ABSTRACT
There can be few people in Britain in the 1980s who have not come across those who were either born in the Caribbean or have parents who originate from the islands. The Afro-Caribbean population in this country is now in its second and third generations; that is, people who were born here and have been through the school system are now themselves parents. Mention is still made, however, of ‘West Indian children in schools’, when what is really meant is black British children in the same way as one speaks of black Americans. The question of terminology is an important one, but one on which there is no consensus. Some elderly people who left their homelands when they were known as British West Indian islands see themselves as West Indians; other consider themselves AfroCaribbean; and yet others are more specific and identify with their countries of origin-for example, calling themselves Barbadian, Jamaican, or Trinidadian. Another means of identification used by some is that of colour or skin pigmentation; some people, perhaps a minority, refer to themselves as ‘coloured’, whilst a majority of others see themselves as ‘black’.
