The broad purpose of this chapter is to use population genetics research to unravel the origin in Africa and subsequent microevolution in the New World of Afro-Caribbean populations. The chapter will heavily favor research with abnormal hemoglobins, which features prominently in the Afro-Caribbean genetics literature. This body of literature is disappointingly small, however. Whereas much research has been done on the population genetics of Afro-South American groups, not much work has been done with Afro-Caribbean groups. Crawford's project with the Garifuna or Black Caribs stands out in a rather sparse literature (Crawford, 1983, 1984; Crawford et al., 1981, 1984). This chapter is divided into the following sections: first, the malaria hypothesis and hemoglobin S in the Caribbean; second, β-globin gene studies and the origin in Africa of Afro-Caribbean groups, and third, microevolution and genetic maps of Afro-Caribbean groups.

We take for granted that the reader has had a basic exposure to Mendelian genetics inheritance, as well as to the inheritance of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and the Y chromosome. We also assume that the reader is familiar with the production of proteins in general and of hemoglobins in particular, and that the reader understands how restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis of DNA works. An excellent recent review of basic genetics in the human biology literature is to be found in Weiss (2000). We also assume that the reader has a basic understanding of evolutionary theory. Otherwise, see Section 5.1 for a review of evolutionary forces.