In the Honduras, the Caribbean coast and the outlying bay island, are home to the Garifuna people. The are descendants of African Maroons, mixed with Carib and Arawak Indian from the west indies. Today, the Black Caribs are the largest ethnic oppressed in the Honduras.
From 1769-1773 in St. Vincent, the British were involved in the first Carib war. In 1795-1797, the second Carib war happened. The wars occurred because the British did not want to co-exist and cooperate with the Garifuna people. The Garifuna people were in alliance with the French and they lived in harmony on St. Vincent. During the second war, the Garifuna lost and the British divided the St. Vincent Garifuna by skin color, as if separation is the answer to everything. Nearly 5,000 people of darker skin were banished to the nearby island of Baliceaux. Most of the darker skinned people died from malnutrition and disease. The remaining, which said to be about 2,200 people, were sent by ship to Roatan, Honduras, Belize, Guatemala and Nicaragua. They are the ancestors of today's Garifuna on the Caribbean coast of Honduras and the Bay Island.
Just like most places, Garifuna people has race issues in their country. For some reason the dark skinned people of Garifuna does not have the same benefits or resources as the lighter skinned people. The people just want to make their land great and sufficient to keep traditions and their people safe, but they do not get much help from the government. In places like La Ceiba, the education for children is vast, and the places are very well kept. Children can learn French, English, Spanish, but not the Garifuna Language. In the schools for the Garifuna people, it is poorly kept and the education is not vast, so it is up to parents to teach the language of Garifuna, because the schools are not as sufficient there. Also, the people of Garifuna has took it into their own hands to make their land more suitable. Every time the people ask for help from their government, the mayor does not get to the issue right away. So the people of Garifuna gather their own sand, wood, etc. from their beaches, to fix the roads for their community, with no money or help in return. The people of Garifuna put the matters into their own hands to make their community stronger.
This reminds me of how things are in the United States as well. How people that are considered minorities, are not given the best resources or the best help as the people in richer communities. Is it really all because of our darker skin? I was raised in a poor part of Mississippi, Hattiesburg, MS. My mom sent me away to school with the white children because the school for the black children was very bad and still is. I left the majority black school after 1st grade to a school that was majority white. I was 1 out of 3 black girls in my grade. If you ask my mom it was worth it, but there was a part of me that wanted to stay in my own community. People of darker skin have always been neglected. To me, we must take matter in our own hands as the people of Garifuna are doing as I write this blog. We have to educate our children and build a better community for our people because other people do not care like we care for ourselves. Today darker skinned people are still trying to find peace and liberty in this world.
Resources: http://www.whereishonduras.com/2011/08/roatan-and-bay-islands.html
https://ggccaribbean.wpengine.com/listing/honduras-and-the-bay-islands/
https://www.ninebelize.com/2018/04/30/24-facts-about-the-garifuna-culture/
https://www.roatanfivestars.com/roatan-garifuna-culture/
You exceeded the word count for the rubric, you had great visuals in there with 2 or more pictures which is always nice seeing when your looking at a blog. I would also like to point out that you described Honduras nicely with a lot of great facts I learned more about the island reading your post. The only thing I recommend is that you might want to resize some pictures to fit into the blog but besides that this is a great blog post.
ReplyDelete