r/AskTheCaribbean

When did the misclassification happen?

Which swear are so out of line that a fight is inevitable

I’m wondering if this is something that also happens on other Caribbean islands, because I feel like colorism, racism, and especially internalized racism/self-hatred can play a big role in some Caribbean communities.

My mother is from Curaçao. I’m half Curaçaoan and half Dutch, with a white Dutch father. I lived in Curaçao for 7 years. Growing up, I personally experienced a lot of racism and comments that made me realize how deeply these ideas can be rooted.

For example, my mother always told or tells me that I should be happy she had me with a white Dutch man because at least I have “nice hair,” and that if she had had me with a darker Curaçaoan man, I would have had “hard, kinky hair” and wouldn’t look as good. My family has also made comments about how lucky I am to have my hair, while describing their own hair as “too hard” or “too kinky.”

My mother actually used to be attracted to darker men when she was younger, around 16 or 17. But eventually, she started dating white men, especially men who had money. In Curaçao, she was told things like, “You should be with a white man because they have money.” There’s this idea that white or Dutch people are wealthier and therefore more desirable. She used to hear those things from her grandma of family members.

Even today, my family or mom makes comments like this. Whenever I cut my hair, for example, they’ll say, “Your hair was so beautiful. You should have given it to me so I could use it for braids or a weave.” There are constantly comments about certain hair being “better” or more desirable.

And it’s not only about skin color. Sometimes we also put down our own culture and our own people. Curaçao has a large Black population, yet I’ve heard Curaçaoan call other Black Curaçaoans things like "ugly black person” as an insult.

There are also comments like, “Don’t you notice how we Curaçaoans are always broke? Look at the Dutch, they have money cause they work hard and they save their money so well"

So sometimes it feels like we compare ourselves to Dutch people and use those comparisons to put our own people down. Instead of being proud of our own culture and community, there can be this feeling that being lighter, being Dutch, having “good hair,” or having money makes someone better.

It’s honestly sad, because sometimes we end up bringing each other down instead of lifting each other up.

I’m looking to book a vacation to a Caribbean (island or Mexico) resort in February 2027 for my family. Time period not negotiable because it will be during a school winter break. First vacation of this type.

We have two kids, ages 9 and 6. We want a resort with lots of activities that we can enjoy together (pools, water slides, boat rides, etc), so kids clubs or places with separate kid/adult areas don’t need to be a focus. We also don’t need exciting nightlife. Good food would be a plus, but we intend to eat most or all meals together so we don’t need Michelin star restaurants.

Cost wise, we’d be looking for a moderately priced vacation. Luxury not needed, but we don’t need to pinch pennies so much that we don’t have a good time.

I hear good things about the Hyatt Ziva hotels, and have gotten a variety of recommendations, but we have never been to a Caribbean resort or any all inclusive resort so we need some guidance.

Thanks in advance for any recommendations!

Note: i mean exclusively within your country, not within the diaspora. USA makes race more important, we know.

Asking because I'm noticing a trend in recent years of online discussions amongst caribbean people being dominated by race topics, admixture, DNA makeup, etc. who's blacker than who, who's whiter, etc. often devolving into heated arguments.

Its making me wonder if race is way more relevant within other caribbean countries' everyday lives than i previously thought. We know in the USA it's everything (because of their very recent history of segregration). Do you think your nation is becoming more americanized in this sense?

Colorism has always been a thing as far as I'm aware, in some countries worse than others, but this level of race obsession seems abnormal.

For my country's case, class & which province/city you are from has always been the most relevant thing amongst us. You do hear the occasional complaints about milats, but even thats more about class than race. As Haitians talk about rich black elites the same way, and a poor milat goes virtually unnoticed.

And before foreigners, our nationality always takes precedence. Some people for example reduce the Haïti/DR conflict to a darkskin vs lightskin issue. But I've already seen lightskin Haitians be xenophobic to all hell against darkskin Dominicans and vice versa. There is virtually no cultural difference between a light, dark, or even arab Haitian.

And is it looked down upon in Caribbean nations? Since they are very conservative

As an afro-caribbean person, it kinda shocks my fellow people when I tell them I'm not exactly a big fan of afro-centrism, even if i do agree with some of where it comes from (colonial trauma and distrust of and exploitation by whites). Where I often draw the line, is when people start leaning into the same racist dialogues that racist whites or Asians might use. I know someone who always tells me, not to spend any money at the Chinese store just a walk down the road, and instead to buy from the local lady we know, whom I'd have to drive to in order to patronize

His argument, was that the money doesn't stay in the country because they send it to their family in China, and that they dont like black people. It didn't make too much sense to me, because they employ some locals, get their supplies from locals, pay their taxes, etc. And, I've never met any Chinese person who was actually rude to me, even if they look deadpan. Its no different than walking into a supermarket, and the cashier might have a bad day.

It just seemed like he had actual economic concerns, but went too far to the point that he was just being xenophobic.

And dont even get me started on the historical revisionism. I have a big interest in jewish history, and I know someone who basically ignores everything I factually say, to basically say Jews aren't real jews. And I've heard this from some of the rastafarians quite often, and it's honestly a headache trying to reason with them too.

Do you guys experience things like this too?

Is it considered disrespectful?

if one of their grandparents side is Cuban and the other side is Cuban and Puerto Rican ? Can this person call themselves a Cuba/Rican or are they mainly Cuban ?

Looking for honest perspective here, including the uncomfortable parts.

I'm a white American guy in my 40s. My parents were missionaries who brought our family to Grenada when I was 7, trying to convert people to American-style fundamentalist Christianity. I ended up staying until I was 19. So in a real sense, the reason I was even there started from something colonial. My parents showed up to change people's beliefs, not just to live alongside them.

But as a child I wasn't running that show. I went to school there, made real friends, picked up the culture, the music, and the creole. Grenada just became home to me in a way that's never really left. Even decades later I code-switch into Grenadian Creole English when I'm around other islanders, and if you asked me where I'm "from" in my heart, it's Grenada before it's anywhere in the US.

I've been chewing on the tension between those two things for a while. My family's reason for being there was basically a form of cultural imposition, but my own attachment to the place and the people feels totally real, not performed. I don't want to claim something that isn't mine to claim, but I also don't want to disown something that actually made me who I am.

So genuinely curious what people from the Caribbean think about this kind of situation. Does it land differently for you depending on how someone carries it, like claiming "home" or using the language? Where's the line for you between someone with real roots there versus someone overreaching or appropriating the culture?

Not looking for reassurance, I'd rather hear the real (even critical) take!

Is it becoming a problem on your island?

I’m from Brazil, a country where the majority of the population has more African ancestry than Indigenous ancestry, and here the minority of the population that has more Indigenous admixture than African is usually irreducibly treated as “white” and “rich.”

Does the same thing happen in the Caribbean?

According to my test on Genera, I am 65% European, 31% Indigenous, and 4% Sub-Saharan African, and it’s a bit sad that my mixed origins are not understood, because I’m always considered the “privileged white” and as if I were less Brazilian than other Brazilians.

Does the same thing happen in the Caribbean?

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Everyone watch Mr. Weatherman on YouTube? I live in Belize and he is my go to weather news for the Caribbean.

We often see the "I no black" meme applied to Dominicans online, which heavily oversimplifies our history and identity. I recently found a breakdown of 907 Dominicans compiled from 23andMe that shows our actual genetics, and I am curious about how this compares to the rest of the caribbean

Since images are not allowed here,you can see the full charts in this post from r/Dominicanos.

To summarize the context from the data:

1. The overall mix (Autosomal) The average Dominican in this sample is 57.30% European, 32.13% Sub-Saharan African, 8.01% Indigenous American, and 2.25% WANA.

2. The stark contrast in Haplogroups This is the part I find most interesting for historical comparison. The data shows a massive sex-biased admixture during colonial times:

• Paternal Lineage (y-DNA): 78.7% West Eurasian (European) and only 18.3% Sub-Saharan African.
• Maternal Lineage (mtDNA): 61.4% Sub-Saharan African, 21.6% Indigenous American, and only 16.9% West Eurasian.

Basically, our population comes primarily from European men mixing with African and Indigenous women.

My questions for you are:

• Does your country have a similar gap between maternal and paternal haplogroups, or was the migration and mixing more balanced?
• How well do you think the genetic reality of your country is understood by foreigners compared to the memes or stereotypes?