Tuesday June 19: Modern Day Nannies

Central Park was filled with many strollers from left to right; majority of the children in the strollers followed behind a Black nanny, a trend among black women that is still somewhat popular.

            

       The trend of Black nannies where from the West Indies and was spotted strolling a white child around the park.  Some nannies where from Trinidad, Barbados and Jamaica. New York is known for being an integrated city, where many immigrants from around the world come and start a new life.

            Becoming a nanny is a common occupation for West Indies women to make good money without an educational background.  .

            Sonya has been a nanny for 25 years and mentioned how she makes more money than most people who graduate with a degree.

            “A lot of us come from the West-Indies because this is what we get when we get it here,” said Sonya. “I need to be able to provide for my family so if that means taking care of someone else’s and make really good money that’s what I’m going to do.”

            Nanny duties consist of help raising a child and spending quality with him/her when his/her parents are not present. Many of the children’s parents are older in age and have a fulltime career in corporate America. These children are always away from their parents so having a nanny helps ensure that the child can still receive plenty of attention and love.  The relationship between the child and nanny was very natural as if the child was her own.

            Each nanny mentioned how being “referred” is a way to get into the nanny business.  Sheila, also a nanny for about 5 years explain how many families prefer Black or West Indies nannies over young white babysitters.

            “They prefer us because they know that we are skilled at raising children and we are hard workers,” said Sheila. “These young white girls are lazy and don’t wont to do anything.”

            Similar to Sonya, Sheila successfully makes good money working in the nanny business.

            Although nannies reflected a poor image in the past for Blacks, these modern nannies seem love what they do and appreciate the stable income.

           

 ✌ ❤☺-Demeshia Jackson