How soon we forget about Vice President Dallas

In an article by Andrew Bo ry ga, it was falsely stated that Kama la Harris will be the first vice president of Caribbean descent. [“K am ala Harris brings hope and pride to South Florida’ s Jamaican community ,” Nov. 7] George M. Dallas(1782-1864), the 11th vicepresident, was the first. He served from 1845 to 1849 under President James K. Polk. Like K am ala Harri s’ s father, Dallas’ s father, Alexander Dallas (1759-1817), was born in Jamaica (June 21, 1759). He left Jamaica in 1764. He was the sixth U.S. Secretary of the Treasury. He was also admitted to the Bar in Jamaica in 1781 and lived there again until 1783.

The book “Caribbean American Heritage: A History of High Achieve rs ”( which I wrote with my wife, Sandra Bernard-Bastien) contains bi os of the Dallas father and son, as well as several other Caribbean Americans( who were incident ally white) such as Alexander Hamilton, Josiah Martin and Abraham Markoe.

Elliot Bastien, Tamarac