because of where its eastern boundary lies, it is also the easternmost municipality in the South Florida metropolitan area. The population was 29,884 at the 2000 census. As of 2004, the...
sometimes referred to as "Conch Towns." In 1939, the Works Progress Administration
Works Progress Administration
The Works Progress Administration was the largest and most ambitious New Deal agency, employing millions of unskilled workers to carry out public works projects, including the construction of public buildings and roads, and operated large arts, drama, media, and literacy projects...
(WPA) conducted a study of white Bahamian Americans in Riviera Beach, eventually published as Conchtown USA.
US communities with high percentages of people of Bahamian ancestry
The top US communities with the highest percentage of people claiming Bahamian ancestry are:- Bunche Park, FloridaBunche Park, FloridaBunche Park was a census-designated place in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. The population was 3,972 at the 2000 census. The community is named after Ralph Bunche, a very prominent leader in civil rights...
3.80% - El Portal, FloridaEl Portal, FloridaEl Portal is a village in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. The village name is derived from the Spanish phrase for "the gate," after two wooden gates that once stood as a gateway to the village. The population was 2,505 at the 2000 census. As of 2004, the population recorded by the U.S...
2.20% - Goulds, FloridaGoulds, FloridaGoulds is a census-designated place in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. The area was originally populated as the result of a stop on the Florida East Coast Railroad. The railroad depot was located near the current Southwest 216th Street. The community was named after its operator, Lyman...
2.00% - Golden Glades, FloridaGolden Glades, FloridaGolden Glades is a census-designated place in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. The population was 32,623 at the 2000 census.It is the location for a major highway interchange of the same name which connects the Florida Turnpike, Interstate 95, US 441, State Road 9, and the Palmetto...
1.80% - Richmond Heights, FloridaRichmond Heights, FloridaRichmond Heights is a census-designated place in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. The population was 8,479 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Richmond Heights is located at ....
1.30% - West Little River, FloridaWest Little River, FloridaWest Little River is a census-designated place in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. The population was 34,699 at the 2010 census.-Geography:West Little River is located at...
and North Miami, FloridaNorth Miami, FloridaNorth Miami is a suburban city located in northeast Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States, about north of Miami. The city lies on Biscayne Bay and hosts the Biscayne Bay Campus of Florida International University, and the North Miami campus of Johnson & Wales University...
1.20% - Munford, AlabamaMunford, AlabamaMunford is a town in Talladega County, Alabama, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 2,446...
and North Miami Beach, FloridaNorth Miami Beach, FloridaNorth Miami Beach is a Miami suburban city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. Originally named Fulford in 1926 after Captain William H. Fulford of the United States Coast Guard, the city was incorporated in 1927 as Fulford, but was renamed North Miami Beach in 1931. The population was...
1.10% - Rincon, GeorgiaRincon, GeorgiaRincon is a city in Effingham County, Georgia, United States. The population was 4,376 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Savannah Metropolitan Statistical Area.-History:...
1.00%
Bahamian Immigration
Bahamians began visiting the Florida KeysFlorida Keys
The Florida Keys are a coral archipelago in southeast United States. They begin at the southeastern tip of the Florida peninsula, about south of Miami, and extend in a gentle arc south-southwest and then westward to Key West, the westernmost of the inhabited islands, and on to the uninhabited Dry...
in the 18th century to salvage wrecked ships
Wrecking (shipwreck)
Wrecking is the practice of taking valuables from a shipwreck which has foundered near or close to shore. Often an unregulated activity of opportunity in coastal communities, wrecking has been subjected to increasing regulation and evolved into what is now known as marine salvage...
, fish, catch turtles and log tropical hardwood trees. A Bahamian settlement in the Keys was reported in 1790, but the presence of Bahamians in the keys was temporary. Early in the 19th century some 30 to 40 Bahamian ships were working in the keys every year. After 1825, Bahamian wreckers began moving to Key West in large numbers. Today, the largest Bahamian American populations are in Oklahoma City, Miami, and New York.
Bahamians were among the first Caribbeans to arrive to the mainland US in the late nineteenth century. Many went to Florida to work in agriculture or to Key West to labor in fishing, sponging, and turtling. Two main factors that contributed to increased Bahamian migration were the poor economic climate and opportunities, as well as the short distance from the Bahamas to Miami. Southern Florida developed Bahamian enclaves in certain cities including Lemon City, Coconut Grove, and Cutler. In 1896, foreign-born blacks compromised 40 percent of the black population, making Miami the largest foreign-born black city in the US aside from New York. Reimers claims that the restrictive immigration policy of the 1920s did not greatly affect the Bahamian émigrés, they continued to migrate in vast number to the US, however many also participated in return migration back to the Bahamas during this time period. Those who chose to remain created institutions in the U.S. During this time in Florida, black Bahamians too faced state-enforced racism. Blacks could not vote, were persecuted by epithets in Miami press, and were not allowed to stay in the hotels that employed them. And in 1921, the Ku Klux Klan staged a large rally attacking these black immigrants in Miami.
Culture
Bahamian Americans have retained much of their cultural heritage. Bahamian Americans listen to and perform JunkanooJunkanoo
Junkanoo is a street parade with music, which occurs in many towns across The Bahamas and The Turks and Caicos Islands every Boxing Day , New Year's Day and, more recently, in the summer on the island of Grand Bahama. The largest Junkanoo parade happens in Nassau, the capital...
and rake-and-scrape
Ripsaw music
Ripsaw is a musical genre which originated in the Turks and Caicos Islands, specifically in the Middle and North Caicos. A very closely related variant, rake-and-scrape, is played in the Bahamas...
music, engage in the classic art of West Indian
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
storytelling
Storytelling
Storytelling is the conveying of events in words, images and sounds, often by improvisation or embellishment. Stories or narratives have been shared in every culture as a means of entertainment, education, cultural preservation and in order to instill moral values...
about characters like Anansi
Anansi
Anansi the trickster is a spider, and is one of the most important characters of West African and Caribbean folklore.He is also known as Ananse, Kwaku Ananse, and Anancy; and in the Southern United States he has evolved into Aunt Nancy. He is a spider, but often acts and appears as a man...
, and create Bahamian-style art, especially straw weaving
Straw
Straw is an agricultural by-product, the dry stalks of cereal plants, after the grain and chaff have been removed. Straw makes up about half of the yield of cereal crops such as barley, oats, rice, rye and wheat. It has many uses, including fuel, livestock bedding and fodder, thatching and...
and canvas
Canvas
Canvas is an extremely heavy-duty plain-woven fabric used for making sails, tents, marquees, backpacks, and other items for which sturdiness is required. It is also popularly used by artists as a painting surface, typically stretched across a wooden frame...
art.
Bahamian foods staples such as conch
Conch
A conch is a common name which is applied to a number of different species of medium-sized to large sea snails or their shells, generally those which are large and have a high spire and a siphonal canal....
, peas and rice, Johnny cake
Cornbread
Cornbread is a generic name for any number of quick breads containing cornmeal and leavened by baking powder.-History:Native Americans were using ground corn for food thousands of years before European explorers arrived in the New World...
, and duff
Duff
In addition to its dictionary meanings, Duff may refer to:-Given name:*Duff, King of Scots ancestor of the Earls of Fife*Duff Cooper, British diplomat*Duff Goldman, star of Food Network's reality show Ace of Cakes...
s (especially guava
Guava
Guavas are plants in the myrtle family genus Psidium , which contains about 100 species of tropical shrubs and small trees. They are native to Mexico, Central America, and northern South America...
) continue to be made by Bahamian Americans. Bahamian dialect is also spoken by many Bahamian Americans, especially in Florida.
Organizations
Both the Bahamian American Cultural Society and the Bahamian American Association Inc., the largest Bahamian American organizations in the United States, are located in ManhattanManhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
. These organizations provide cultural
Culture
Culture is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...
education services, social opportunities, and genealogical
Genealogy
Genealogy is the study of families and the tracing of their lineages and history. Genealogists use oral traditions, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kinship and pedigrees of its members...
records to Bahamian Americans and those interested in Bahamian and Bahamian American culture.
The National Association of the Bahamas, located in Miami, offers primarily social opportunities for the local Bahamian American community.