West Indians of Costa Rica

Book excerpt: Harpelle (history, Lakehead U.) examines the migration of Caribbean people of African descent to the Hispanic-dominated, "white-settler" society of Costa Rica from 1900 to 1950, and the gradual ethnic transformation of this group into Afro-Costa Ricans. Coverage includes the expansion of the Costa Rican banana industry and the rise of the West Indian labor force; the emergence of the young Jamaican activist, Marcus Garvey; the post-WWI period of heightened unrest; attempts by Costa Rican governments, organizations and individuals to destroy the West Indian community; the eventual integration of West Indians into Costa Rican society in the 1940s and early-1950s; and the eventual formation of the Afro-Costa Rican identity. Distributed in the US by Cornell University Services. c. Book News Inc.