Chinese Jamaicans - Interethnic Relations

Interethnic Relations

Early Chinese migrants, largely male, often entered into common-law unions with the Afro-Jamaican women who worked in their businesses. However, Chinese women rarely married Afro-Jamaican men. Interracial marriage became less common as the number of women of Chinese descent in Jamaica grew. Nevertheless, by the 1943 census, nearly 45% of Jamaicans with some Chinese ancestry fell into the census category of "Chinese coloured" (mixed Chinese and African descent).

Along with other ethnic entrepreneurs associated with foreign capital—Lebanese, Syrians, and Cubans—Chinese entrepreneurs became a targets of antagonism from the Jamaican poor, who regarded them as "alien and exploitative". Unlike in other countries of the West Indies, where East Indians took the brunt of racial antipathy from black populations, in Jamaica the Chinese found themselves the targets of ethnic prejudice fueled by worker unrest. This resentment against Chinese Jamaicans often manifested itself in the form of property crimes, especially arson. However, in the popular imagination, such arson was not seen as the result of attacks by poor Jamaicans, but rather as attempts at insurance fraud, yet another example of "sharp" Chinese business practises. Anti-Chinese riots broke out in 1918 and 1938.

Resentments against Chinese Jamaicans again reached a boiling point in 1965. On 28 August, an employee of a Chinese-owned store in Kingston reported to police that three Chinese brothers beat her at the store; an angry crowd surrounded the store, and one member of the crowd was shot by a Chinese. Over the next few days, crowds of as many as 300 people were seen looting and burning Chinese stores in the Barry Street, West Queen Street, Spanish Town Road, Orange Street, and North Street area, with sporadic violence continuing until 1 September. During the disturbances, another eight people died; one of the dead had been shot by a Chinese trader defending his shop. The disturbances were an example of increasing tensions in West Kingston, foreshadowing later violence between the Jamaica Labour Party and the People's National Party in the lead-up to the 1967 general election.