Black West Indians in the United States - Settlements



In the post-World War II years, Black West Indians in U.S. cities often lived near one another in African-American neighborhoods. There was, for example, a large Black West Indian community in Harlem. In southern farming regions, Blacks were segregated from the White population. On sugar cane plantations where Black West Indian men work as contract laborers, they live in dormitories on the farm. In recent years, as the demographic composition of the Black West Indian immigrant population has changed, they have become more widely dispersed among the African-American population, though distinct West Indian communities still exist and new immigrants often settle in those communities. In Washington, D.C., for example, a West Indian community has formed around Georgia Avenue in the northwest quarter of the city. These communities often contain, in addition to the West Indian population, West Indian restaurants, food stores, clothing stores, record stores, and bakeries.

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