The J’American experience, described in one word, is tiresome. It is a never-ending personal battle to define oneself. As a J’American myself, I can attribute to the fact that there are two major forces – family and society – that are constantly in conflict. However, as a generation, I believe that we have made strong efforts to become culturally connected to our Jamaican roots, rather than being culturally divided, by making sure that neither our Jamaican nor American heritage is ever forgotten.

For our parents the choice was easy; they already had the years of the Jamaican way under their belts, leaving them with no option but to acculturate to American society. According to Webster’s Dictionary, acculturation is the process of cultural modification of an individual, group, or people by adapting to, or borrowing traits, from another culture.

While the need for acculturation among immigrants is obvious, it is very different for second-generation immigrants who instead of having to acculturate to one culture, have the very difficult task to acculturate to two cultures. There are many different factors that cause acculturation. But, for our purpose today we will only focus on two major influences. The first being school, where second-generation Jamaican children have the greatest opportunity to mingle and interact with African Americans. The second is media – television, radio and newspapers – where second-generation Jamaican children are exposed to U.S. culture and values. The latter of the two must have Jamaican parents up in arms, especially with the media’s glorification of violence and scandals.

For example, the current media addiction to “celebrities gone wild,” like Paris Hilton, Brittney Spears and Lindsey Lohan. The negative values that are continuously being taught through American media are the same exact values that immigrant parents try to keep their children away from. Jamaican parents, who usually are conservative, must worry a lot about the negative effects that exposure to these values can have on their children.

With the factors of assimilation being so strong, one might lead to believe that there is no hope for the J’Americans who want to stay connected to their Jamaican roots.

However, this is far from true. There are many Jamaican influences in the United States to keep J’Americans connected to the culture of their parents’ homeland. The first and strongest influence being the Jamaican community. In New York City alone, there are several sections like Crown Heights, Brooklyn and the Wakefield section of the Bronx that are noticeably Jamaican. In these areas, Jamaican culture can be seen in the abundance of Jamaican restaurants and grocers, which many times also serve as a place for reggae artists to sell their CDs or advertise their events.

Noteworthy success

Another influence is the Jamaican media in the U.S. market. For example, Carib News, which is a newspaper that brings information from several different Caribbean countries into United States. Also, on television, there are several Jamaican stations like TV-J, HYPE Network and RE-TV which bring Jamaican centered news and entertainment to the U.S. public. Reggae has also become widely accepted in U.S. music industry, artists like Shaggy and Sean Paul have had noteworthy success in the U.S. market.

Lastly, there are several parades and festivals that celebrate Jamaican culture. The most notable is the Labor Day parade in Brooklyn. Then there is also the Jerk, Roots, Yam festival that take place in Queens every year and proudly boasts the slogan, “I am not a Jerk...I know Roots...Therefore I am Yam!”

However, the battle comes in the many differences between U.S. culture and the culture of the first generation Jamaicans. Generally, Jamaicans tend to believe that their attitudes towards hard work, community- building, and family values are superior than that of Blacks. It is not uncommon to hear in a circle of Jamaicans that American Blacks are lazy, because they have a lot more opportunities in America that they don’t pursue.

There is also difference in the attitudes toward racism and discrimination. Jamaican people tend to believe that although racism is still around, it tends to be intensified by the negative and anti-white behavior commonly displayed in the African-American community. Jamaicans often attribute their healthier relationships with whites (unlike their African-American counterparts) to the fact that they do not carry anti-white rhetoric into all social, political, and economic discussions. These attitudes have also been carried to the polls where African Americans tend to support group-based solutions to dealing with race while first generation Black Caribbean’s emphasize individual action as a solution to racial animus.

The fact that J’Americans have dual national allegiance and, as a result, often pursue a different social and political agenda from other African Americans, adds to the misunderstanding. Living in such a household can be very difficult for adolescents, especially when the parents of their American peers may not have the same values as their own parents. Adolescents from immigrant families are acutely aware of the lack of fit between their families’ cultural traditions and the norms of U.S. society”.

One outcome of this battle can be seen in how the second generation speaks. In school or around American peers they will speak normal American English. However, once home or surrounded by either Jamaicans or second generation Jamaicans they will mix in the patois [nonstandard native or local speech]accent. Sociologists call this method “language switching” and say that the English dominance with patois [nonstandard native or local speech] twist allows the J’ American to claim no single national culture.

Cultural connection

Which brings me to my second outcome- ethnic identity. Identity is extremely important in cultural connection. According to a Harvard University study, identifying oneself as simply American means that instead of rejecting the black American culture, you are allowing it to become your peer culture and you are embracing many aspects of it.

However, identify yourself as Jamaican American often times means that you accept your parents’ and the wider society’s negative portrayals of poor blacks and wanted to avoid any chance of being identified with them. Although society may define the second generation on the basis of skin color, the second-generation ethnic teens believed that being black American involves more than merely having black skin.

Although the battle is rough, it is one that I would not give up. Mostly because I reap the benefits of being multicultural; instead of having a hard work ethic in a place with limited opportunities. I am able to use my hard work ethic in a place with endless opportunities. It is also important to realize that this struggle is not only faced by J’ Americans alone but also by all first-generation American children. This is something I found while conducting my own study on the generational differences among children of immigrants.