Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School 2014 Place, Race, and the Politics of Identity in the Geography of Garinagu Baündada Doris Garcia Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations Part of the Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons Recommended Citation Garcia, Doris, "Place, Race, and the Politics of Identity in the Geography of Garinagu Baündada" (2014). LSU Doctoral Dissertations. 3744. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations/3744 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized graduate school editor of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please [email protected]. PLACE, RACE, AND THE POLITICS OF IDENTITY IN THE GEOGRAPHY OF GARINAGU BAÜNDADA A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The Department of Geography & Anthropology by Doris Garcia B.A., City College of New York, 2002 M.S., Central Connecticut State University, 2006 December 2014 Belize Caribbean Sea Islas de la Bahía Colón Atlántida Guatemala Cortés Yoro Gracias a Dios Santa Bárbara Copán Olancho Comayagua Lempira Ocotepeque Francisco Morazán Intibucá La Paz El Paraíso El Salvador Valle Nicaragua Choluteca P a c i f i c O c e a n Miles 0 50 100 Map of Honduras in Central America Prepared by: Paul Karolczyk and Doris Garcia ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I extend my most profound gratitude to several people who contributed to the completion of this dissertation and my evolution as a scholar. To begin, I want to thank the Garifuna activists who trusted me to record and tell their personal stories of struggle against injustice. Their accounts have been invaluable to my understanding of the spaces of oppression they straddle. I am grateful to Dr. Joyce M. Jackson, my committee chair, for her support and guidance throughout the years, and for sharing with me her passion for ethnographic fieldwork and appreciation for black culture. I thank Dana Sanders for her readiness and willingness to assist me in organizing my pathway to academic success. I am beholden to Dr. Evelyn Newman Phillips of the Anthropology Department at Central Connecticut State University for her critical discussions with me about Garinagu’s ethnogenesis. I thank my mother for giving me life, the strength of the ancestors, and Ana Suarez for caring. Most of all, I am indebted to my husband Paul Karolczyk, who together with me made the decision to pursue a doctorate degree and face the challenges that come with graduate studies and for introducing me to new ideas. His love, support, and commitment kept me focused. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................................................................................. iii LIST OF TABLES ......................................................................................................................... vi LIST OF FIGURES ...................................................................................................................... vii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ...................................................................................................... viii ABSTRACT .....................................................................................................................................x CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION .....................................................................................................1 Research Background ....................................................................................................................1 Purpose of Study ............................................................................................................................2 Research Statement .......................................................................................................................4 Chapter Outline .............................................................................................................................6 CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW ........................................................................................13 The Significance of Place ............................................................................................................13 Race and Place .............................................................................................................................26 The Politics of Identity ...............................................................................................................30 Situating Work within Existing Literature ..................................................................................32 CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY ..................................................................................................41 Research Design ..........................................................................................................................41 Theoretical Issues ........................................................................................................................52 Field Experience ..........................................................................................................................59 CHAPTER 4 THE FORMATION OF GARINAGU ORGANIZATIONS ...................................67 Early Struggles and Influences ....................................................................................................67 CONDECOGA’s Origins and Perspectives ................................................................................76 Happy Land and the New Organizations .....................................................................................83 ODECO’s Formation and Practices .............................................................................................96 Collectivism or Individualism? .................................................................................................105 The Garifuna Nation ..................................................................................................................114 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................120 CHAPTER 5 THE GEOGRAPHY OF RACE IN GARIFUNA EXPERIENCE ........................122 Constructing a New Place .........................................................................................................122 The Development of the Banana Plantation ..............................................................................126 The Geography of Difference ....................................................................................................133 The Anti-black Sentiment and a New Cultural Identity ............................................................139 Perceptions of Race ...................................................................................................................146 The Garinagu in the United States .............................................................................................154 Impact on Contemporary Discourse ..........................................................................................162 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................169 CHAPTER 6 SOCIAL PRACTICES AND MOBILITY IN THE BRONX ...............................171 A Brief History of the Bronx .....................................................................................................171 The Garinagu in the Bronx ........................................................................................................174 iv Economic Integration ................................................................................................................177 The Garinagu in New Orleans ...................................................................................................186 The Myth of Belonging .............................................................................................................190 “Civic Participation” .................................................................................................................203 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................215 CHAPTER 7 THE MAKING OF A LANDLESS SOCIETY .....................................................216 Honduras: Geography and Land Tenancy .................................................................................216 The Early Formation of a New National Economy ...................................................................222 Political Reorganization ............................................................................................................227 Article 107 Amendment and its Consequences .........................................................................231 Modernization and the Agricultural Sector/Law of Municipalities ..........................................245 Pressure Groups .........................................................................................................................255