Upon reading from Thomas’s book, I was fascinated by her view of the central role that history continues to play in our daily lives and our study of the world around us. Thomas consistently references colonialism and encourages her audience to consider the origin of Jamaica and other countries in how we analyze societal and political phenomena today. One line that particularly struck me was, “It is not, in other words, that we have incomplete, imperfect democracies, but that democracy in the Americas has been founded on a house of cards” (13). With my interest in Latin America, I have studied the history of the conquistas in various classes from distinct perspectives over several years. However, it seems to me, that until quite recently, this history has been kept separate from the present day, especially in the way it is analyzed and taught. The importance of understanding the conquests in Latin America, Spanish rule, the dismantling of the Aztec and Incan empires and other elements of the founding of the countries we know as Latin America today is emphasized greatly in the study of Latin America, but it seems, as Thomas implies, that there is a lack of emphasis on the connection between this history and the present realities throughout the region. This chaotic and violent history, while seemingly so incredibly distant, is the basis for the social, political and economic structures in place in Latin America today, and Thomas makes clear that this is precisely the case in Jamaica as well.
Additionally, another quote that struck me was Thomas’s statement that “unless they are from the region, the Caribbean seems to them to be small, far away, and relatively inconsequential as world regions go.” (5) So, my question is, why is this the case? Why as an undergraduate student who had a concentration in Latin America and the Caribbean did I graduate college with a clear understanding of Latin America but so little knowledge of the Caribbean? I am curious to know if other students have also experienced this themselves in their education. Because as Thomas says, the Caribbean is “central to all of the processes that came to shape our understanding of modernity over the past five centuries.” (5)6