They abide by culture and traditions common to immigrants from India. But they are not from India, or anywhere else in South Asia.
In Richmond Hill, Queens, a significant share of residents who practice Hinduism hail from the Caribbean, a fact that is not immediately obvious to casual observers.
“Indian culture and Hindu traditions are very strong in the Caribbean region, especially in Trinidad, Guyana, and Surinam,” said Ormella Paltooram, the vice president of an Indo-Caribbean temple located in Richmond Hill. “When our ancestors left India during the colonization in the 1800s, the values and believes they brought with them are still preserved, even as many of our families migrated to United States.”
Richmond hills has witnessed a significant change in its demographics through its increasing amount of immigrant population over past few decades. According to the New York City Census tracts, the foreign-born population comprised 33 percent of the total population in 1990 census survey. The number has almost doubled to 61percent in 2015.
“It’s a vibrant community that has people from different places and diverse cultures that share similar ethnic interests,” said Lisa Gomes, the manager of the community board for Richmond Hill in Queens, New York.
The area is predominantly home to immigrants from India who associate themselves with Hinduism and Sikhism in terms of religion. However, a majority of the foreign-born population have origins in the Caribbean region who share similar ethnic backgrounds. The assimilation of the two racial groups credits for the community’s inclusive environment.
These migrated families from Caribbean, now address themselves as ‘west-indian’ as they ended up on the western side of the world, while refer to the people from India as ‘east-indians’. Regardless of the categorization, the commonalities between the two groups exist without any conflicts in the Richmond Hill.
“Over the past few years, I can say we have been through a renaissance period,” said Varuna Sahabir of Trinidadian origin and a Juris Doctor by profession. “The nineties helped to shape the cultural perspective here in New York, especially in our West-Indian community.”
The number of Indian ethnic wear boutiques in the area has also increased remarkably in last 20 years. From the business perspective, the demographic of the local population comes with a benefit to ensure profitability of the stores, regardless of the competition.
“The Guyanese are moving in and tend to be building a strong communal hold in this area,” said Michael Butler, president of the Richmond Hill East Business Corporation and a local resident since 1950s. According to him, it takes years and years to change culture in small neighborhood. This surge in ‘west-indian’ population settling in over the past few decades has changed the neighborhood culturally, socially and economically.
The total population of Richmond Hill has increased 46 percent from 1990 to 2015, while the immigrant population almost doubled during the same timeframe. These immigrant population mostly comprise of people from India and the Caribbean countries such as Trinidad, Tobago, Surinam, but primarily dominated by Guyanese within the Caribbean demographics. The popular racial groups, that are dominant in rest of the New York City, make up a very small sector of the population in Richmond Hill. According to the NYC Planning community portal, the demographics of the neighborhood associate with of 11.2 percent White, 11.1 percent Black, and 23.4 percent Hispanics, while Others comprise 54.2 percent of the total population. This aligns well with the real in-field situation in the community.
Rasika Rane 