Dougla people
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.
Regions with significant populations | |
---|---|
Caribbean, notably in Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, and Suriname | |
Languages | |
English, French, Dutch, Caribbean Hindustani | |
Religion | |
Predominantly: Minority: | |
Related ethnic groups | |
Afro-Caribbeans, Indo-Caribbeans |
Definition
The word Dougla originated from doogala (दुगला), which is a Caribbean Hindustani word that may mean "many", "much" or "a mix".[1] Some of the connotations of the word such as bastard, illegitimate and son of a whore are secondary and limited to sections of North India where the term may have originated.[2] In the West Indies, the word is used only for Afro-Indo mixed race,[3] despite its origin as a word used to describe inter-caste mixing.
In Guyana, Afro-Guyanese and Indo-Guyanese make up half of the population and Douglas number 15% of the country's demographics.
In the French West Indies (Guadeloupe, Martinique), mixed Afro-Indian people used to be called Batazendien or Chapé-Coolie, those who have escaped the disagreeable Indian condition by becoming hybrid.
In the French West Indies they are now treated in a more positive way by other categories of the population and no longer face the cruel existential dilemma of post-slavery times. The uncommon phenomenon of mutual acceptance and cultural exchange now attained, called by some "the Guadeloupe Model", has widely contributed to the rare harmony of the multiracial French West Indian communities.
History
There are sporadic records of Indo-Euro interracial relationships, both forced and unforced, before any ethnic mixing of the African and Indian variety. Women were rarity among earlier Indian migrants. Many did not take the voyage across the Atlantic for several reasons, among them the fear of exploitation and the assumption that they were unfit for labour.[4]
Socio-religious practice played a part as religious practices are paramount to the Hindu religion and preservation of the religion and culture was of extreme importance to the indentured labourers. Islam had similar religious and cultural requirements as per the Caste system among South Asian Muslims as well as the Qur'anic prohibition to marry only with those of similar religious beliefs, ancestry, tribe and language. Association with those outside the community who engaged in Adharmic and unislamic practices was considered to compromise the purity of the race, religion and culture, seen as necessary for survival in the foreign land.
The second reason was socio-economic. The arrival of Indians to the British Caribbean was not meant to be permanent. For most of the Indian immigrants, the aim was to gain material wealth under contract, then return to their respective homelands. The Dougla represented the postponement and deferral of that goal if not rendering it completely impossible, being a living symbol of departure from cultural custom jatis.
The third reason was racism. Trinidad, as well as other territories in the Caribbean, had a dynamic of power based on the colour of one's skin. This reinforced the rules by which Indo society functioned in excluding the Dougla. Other Indo-based types of miscegenation (Indo-Chinese (Chindians), Indo-English (Anglo-Indians), Indo-Portuguese (Luso-Indians), Indo-Irish (Irish Indians), Indo-Scottish (Scottish-Indians), Indo-Dutch, Indo-Arabs, Indo-Latino, and Indo-Carib) 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
One calypsonian, the Mighty Dougla (Clatis Ali), described the predicament of Douglas in the 1960s:
"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 a dozen of the other
So if they sending all these people back home for true
They got to split me in two"
Notable Douglas
- Cletus Ali, Trinidadian musician, better known as Mighty Dougla
- Tatyana Ali, Trinidadian American actress
- Esther Anderson, actress (United Kingdom; born in Jamaica)[6]
- Melissa Bell, Jamaican British singer and mother of Alexandra Burke
- Foxy Brown, rapper (United States; Trinidadian and Tobagonian background)[7]
- Alexandra Burke, British Jamaican singer and daughter of Melissa Bell
- Super Cat, Jamaican deejay[8]
- Sabrina Colie,actress (United States; born in Jamaica)
- Mervyn Dymally, Trinidadian American politician[9]
- Special Ed, rapper (United States; Jamaican background)
- Marlene Malahoo Forte, politician (Jamaica)[10]
- Amy Ashwood Garvey, activist (Jamaica)[11][12]
- Lisa Hanna, Miss World 1993, MP Saint Ann South Eastern
- Kamala Harris, American politician and vice president of the United States (Afro-Jamaican and South Indian heritage)
- Maya Harris, lawyer and political commentator (United States; Afro-Jamaican and South Indian heritage)
- Lester Holt, U.S. news anchor and journalist[13][14]
- Diana King, singer (United States; born in Jamaica)[15]
- Sonnet L'Abbé, Guyanese Canadian poet
- Sir Trevor McDonald, Trinidadian British news anchor and journalist
- Rajee Narinesingh, LGBT activist (United States; Trinidadian and Tobagonian background)[16]
- Furdjel Narsingh, footballer (Netherlands; Surinamese background)
- Luciano Narsingh, footballer (Netherlands; Surinamese background)
- Nicki Minaj, singer, rapper (United States; born in Trinidad and Tobago)
- Roxanne Persaud, politician (United States; born in Guyana)[17][18][19]
- Thara Prashad, singer and model [20][21]
- Yendi Phillips, model (Jamaica)
- Gema Ramkeesoon, social worker and women's rights activist (Trinidad and Tobago)[22]
- Krishmar Santokie, cricketer
- Toni-Ann Singh, Miss World 2019 (Jamaica)
- Abrahim Simmonds, youth advocate (Jamaica)
- Joyce Vincent, woman whose death went unnoticed for more than two years as her corpse lay undiscovered in her London bedsit (United Kingdom; Grenadian background)[23]
See also
References
- Wilk, Richard; Barbosa, Livia (2013-05-09). Rice and Beans: A Unique Dish in a Hundred Places. Berg. ISBN 9781847889058.
- Sanksipt Hindu Shabdasagar
- 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.
- https://www.uohyd.ernet.in/sss/indian_diaspora/oc2.pdf%5B%5D
- "Dougla dilemma". www.trinidadandtobagonews.com.
- https://www.caribbean-beat.com/issue-122/esther-anderson-they-said-id-snubbed-hollywood
- 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
- "The Honorable Mervyn M. Dymally's Biography". The HistoryMakers. Retrieved 2020-02-26.
- https://www.stabroeknews.com/2018/01/13/news/guyana/information-directors-criticisms-of-indian-descent-conference-dont-represent-govt-position/
- https://ufmrg.files.wordpress.com/2019/01/diversity_-difference-and-caribbean-feminism-feb_2007.pdf
- Comparative studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East, Vols 17–8, Duke University Press, 1997, p. 124.
- 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.
- "Reggae Singer Diana King official Biography". Dance Hall Reggae World. Retrieved 24 April 2017.
- Rajee Narinesingh
- "Gala 2016". Indo-Caribbean Alliance, Inc.
- "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.
- https://ufmrg.files.wordpress.com/2019/01/diversity_-difference-and-caribbean-feminism-feb_2007.pdf
- Morley, Carol (October 8, 2011). "Joyce Carol Vincent: how could this young woman lie dead and undiscovered for almost three years?" – via www.theguardian.com.