Immigration to England
Migration is defined as the moving of persons from one place to another. The move may be temporary or permanent, depending on the reasons involved. Migration may occur due to various reasons such as economic ones like employment and job opportunities, social ones like being closer to family members or loved ones, environmental factors like natural disasters, and political ones like wanting to escape a conflict or strife within a home country. One of the great examples of migration is the moving of Jamaicans to England. There are many reasons why Jamaicans moved to England. Jamaicans moved to England in order to improve their lives, and despite being treated as second-class citizens earlier in their era, they have learned a lot from the ways of the British and in turn the British assimilated some of the Jamaican culture into their lifestyles.
Some migrations are made out of choice—it is the personal judgment of the people to discover new opportunities through migration—while others are forced; they move places in order to get out of the problems in the country (“What is Migration?”).
Throughout history, there are many cases of forced migrations that have happened. One of the examples of migration after the wake of the Second World War was the moving of African people to the British Isles, which included the Jamaicans. The difference in the ways of the Jamaican and the British, as well as the ways in which they reconciled, has made England what it is today.
Even before the migration, both the UK and the Jamaica shared a common history with one another. The country was ruled by the English for approximately 300 years—from 1655 to 1962. During that time, the Taino Indians—the original inhabitants of the country—were eventually exterminated and replaced with African slaves, which are the descendants of modern Jamaicans. Because of the occupation of England in Jamaica, English people and culture had a major influence in the country. For one, Jamaica is the third largest English-speaking nation in the Caribbean, and the country developed their own dialect of English called Jamaican patois.
The two countries also have a strong relationship with one another. This can be evidenced by the facts that many Jamaicans fought for the British in World War I, and there is a UK community of a considerable size settling in the Caribbean islands, particularly in Jamaica (Glennie and Chappell).
Reasons for Jamaican Migration
Therefore, it is no surprise that Jamaicans would pick the United Kingdom as the primary place of settlement if they were to migrate. Since slavery was greatly abolished during the time of the Second World War, the Jamaicans moved to England not to escape slavery, but to improve their lives in general.
The first Jamaican settlers in the country came from the British West Indies regiment, an infantry unit of Britain in other countries. Majority of the members of the regiment are from Jamaica, and these people came to live in Jamaica after World War I. These people also fought for the English during World War II. (Glennie and Chappell).
Although there are a number of Jamaicans that have migrated to England as early as World War I, majority of the migrations from Jamaica to the United Kingdom were during after the Second World War. There are many reasons as to why the Jamaican people migrated to the British Isles. One major cause is the improvement of their lives. In August 1944, there was a huge hurricane in Jamaica that caused mass flooding and depleted most of their natural resources, thus prompting the Jamaicans to find a better place to live in. During that time, Britain was also suffering from a shortage of workers and laborers, and the promise of jobs made many Jamaicans to transfer to the UK. The first batch of Jamaicans who came into UK for employment came on the 23rd of June, 1948 aboard the MV Empire Windrush, which was carrying 492 Jamaicans at that time. Many other people from Jamaica followed; in between the years of 1955 and 1968 there was an estimated number of 191,000 Jamaicans who migrated into the US to find work (“Britain’s First Caribbean Immigrants”).
Environmental conditions and job opportunities are not the only reasons why the Jamaicans transferred to UK. During the 70s and the 80s, the economic difference between the higher and the lower class became widespread and thus people from poor households set out to UK in hopes of getting out the economic disparity between the two classes. In order to support themselves in foreign soil, these people had to work in irregular, dirty, and dangerous jobs.
All in all, slavery was not the primary reason why Jamaicans moved to England, but in order to escape the struggles that they have experienced in their home country. There are many environmental disasters that happened to their country, and there was an economic slump that occurred due to the different economic conditions between the rich and the poor. The main reason why they moved is because England is looking for new workers to alleviate the labor shortage.
Struggles Jamaicans faced in England
Even though Jamaicans migrated to escape the struggles in their home country, they have experienced struggles in coming to England as well. Some of them concern the migration process in general. For one, the immigrants are people from poor households, which means that they have to go great length of effort in order to secure a permit to migrate. In addition, the United Kingdom placed restrictive laws regarding migration during the 1960s thereby making the Jamaicans who wished to set foot in British soil exert a greater effort to secure a migration permit(Glennie and Chappell).
In addition to the issue of migration itself, another primary conflict that the Jamaicans faced during their stay in the United Kingdom is the issue of race. Being black people with a different culture, Jamaicans often have to face the issue of discrimination in a country mostly populated by whites. Despite the shortage of labor force, the Jamaicans still have trouble acquiring good jobs in the country. If they ever get good ones, they would be the ones that they are underpaid or overworked for. In addition to jobs, they also have trouble finding suitable residences to live in. Most of them cannot afford to rent quality housing near the places in which they work in, assuming they found work at all. Even if they can afford quality housing, the inherent discrimination of the landowners proved to be a major obstacle, as they explicitly forbade colored people to rent their living spaces. As a result, the Jamaican people were forced to live in the inner quarters of the city, where they lived with their fellow Jamaicans and where they experienced less-than-adequate living conditions (“Bound for Britain”).
In order to assert their rights, the Jamaican people were involved in a series of riots to uphold their race. The most famous of these is Notting Hill Race Riots in 1958, which started when a group of white people attacked a black people, which incited a riot which lasted from the 30th of August to the 5th of September in the same year (“Notting Hill Race Riots 1958”).
Influence of Jamaican Culture
English and Jamaican culture are very different from one another. For example, the Jamaicans have their cuisine consisting of different spices such as curry. They also listen to reggae and follow religions such as Rastafarianism. The English, on the other hand, is composed of a variety of dishes influenced by many cultures, listen to an eclectic mix of music, and are mostly Catholic. The clash of these two cultures are crucial in developing the culture of migrant Jamaicans living in Britain.
The Jamaicans still considered themselves as immigrants, with their own culture different from the English. However, they learned how to settle among the community after some time, with their culture changing as a result of the influence of the British culture. The Jamaican people have developed a language which as a mix of their own and the English called Jamaican patois. They have also adapted their exotic cuisine to fit in with the more generic British ones, and they have incorporated television-watching as part of their daily routine as well
The English have also much to learn from Jamaican culture as well. One major contribution of the Jamaicans is the influence of music, particularly reggae. As Horan said, “It has long been noted that there is an affinity between reggae music and the English public schoolboy”. In other words, the music of reggae has become a mainstay in the culture of England. Icons like Bob Marley became a household name, therefore ensuring that the legacy of their music will be assimilated into the culture of England for generations to come.
Conclusion
One of the countries which migrated after the Second World War was Jamaica to England. The two countries had a good relationship with one another before, during, and after the migration process. However, as with any migratory people, Jamaicans experienced major problems in integrating with the English community, particularly in terms of race. The Jamaicans have successfully assimilated their culture in British lifestyle, particularly in the field of music and reggae.
Works Cited
"Bound for Britain." The National Archives. The National Archives. Web. 11 May 2016. <http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/resources/bound-for-britain/>
"Britain's First Caribbean Immigrants." Metro. 24 July 2008. Web. 11 May 2016. <http://metro.co.uk/2008/07/24/britains-first-caribbean-immigrants-308101/>
Glennie, Alex, and Laura Chapell. "Jamaica: From Diverse Beginning to Diaspora in the Developed World." Migration Policy Institute. Migration Policy Institute, 16 June 2010. Web. 11 May 2016. <http://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/jamaica-diverse-beginning-diaspora-developed-world/>
Horan, Tom. "How Jamaica Conquered the World." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 05 Aug. 2012. Web. 11 May 2016. <http://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/aug/05/how-jamaica-conquered-the-world>
"Notting Hill Riots 1958." Exploring 20th Century London. Renaissance London. Web. 11 May 2016. <http://www.20thcenturylondon.org.uk/notting-hill-riots-1958>
"What Is Migration?" GCSE Bitesize. BBC. Web. 11 May 2016. <http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/geography/migration/migration_trends_rev1.shtml>
