Bahamian Americans

Americans of Bahamian birth or descent

Bahamian Americans are an ethnic group of Caribbean Americans of Bahamian ancestry. There are an estimated 56,797 people of Bahamian ancestry living in the US as of 2019.

Bahamians began visiting the Florida Keys in the 18th century to salvage wrecked ships, fish, catch turtles and log tropical hardwood trees. A Bahamian settlement in the Keys was reported in 1790, but the presence of Bahamians in the Keys was temporary. Early in the 19th century some 30 to 40 Bahamian ships were working in the Keys every year. After 1825, Bahamian wreckers began moving to Key West in large numbers. Bahamians were among the first West Indians to immigrate to the mainland US in the late nineteenth century. Many went to Florida to work in agriculture or to Key West to labor in fishing, sponging, and turtling. Two main factors that contributed to increased Bahamian migration were the poor economic climate and opportunities in the Bahamas, as well as the short distance from the Bahamas to Miami. Southern Florida developed Bahamian enclaves in certain cities including Lemon City, Coconut Grove, and Cutler. In 1896, foreign born blacks comprised 40 percent of the black population of Miami, making Miami the largest foreign born black city in the US aside from New York. Bahamians in Florida created their own institutions, most notably Episcopal churches. During this time in Florida, black Bahamians faced state enforced racism. Blacks could not vote, were persecuted by epithets in Miami press, and were not allowed to stay in the hotels that employed them. In 1921, the Ku Klux Klan staged a large rally attacking Bahamian immigrants in Miami. Between 1900 and 1920 between ten and twelve thousand Bahamians moved to Florida, mostly to do agricultural labor, often on a seasonal basis. Florida farmers convinced the U. S. Congress to exempt Caribbean and Latin American émigrés from the Emergency Quota Act of 1921. Starting in 1943 Bahamanian workers came to Florida under the British West Indian (BWI) Temporary Labor Program. This program was under the control of private growers from 1947 to 1966. Growers favored Bahamanian workers because they "can be forced to work a regular work program or be deported." Many white Bahamians also settled in Miami, particularly in the Coconut Grove neighborhood, and in Tarpon Springs.

Bahamian Americans have retained much of their cultural heritage. Bahamian Americans listen to and perform Junkanoo and rake and scrape music, engage in the classic art of West Indian storytelling about characters like Anansi, and create Bahamian style art, especially straw weaving and canvas art. Bahamian foods staples such as conch, peas and rice, Johnny cake, and desserts including duff (food)s (especially guava) continue to be made by Bahamian Americans. Bahamian dialect is also spoken by many Bahamian Americans, especially in Florida.

As of 2010, Bahamian Americans were the most educated West Indian Americans in the USA. 39.1% of the Bahamian American population of 25 years and over held college degrees. There were 22,763 Bahamian Americans 25 years and older in the country according to the 2010 census. 9.9% held associate degrees, 17.5% held bachelor's degrees, and 11.7% held graduate or professional degrees. 29.2% held bachelor's degrees or higher. In New York State, 46.7% of Bahamian Americans 25 years and older held degrees. 18.5% held Graduate or Professional degrees, 20.6% held bachelor's degrees, with 7.6% holding associate degrees. In Georgia 51.1% of Bahamian Americans 25 years and older held college degrees. 18.6% held Graduate or Professional degrees, 25.1% held bachelor's degrees, with 7.4% holding associate degrees. In Florida 32% of Bahamian Americans 25 years and older held college degrees. 7.8% held Graduate or Professional degrees, 12.6% held bachelor's degrees, with 11.6% holding associate degrees.