It is no secret that the power of the diverse markets in the U.S. has gained in recent years. The minority is fast becoming the majority but while the focus has been on the power of the Hispanic, black and Asian markets, lost in the mix is the ethnically diverse, economically viable, Caribbean American market or West Indians, as they’re dubbed by the U.S. governmental agencies.

So why is this diverse group ignored? Mainly because there is no self-identifying category on the U.S. Census form that allows them to truly count their numbers even though they have lived in the U.S. since slavery. Subsequently, most largely either ignore the form or are counted as African American or Asian American, given the preponderance of both blacks and Indo-Caribbean nationals from the English-speaking region, home to millions.

Of course, the Caribbean also includes people from the French, Dutch, Spanish and English-speaking Caribbean nations, including Haiti, Guadeloupe, Suriname, Aruba, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados and even Belize, which is a member of the Caribbean Community. This includes of course the descendants of first generation migrants, with some studies putting the total population at over 20 million nationally.

While the U.S. Census agrees from its conservative estimates based largely on the American Community Survey, that this group of foreign-born are less than three million, despite the fact that millions alone show up at the Labor Day carnival on Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn, NY, there is no denying their rising affluence as part of the diverse marketplace, based on their income levels reported, education and surveys of their spending power.

The `West Indian American` or Caribbean American population now accounts for nearly one –third of the African American population in the U.S. Yet they remain culturally distinct and economically, are fast moving on up, with some studies even positing that this upward mobility is happening at a faster rate when compared to native-born African Americans.

The Black Diversity Study from the University at Albany, State University of New York states that Caribbean migrants are owning homes and sending their children to college at a higher rate than the African American population. The study also states that this group enthusiastically becoming a sizable portion of America’s middle-class voting population.

Even the U.S. Census 2000 shows the Caribbean American community is economically viable and growing at a faster rate than African Americans. Across the U.S., they number close to three million and are mainly women. Nationally, they can be found from Schenectady, in upstate New York to Seattle and even West Virginia. Caribbean Americans are flocking to Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Houston, Dallas, Fort Worth, Atlanta, Pittsburgh, Las Vegas, New Orleans, Chicago, California, San Francisco, San Diego, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Milwaukee, and Florida cities, such as West Palm Beach, Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton, Tampa, and Orlando. They represent 1,294,000 households in the U.S., with an average size of 3.01 versus 2.62 for U.S. born citizens.

In New York City alone, they account for approximately one –third of the city’s immigrants – that’s more than one –in – five of the foreign –born population in the city. The median age of the Caribbean born (41.0 years) reflected a slightly older population than the overall foreign-born population (37.5 years) in 2000.

AND THEY ARE SPENDING IN BILLIONS!

Some 40 percent of community alone is credited with contributing over $8 billion in remittances ANNUALLY to economies in the Caribbean region. And that’s including the over 600 million they spend in remittance fees as well.

Studies say since Caribbean nationals represent such a huge portion of the African American market alone, their buying power is close to $16.3 billion, making them a significant affluent diverse group.

A CaribWorldNews analysis of the latest foreclosure data from RealtyTrac staffers show that while there was an increase in foreclosure rates, Caribbean populated cities in states like New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Washington, Philadelphia and Massachusetts are largely exempt from the crisis.

ABOUT HARD BEAT COMMUNICATIONS, INC.
Hard Beat Communications is the only US-based marketing agency that specializes in the Caribbean market place while also serving as a booking agency for the South Asian & Latin American markets. The Caribbean-owned, minority-certified company does this through full service advertising & PR campaigns that includes media buys, culturally sensitive creatives, grass roots & event promotions, digital marketing, event planning, & through its news & PR wire, CaribWorldNews & CaribPRWire.com, respectively. Visit Hardbeatcommunications.com

A very special thank you to Felicia Persaud of Hard Beat Communications for providing the above data.