Some might say the best thing about being of Caribbean descent is the food or the music or the language, but it actually boils down to one thing: culture.
Whether it’s the salsa we dance, the mangoes we eat or the soca we listen to, Caribbean culture is easily identifiable by our laid-back personalities, signature accents
and foods.
But that is not the only thing about us to be noted.
There’s a certain self-respect that comes with being Jamaican, Haitian or Cuban, an air of knowing you’re different and being proud of it.
Caribbean Americans seem to realize that even with the scars and memories that the previous generations bear, we could not be who we are today without them.
“Out of many, one people” is the national Jamaican motto, but I think this is true for all of the Caribbean. With Indian, Chinese, Spanish, British, Irish, French or African backgrounds, Caribbean Americans represent a world of cultures with a spirit of unity. Even though we all may look different, we can count on our culture to bring us together and define us as one.
Brittany Hopwood, 18, of Lauderhill, is a senior at the University of South Florida in Tampa. She is also a summer intern at the South Florida Times.
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