Caribbean people of mixed African and Indian descent
Dougla people
Caribbean (notably in
Trinidad and Tobago ,
Guyana ,
Suriname ,
Jamaica ,
Guadeloupe , and
Martinique )
Diaspora in the
United States , the
United Kingdom ,
Canada , and the
Netherlands
English ,
French ,
Dutch ,
English creoles ,
Sranan Tongo ,
Antillean French Creole ,
Caribbean Hindustani Predominantly : Minority :
Afro-Caribbeans ,
Indo-Caribbeans
Dougla people (plural Douglas ) are Caribbean people who are of
mixed
African and
Indian descent. The word Dougla (also Dugla or Dogla ) is used throughout the Dutch and
English-speaking Caribbean .
Definition
The word Dougla originated from dogala (दोगला ), which is a
Caribbean Hindustani word that literally means "two-necks" and may mean "many", "much" or "a mix".
[1] Its etymological roots are cognate with the Hindi "do" meaning "two" and "gala", which means "throat,". Within the West Indies context, the word is used only for one type of
mixed race people: Afro-Indians.
[2]
The 2012 Guyana census identified 29.25% of the population as
Afro-Guyanese , 39.83% as
Indo-Guyanese , and 19.88% as "mixed," recognized as mostly representing the offspring of the former two groups.
[3]
In the
French West Indies (
Guadeloupe ,
Martinique ), mixed Afro-Indian people used to be called Batazendyen or Chapé-Kouli and in
Haiti they were called
Marabou .
History
There are sporadic records of Indo-Euro interracial relationships, both consensual and nonconsensual, before any ethnic mixing of the African and Indian variety.
[4]
Other Indo-based types of mixed heritage (Indo-Chinese (
Chindians ),
Indo-Latino/Hispanic (Tegli), Indo-English (
Anglo-Indians ), Indo-Portuguese (
Luso-Indians ), Indo-Irish (
Irish Indians ), Indo-Scottish (
Scottish-Indians ), Indo-
Dutch , Indo-
Arabs and Indo-
Amerindian ) tended to identify as one of the older, unmixed ethnic strains on the island: Afro, Indo, Amerindian or Euro or
passing as one of them .
[5]
In Trinidad culture
In 1961, the
calypsonian musician
Mighty Dougla (born Cletus Ali) described the predicament of Douglas:
[6]
If they sending Indians to India,
And Africans back to Africa,
Well, somebody please just tell me,
Where they sending poor me,
I am neither one nor the other,
Six of one, half dozen of the other,
So if they sending all these people back home for true,
They got to split me in two
— Split Me in Two
Notable Douglas
Cletus Ali , Trinidadian musician, better known as Mighty Dougla
Tatyana Ali ,
Indo-Trinidadian /
Afro-Panamanian American actress
Esther Anderson , actress (United Kingdom; born in Jamaica)
[7]
Johnson Beharry ,
Grenadian British soldier in the
British Army
[8]
Melissa Bell ,
Jamaican-British singer and mother of
Alexandra Burke
Foxy Brown , rapper (United States; Trinidadian and Tobagonian background)
[9]
Alexandra Burke , British-Jamaican singer and daughter of
Melissa Bell
Super Cat , Jamaican deejay
[10]
Joseph Charles (born Serjad Makmadeen), founder of the
Solo Beverage Company
[11]
Sabrina Colie , actress (United States; born in Jamaica)[
citation needed ]
Mervyn Dymally , Trinidadian-American politician
[12]
Special Ed , rapper (United States; Jamaican background)
Melanie Fiona , Canadian singer
Marlene Malahoo Forte , politician (Jamaica)
[13]
Amy Ashwood Garvey , activist (Jamaica)
[14]
[15]
Masaba Gupta , actress and fashion designer (Antiguan and Indian)
Lisa Hanna ,
Miss World 1993 , MP for
Saint Ann South Eastern
[16]
Kamala Harris ,
Vice-President of the United States (Jamaican and South Indian)
Maya Harris , lawyer and writer (Jamaican and South Indian)
Lester Holt , U.S. news anchor and journalist
[17]
[18]
Kenny J , calypsonian
[19]
Diana King , singer (United States; born in Jamaica)
[20]
Jeffery Kissoon , actor
Vashtie Kola , music-video director
Sonnet L'Abbé ,
Guyanese Canadian poet
Rajendra Ramoon Maharaj , playwright
Sir Trevor McDonald ,
Trinidadian British news anchor and journalist
Nicki Minaj , singer, rapper (United States; born in Trinidad and Tobago)
Nick Sagar ,
British actor and model
Sean Sagar , British actor and model
Nicole Narain , model and actress
Rajee Narinesingh , LGBT activist (United States; Trinidadian and Tobagonian background)
[21]
Furdjel Narsingh , footballer (Netherlands; Surinamese background)
Luciano Narsingh , footballer (Netherlands; Surinamese background)
Roxanne Persaud , politician (United States; born in Guyana)
[22]
[23]
[24]
Yendi Phillips , model (Jamaica)[
citation needed ]
Thara Prashad , American singer and model
[25]
[26]
Gema Ramkeesoon , social worker and women's-rights activist (Trinidad and Tobago)
[27]
Kenneth Salick,
chutney soca singer
[28]
Krishmar Santokie , cricketer
Edward Seaga , banker, businessman, politician and former
Abrahim Simmonds , youth advocate (Jamaica)
Toni-Ann Singh , Miss World 2019 (Jamaica)
XXXTentacion , rapper
[29]
Justine Skye , entertainer (Jamaica)
Joyce Vincent , British woman whose death went unnoticed for over two years (Grenadian of black and Indian ancestry)
See also
References
^ Wilk, Richard; Barbosa, Livia (2013-05-09).
Rice and Beans: A Unique Dish in a Hundred Places . Berg.
ISBN
9781847889058 .
^ Winer, Lise (2009). Dictionary of the English/Creole of Trinidad & Tobago . Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press. p. 311.
ISBN
978-0-7735-3406-3 .
^ Bureau of Statistics, Guyana (July 2016).
2012 Census Compendium 2: Computation Composition (PDF) (Report). Archived from
the original (PDF) on 2021-01-05. Retrieved 2022-12-04 .
^ Regis, Ferne Louanne (17 August 2016).
The Trinidad Dougla: Identity, Ethnicity and Lexical Choice . Cambridge Scholars.
ISBN
9781443898997 .
^
"Dougla dilemma" . www.trinidadandtobagonews.com .
^ Khan, Aisha (2007).
"Mixing Matters: "Callaloo Nation" Revisited" . Callaloo . 30 (1): 51–67.
doi :
10.1353/cal.2007.0145 .
ISSN
0161-2492 .
JSTOR
30135865 .
S2CID
154502534 – via
JSTOR .
^ Batson-Savage, Tanya (2013-07-01).
"Esther Anderson: "They said I'd snubbed Hollywood" " . Caribbean Beat Magazine . Retrieved 2021-06-21 .
^
"I wouldn't say I am lucky… Interview with Johnson Beharry, VC – The Best You Magazine" . 17 May 2013. Retrieved 11 November 2020 .
^
Calloway, Sway (2001-05-29).
"Foxy Brown – Outspoken (Part 4)" .
MTV News . Archived from
the original on 2006-05-02. Retrieved 2006-05-09 .
^ Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2004) The Rough Guide to Reggae , Rough Guides,
ISBN
1-84353-329-4 , p. 286
^
"Mr. Solo: Serjad Makmadeen aka Joseph Charles" . 14 June 2008.
^
"The Honorable Mervyn M. Dymally's Biography" . The HistoryMakers . Retrieved 2020-02-26 .
^
"Information director's criticisms of Indian descent conference don't represent gov't position" . Stabroek News . 2018-01-13. Retrieved 2021-06-21 .
^
https://ufmrg.files.wordpress.com/2019/01/diversity_-difference-and-caribbean-feminism-feb_2007.pdf [
bare URL PDF ]
^
Comparative studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East , Vols 17–8,
Duke University Press , 1997, p. 124.
^
" 'Seriously' Speaking: Will Lisa be the 'Last Woman Standing'? | Loop Jamaica" .
^
Today Show: "Lester and Jenna trace their Jamaican roots" Aired on September 9, 2012
Archived September 13, 2012, at the
Wayback Machine
^ Holt, Lester (2007-05-11).
"To Jamaica with Mom" . allDAY . NBC News. Archived from
the original on February 10, 2009. Retrieved 2009-03-25 .
^ Regis, Ferne-Louanne (2016). The Trinidad Dougla: identity, ethnicity and lexical choice . Newcastle upon Tyne, UK:
Cambridge Scholars Publishing . p. 34.
ISBN
978-1-4438-9899-7 .
OCLC
956991420 .
^
"Reggae Singer Diana King official Biography" . Dance Hall Reggae World. Retrieved 24 April 2017 .
^ Rajee Narinesingh
^
"Gala 2016" . Indo-Caribbean Alliance, Inc . Archived from
the original on 2020-08-11. Retrieved 2019-12-01 .
^
"Guyanese-born New York Assemblywoman, Roxanne Persaud, was elected to the New York State Senate" . November 4, 2015.
^
"New York's immigrant lawmakers make their mark" . Times Union . 2016-01-13. Retrieved 2018-09-30 .
^ Jennifer Bisram (Sep–Oct 2009).
"Thara Aims High: What can't she do?" . MoraFire. Retrieved 2009-11-02 . [
permanent dead link ]
^
[1] [
dead link ]
^
https://ufmrg.files.wordpress.com/2019/01/diversity_-difference-and-caribbean-feminism-feb_2007.pdf [
bare URL PDF ]
^ Baksh, Darrell Gerohn (2012).
"Jep Sting Radica with Rum and Roti: Trinidadian Social Dynamics in Chutney Music" . Popular Music and Society . 37 (2): 152–168.
doi :
10.1080/03007766.2012.737593 .
S2CID
143840668 .
^ Sobat, Peter.
"XXXTENTACION CALLS OUT DRAKE IN HIS FIRST INTERVIEW AFTER JAIL" . blurredculture.
Archived from the original on March 9, 2019. Retrieved March 26, 2019 .
Further reading
Barratt, Sue A, and Aleah N. Ranjitsingh. Dougla in the Twenty-First Century: Adding to the Mix . Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2021.
ISBN
9781496833709 . See also CUNY Asian and Asian American Research Institute
author interview on 19 November 2021.
Geography
Secondary Afro-American diaspora
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Nigeria
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Terms History Lists See also