Conch (people)
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Conch is a slang term for native Bahamians of European descent.
Several theories have been proposed for the origin of the term:
- After the American Revolution, many loyalists migrated to the Bahamas. Being more affluent and educated than the earlier settlers, the loyalists came to look down on the early settlers, and called them conchs because that shellfish was a prominent part of their diet.
- The Bahamians told the British authorities that they would eat conch before paying taxes levied by the Crown.
- The adventurers from St. Augustine, Florida (then part of British East Florida) who recaptured Nassau from the Spanish in 1782 hoisted a flag with a shell rampant on a field of canvas.Foster, Charles C. 1991. Conchtown USA, with Folk songs & tales collected by Veonica Huss. Boca Raton, Florida: Florida Atlantic University Press. ISBN 0-8130-1042-X
Use in Florida
Florida Keys
By extension, the term "Conch" has also been applied to the descendents of Bahamian immigrants in Florida. Bahamians began visiting the Florida Keys in the Eighteenth Century to catch turtles, cut timber and salvage wrecks. During the Nineteenth Century and the first half of the Twentieth Century most of the permanent residents in the Florida Keys outside of Key West, and many in Key West, were Bahamian in origin.The white Bahamians in the keys continued to be known as "conchs". Other residents of the Florida Keys, especially in Key West, began applying the term "Conch" to themselves, and it is now applied generally to all residents of Key West. See: Conch Republic.Viele, John. 1996. The Florida Keys: a History of the Pioneers. Sarasota, Florida: Pineapple Press, Inc. ISBN 1-56164-101-4 To distinguish between natives and non-natives, the terms "Salt Water Conch" (native) and "Fresh Water Conch" (non-native) have been used.[About Key West] URL retrieved Jun 18, 2006
Elsewhere in Florida
Riviera Beach, Florida was known as "Conchtown" in the first half of the Twentieth Century because of the number of Bahamian immigrants who settled there. Unlike the situation in Key West and the rest of the Florida Keys, where being Conch became a matter of pride and community identification, Conch was used by outsiders (in particular the residents of West Palm Beach) in a pejorative manner to describe the Bahamian community in Riviera Beach. The usage there also carried the connotation that at least some of the Conchs were of mixed racial heritage. As a result, some of the Bahamians in Riviera Beach denied being Conchs when interviewed in the late 1930s.Other Uses
The term "Conchy Joe" is also sometimes used (derogatorily) to refer to a native Bahamian of European descent or a person of non-European or mixed descent who acts white.[Bahamian expressions] URL retrieved April 5 2006References
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