Recently, former Jamaican Prime Minister Bruce Golding in addressing the Jamaican Diaspora at a town hall event in Lauderhill, Broward County, exhorted them to be organizes into a formidable political force.
There’s nothing new in this message, as this community has been repeatedly urged to so organize themselves. But the message is nonetheless significant, needing to be urgently heeded.
Large communities in NY and Florida
The Jamaican community in Florida, although lacking empirical measurement, is estimated at some 550,000 residents, and in the New York area well over 1 million. Add other English-speaking Caribbean residents in Florida and New York the estimated population increase to 750,000 to 2 million respectively.
However, despite this large and growing population the English-speaking Caribbean-American population can hardly be considered a political force.
A handful has sought political office
In Florida, only a handful of Caribbean-Americans have sought political office at city, county and state levels. It’s worse in the New York region.
There could be so much more attention paid to the issues that affect the Caribbean-American community if there were more representatives from this community in elected office. In the US Congress there is only one English-speaking Caribbean-American, Congresswoman Yvette Clarke, in the US House. There’s also Caribbean-roots Kamala Harris in the US Senate, but she more identifies with the African-American community than the Caribbean-American.
It’s true that in the 2016 presidential elections, the Hillary Clinton campaign recognized and sought the support of Caribbean-American voters. Yet, a large percentage of Caribbean-Americans either didn’t register to vote, or voted.
More Caribbean-Americans must vote
It’s believed if more Caribbean-Americans participate actively in the electoral process as voters, this will pull more people from this community to seek political office in various levels of government. And, if more Caribbean-Americans voted, and more were in elected office, the community could develop into a formidable political force.
But for this to realistically occur several issues that are impeding the political strength of this community must be addressed. Looking at some of these issues, it is seen that:
Not understanding America’s political system
Several people do not understand the America political system. Although urged to register to vote after becoming citizens some people do not understand why they can register as having No Party Affiliation (NPA) if they are two main parties in the country. Some do not understand that if they do register as NPA they cannot vote in primary elections, but can switch from one party to another in general elections. It is found that some potential voters are even confused by the terms ‘Moderate Democrats,” “Conservative Republican,” Left Wing,” and “Right Wing.” Some people may be amused at this, but for those who are not purposely focused on the nation’s political landscape, there are people who are genuinely confused, and just can’t be bothered participating in the political process.
Not believing votes will make a difference
Then, they’re those who genuinely believe their votes “will not make a difference” in an election. Despite advertisements, candidate and political party promotions, some assume, wrongly, if thousands of people are voting, their one vote doesn’t matter. It has been seen where this absurd assumption has resulted in the wrong official being elected to several offices. Caribbean- Americans must never belief their vote doesn’t matter. That vote means a better chance for the issue concerning them will be addressed by the individual voted for.
Underestimate their influence
Some Caribbean-Americans genuinely underestimate the influence their community can have on the decisions made in different levels of government, particularly at the federal level.
Perhaps because some people are from small communities in their respective Caribbean countries, and perceive America as this mighty power, they are unable to appreciate Caribbean-Americans can make a difference in the political chambers of America.
Those harboring this negative way of thinking, just need look at the political influence of Cuban- Americans. This community exudes awesome power in Miami-Dade County and other areas of Florida. Haitian-Americans are also building themselves into a political force in South Florida and New York. Cuban-Americans and Haitian-Americans do believe they can influence change through their political endeavors. And, so can English Speaking Caribbean-Americans, but first they must believe in themselves as a community. It’s meaningless to complain behind doors about negative immigration and other policies when one can’t influence change
Of course, there’s also the issue of irresponsibility, where those qualified to become citizens, sit idly by without taking the effort to apply for citizenship. Unless these people have negative legal issues there’s no excuse.
Must address and fix issues
These, and others, are common sense issues which shouldn’t be difficult for the community to address and fix. Now, as Bruce Golding pointed out in his address, is the time to fix these issues and for the Caribbean-American community to be more relevant politically. There are new, frequent threats to the community from the current political establishment. It’s by being a formidable political force that these threats can be thwarted.
If the voice of the community cannot be heard, then, of course, there’s no one listening.
