The culture and identity of the Bahamas is a confusing and interesting subject. This is mostly do to the expansive and rich history of the area.
The modern day country of the Bahamas is and archipelago, a collection of some 700+ islands in the central Caribbean, that was ruled by the British Empire until 1973. Due to colonization and its effects the Bahamian state is complicated. Much like many countries in Africa or the Middle East, it was originally home to hundreds, even thousands of separate tribes of people. All with their own culture, language, cuisine, and customs. Add to that the imposition of British, and other European cultures to the area, as well as the significant numbers of ex-pats who migrate to the area, and the massive market of tourism, and the culture that surrounds it in the last few decades, and we can see how the culture in the Bahamas is a jumbled mess, a patchwork of being that differs for each and every citizen who washes up on its salty shores.
Because of this the kind of nationalism created in the Bahamas, or as the case would be currently, that is being created in the Bahamas is founded in a sense of modern growth. Many Bahamians, both young and old are proud of their freedom and the government that has created the newly democratic nation they now live in. By this means citizens have found community in their collective creation, rather, than in cases like say South Africa, where fighting between groups arises. Allowing the Bahamas, to instead of becoming a failed state, flourish in many ways that were previously unexpected by the world.
Unfortunately, while unification may be the case in terms of national identity, it is not the case in terms of economic status throughout the country.
I touched previously on the market of tourism that has expanded in the Bahamas, however I did not properly convey its gravity. Tourism makes up a staggering 50% of the Bahamas overall GDP, half, half, of the countries income comes from tourists. This creates a massive wealth gap within Bahamian society. The country has a Gini coefficient, a measure of the difference between high and low incomes in a state, of 0.57. This is the highest of any country in Central America or the Caribbean, and is 0.1 higher than the United States, a country whose modern politics all but revolve around the nations massive perceived wealth gap. Unfortunately, the Bahamian market is poorly designed to combat this, tourism, and its attractions, often requires a massive buy-in before benefits can be reaped, so that massive market, the one that makes up 50% of the GDP, is inaccessible to the majority of the population. Not to mention the relatively volatile geographic location, as it is a collection of islands, in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, which might I remind you, has been revered by sailors for hundreds of years for its storms and strong currents. Which means that the wealth gap only grows as poorer people are consistently struck by unfortunate luck, and reset to ground zero, while the rich of course, continue to get richer.
Overall, the Bahamas seems a more attractive place to live than much of Central or South America, or even other places in the Caribbean, from its representation as a tourist attraction, and its rich history, but currently much of its population struggles with issues of poverty and inequality ultimately stemming from its colonial history, that are yet to be addressed by the wider world.
Sources:
https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6b4fc10.html
