On 17/12/03 4:28, in article 53QDb.569591$Tr4.1543131@attbi_s03, "Crash"
wrote:
> My experience in Grenada was also on the negative side. It was the people -
> particularly young people, but some middle aged people too.
We went there just after the US had "liberated" the island from the
cruel commies. One young Grenadian remarked that he had been shot by the
Americans and evidently did not like Americans. We had a nice 30 minutes
talking with the director of the local museum since my wife knew the history
of the island, so there was a basis for a discussions. He spent some time
complaining about banana prices (the producers only received maybe 10%
of the final market price) and that the US was favoring Central American
producers because they controlled them. I think the entire Caribbean is
more sensitive on the issue of American economic imperialism than
Americans would like to think about. Reagan called the Caribbean
"an American lake" and that attitude problem persists.
Whatever, I think there is a natural barrier between white tourists and
the predominately black islanders throughout the whole Caribbean.
I have not been to Haiti but have visited Cuba professionally, on
invitation from the Cuban Government. They too have little love
for the Yankees and fearful of being dominated once again.
We are rich and on their turf. They like the income but some resent
being dependent on it. Tourism has it own set of traps. The French
have no problem with the fact they receive more foreign visitors
than any other nation but they have about the same standard of living
as the visitors. So there is no cultural basis for resentment. The
French have no inferiority complex and have not been dominated
by foreign powers for any long period of time.
Next, Caribbean Blacks are more "African" than American Blacks. So white
Americans, use to American Blacks are not facing the same people.
American Blacks have had some problems with the fact that pan-Africanism
does not work well. They have less in common with Blacks from the Caribbean
than they think and even less with Africans. A complex issue. Being Black
is not enough.
Earl
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