Shades of the Past: Experiences of Racial Discrimination among a Sample of University Students in Jamaica

Abstract

This study reports on the prevalence of race-related experiences of discrimination among a random sample of 147 young adult students at a public university in urban Jamaica. The overall prevalence was over 55%. Although there were no statistically significant differences between the prevalence rates for students who self-identified as Black and those who self-identified with any other racial grouping (prevalence rates of 59.29% and 41.67% respectively), the prevalence rates for those who self-reported as being from the middle to upper-middle class was higher (51.55%) than for those who self-reported as being from the lower to lower middle class (84%). Furthermore, self-identifying as Black predicted higher odds of having worried in the past year about personally experiencing racial discrimination and about members of one’s racial group experiencing racial discrimination. On the other hand, being from the lower to lower-middle class predicted higher odds of having experienced racial discrimination and perceiving discrimination directed against one’s racial group. The implications for future studies on the prevalence and correlates of racial discrimination for Caribbean people in Caribbean contexts are discussed.