QUICK FACTS ABOUT THE CARIBBEAN COMMUNITY

• The U.S. Census 2000 shows the Caribbean American community is economically viable and growing at a faster rate than African Americans.

• Caribbean Americans are better loyal buyers of consumer goods who are vacationing, owning homes, and sending their children to college at a higher rate than the African American population. – Black Diversity Study, Aug. 2003 (University at Albany, State University of New York)

• Caribbeans are enthusiastically becoming a sizable portion of America’s middle-class voting population. ––Black Diversity Study, Aug. 2003 (University at Albany, State University of New York)

• The community is credited with contributing approximately $1.6 billion in remittances to economies in the Caribbean region each year. – IADB Study, 2002

• In New York City, Caribbean Americans make up almost 25 percent of the population, and their numbers are growing in the city’s suburbs – with sizable communities in Westchester County, Long Island, New Jersey, and Connecticut. – U.S. Census 2000.

• Across the U.S., they number close to three million. 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. – Black Diversity Study, Aug. 2003 (University at Albany, State University of New York)

• A large percentage - about 73 to 75 percent - spend a significant amount of time reading Caribbean newspapers and magazines, listening to Caribbean-oriented radio and watching Caribbean-oriented television. - Caribbean Communications Study for AT&T (1996).

• And most significantly, an AT&T study found that Caribbeans responded at the high rate of 72 percent when communicated to as "a person of Caribbean Heritage" rather than "an African American" or "a person in the general market."