African Americans in the Caribbean and Latin America

African Americans in the Caribbean and Latin America

Shamil Cruz and Moses Seenarine

May 30, 2000 (Published by Saxakali.com on June 1 2000)

INTRODUCTION

The Latin American and Caribbean regions were the first areas of the Americas to be

populated by African immigrants. African immigration to the Americas may have begun

before European exploration of the region. Blacks sailed with Christopher Columbus

even on his first voyage in 1492, and the earliest Spanish and Portuguese explorers were

likewise accompanied by black Africans who had been born and reared in Iberia. In the

following four centuries millions of immigrants from Africa were brought to the New

World as slaves. Today, their descendants form significant ethnic minorities in several

Latin American countries, and they are the dominant element in many of the Caribbean

nations. Over the centuries, black people have added their original contributions to the

cultural mix of their respective societies and thus exerted a profound influence on all

facets of life in Latin America.

EARLY IMMIGRATION AND SLAVERY

Most of the earliest black immigrants to the Americas were natives of Spain and

Portugal—men such as Pedro Alonso Niño, a navigator who accompanied Columbus on

his first voyage, and the black colonists who helped Nicolás de Ovando form the first

Spanish settlement on Hispaniola in 1502. The name of Nuflo de Olano appears in the

records as that of a black slave present when Vasco Núñez de Balboa sighted the Pacific

Ocean in 1513. Other blacks served with Hernán Cortés when he conquered Mexico and

with Francisco Pizarro when he marched into Peru.

Iberian Blacks Estebanico, one of the survivors of Pánfilo de Narváez’s unfortunate

expedition to Florida in 1527, was a black. With three companions, he spent eight years

traveling overland to Mexico City, learning several Native American languages in the

process. Later, while exploring what is now New Mexico, he lost his life in a dispute with

the Zuñi.

Juan Valiente, another black, led Spaniards in a series of battles against the Araucanian

people of Chile between 1540 and 1546. Although Valiente was a slave, he was rewarded

with an estate near Santiago and control of several Native American villages.

Between 1502 and 1518, Spain shipped out hundreds of Spanish-born Africans, called

Ladinos, to work as laborers, especially in the mines. Opponents of their enslavement

cited their weak Christian faith and their penchant for escaping to the mountains or

joining the Native Americans in revolt. Proponents declared that the rapid diminution of

the Native American population required a consistent supply of reliable work hands. Free

Spaniards were reluctant to do manual labor or to remain settled (especially after the discovery of gold on the mainland), and only slave labor could assure the economic

viability of the colonies.

Beginning of the African Slave Trade

By 1518 the demand for slaves in the Spanish New World was so great that King Charles

I of Spain sanctioned the direct transport of slaves from Africa to the American colonies.

The slave trade was controlled by the Crown, which sold the right to import slaves

(asiento) to entrepreneurs.

By the 1530s, the Portuguese were also using African slaves in Brazil. From then until

the abolition of the slave trade in 1870, at least 10 million Africans were forcibly brought

to the Americas: about 47 percent of them to the Caribbean islands and the Guiana’s; 38

percent to Brazil; and 6 percent to mainland Spanish America. About 4.5 percent went to

North America, roughly the same proportion that went to Europe.

The greatest proportion of these slaves worked on plantations producing sugar, coffee,

cotton, tobacco, and rice in the tropical lowlands of northeastern Brazil and in the

Caribbean islands. Most of them came from the sub-Saharan states of West and Central

Africa, but by the late 18th century the supply zone extended to southern and East Africa

as well.

Impact of Slavery

Slavery in the Americas was generally harsh, but it varied from time to time and place to

place. The Caribbean and Brazilian sugar plantations required a consistently high supply

of labor for centuries. In other areas—the frontiers of southern Brazil, Argentina,

Venezuela, and Colombia—slavery was relatively unimportant to the economy.

To tame the wilderness, build cities, establish plantations, and exploit mineral wealth, the

Europeans needed more laborers than they could recruit from among their own

metropolitan masses. In the early 16th century, the Spanish tried unsuccessfully to

subjugate and enslave the native populations of the West Indies. Slavery was considered

the most desirable system of labor organization because it allowed the master almost

absolute control over the life and productivity of the laborer. The rapid disintegration of

local indigenous societies and the subsequent decimation of the native peoples by warfare

and European diseases severely exacerbated the labor situation, increasing the demand

for imported workers.

African slaves constituted the highest proportion of laborers on the islands and around the

Caribbean lowlands where the native population had died. The same was true in the

northeastern coastlands of Brazil—especially the rich agricultural area called the

Reconcavo, where the semi nomadic Tupinamba and Tupiniquim peoples resisted

effective control by the Portuguese—and in some of the Leeward Islands such as

Guadeloupe and Dominica, where the Caribs waged a determined resistance to their

expulsion and enslavement. In areas of previously dense populations, such as parts of

central Mexico or the highlands of Peru, a sufficient number of the Native American inhabitants survived to satisfy a major part of the labor demands of the new

colonists. In such cases African slaves supplemented coerced Native American labor.

Volume of Immigration

In Mexico (then called New Spain), the principal economic activity for the colonists in

the early colonial period was mining. African slaves were imported to counteract the

precipitate decline in the Native American populations. When the indigenous inhabitants

recovered sufficiently to provide the required labor, the demand for expensive African

slaves diminished. Between 1519 and 1650, Mexico imported about 120,000 African

slaves, or slightly fewer than 1000 per year. From 1650 to 1810, Mexico received an

additional 80,000 Africans, a rate of merely 500 slaves per year. Indeed, Mexican slave

owners bought no more than 50,000 slaves during the entire 18th century, when the

transatlantic slave trade was at its highest. Chile imported about 6000, about one-third of

whom arrived before 1615; most were utilized in agriculture around Santiago. Argentina

(mainly Buenos Aires) and Bolivia (mainly the mining areas around Charcas) brought in

about 100,000 Africans. Import figures to all these areas were low compared with those

for Brazil and the West Indies.

Throughout Latin America and the Caribbean the slave population declined at the

astonishing rate of 2 to 4 percent a year; thus, by the time slavery was abolished, the

overall slave population in manyplaces was far less than the total number of slaves

imported. The British colony of Jamaica, for example, imported more than 600,000

slaves during the 18th century; yet, in 1838, the slave population numbered little more

than 300,000. The French colony of Saint-Domingue (present Haiti)imported more than

800,000 Africans during the 18th century, but had only 480,000 slaves in 1790, on the

eve of the Haitian Slave Revolt. Between 1810 and 1870, the Spanish colony of Cuba

acquired about 600,000 slaves; in 1880, however, the Cubans had only 200,000 slaves

and an entire Afro-Cuban population of 450,000. Altogether, the 4.7 million Africans

imported to the Caribbean over the centuries had diminished to about 2 million in 1880.

Blacks in Colonial Society

In Latin America society was, in general, a three-tiered structure of castes, subdivided

into classes. At the top were the Europeans; in the middle were the free nonwhites; and at

the bottom were slaves and Native Americans. Each caste had its own set of legal rights

and social privileges, which varied from place to place. In the sugar-producing areas and

other plantation-based economic units of Brazil, the Caribbean, and the lowlands of

Mexico, Colombia, and Peru, the rights of slaves as well as free persons of color tended

to be legally circumscribed. The greater the demand for labor, the more severe the

coercion and discrimination exercised against the African sector of the population.

In the coffee, cattle, and fishing areas of southern Brazil, Puerto Rico, eastern Cuba, the

interior of Argentina, and Venezuela, social mobility tended to be greater and internal

class and caste distinctions more relaxed and less formal. In the towns and cities Africans

filled occupational roles just as did other free members of society, although they tended

to be concentrated in the more menial and unskilled tasks. The majority of the black population in Latin America and the Caribbean spent their lives

in domestic service or as agricultural laborers. About 20 percent—both slave and free—

were sailors, artisans, nursemaids, wet nurses, merchants, small shopkeepers, mining or

sugar experts, or itinerant street vendors. Slavery was never only a form of labor

organization or only an economic enterprise. It was a socioeconomic complex held

together by law and custom. Regardless of their conditions, their hopes for freedom were

strong, and slaves often revolted.

EMANCIPATION

Throughout the history of slavery in the Americas, some masters voluntarily manumitted

their slaves. In the Spanish colonies, slaves could purchase their freedom on a time-purchase

plan called coartación. A similar scheme prevailed in Brazil and the sugar

colonies of the Caribbean. Almost everywhere, female urban slaves constituted the

majority of those who benefited from voluntary manumissions and self-purchase. The

children of these women were also free. In addition, some free white fathers emancipated

their children born of slave mothers; the state also emancipated slaves from time to time

for a variety of reasons.

The Free Blacks

Because slavery played such an important role in the New World economy between 1600

and 1850, it overshadowed by far the number of Africans who came to the Americas as

free persons. The first group of free, or semi free, Africans arrived in the early 16th

century with the original European colonists. The second came during the 19th century,

mainly as part of a British-sponsored attempt to provide an alternative source to African

slave labor. Besides these free immigrants—of whom about 50,000 settled in the British

and French West Indies—each slave society contained, almost from its beginning, an

ever-expanding component of blacks who had been freed by manumission.

By the beginning of the 19th century this free population had become a fixture of every

slave society in the Americas. In the New Granada provinces of what today are the

independent states of Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, and Ecuador, the free black

population in 1789 was 420,000, whereas African slaves numbered only 20,000. Free

blacks also outnumbered slaves in Peru, Argentina, and Brazil. In Puerto Rico they

numbered nearly half the total population in 1812. In Cuba, by contrast, free blacks made

up only 15 percent in 1827; in Saint-Domingue the ratio was even lower—5 percent in

1789—and in Jamaica it was a mere 3 percent in 1800. Thus, in plantation societies,

opportunities for emancipation did not come easily, whereas in regions where

the economy was more diversified, the free black and mulatto population expanded

considerably.

The Campaign Against the Slave Trade

By the end of the 18th century, the possibility of a general emancipation of all slaves

began to emerge as a preoccupation of every slave society. By the 16th century Spanish

missionaries such as Antonio Montesino and Bartolomé de Las Casas had become critical

of slavery, and in the 17th century English Quakers opposed both slavery and the slave

trade. General disapproval developed only during the 18th century, however, when the rational attitudes of the Enlightenment combined with British Evangelical Protestantism

to form the intellectual preconditions for the abolitionist movement.

The British abolitionists, aware that their compatriots transported the greatest number of

African slaves to the New World, concentrated their efforts against the slave trade rather

than slavery itself, feeling that the termination of the trade would eventually lead to the

end of the institution. The abolitionist attack was spearheaded by Granville Sharp, a

humanitarian who in 1772 persuaded the British courts to declare that slavery could not

exist in England. The ruling immediately affected the more than 15,000 slaves brought

into the country by their colonial masters, who valued them at approximately £700,000

(averaging £47 each, or one and one-half times the average yearly income of a London

laborer of the period). In 1776 the British philosopher and economist Adam Smith

declared in his classic economic study, The Wealth of Nations, that slavery was

uneconomical because the plantation system was a wasteful use of land and because

slaves cost more to maintain than free laborers.

By the 1780s, slavery was being attacked, directly and indirectly, from several sources.

Evangelicals condemned it on the grounds of Christian charity and the assumption of a

natural law of common humanity. Economists opposed slavery because it wasted

valuable resources. Political philosophers saw it as the basis of unjust privilege and

unequal distribution of social and corporate responsibility. In 1787 Thomas Clarkson, an

English cleric, joined Granville Sharp and Josiah Wedgwood, the famous English potter,

to form a society for the abolition of the slave trade. The society recruited William

Wilberforce as its parliamentary spokesman and in 1788 succeeded in getting Prime

Minister William Pitt to set up a select committee of the Privy Council to investigate

the slave trade. The year before, the society had established Sierra Leone in West Africa

as a refuge for the "London black poor," and it achieved other successes.

Abolition of the Slave Traffic

A bill designed to restrict the number of slaves carried by each ship, based on the ship’s

tonnage, was enacted by Parliament on June 17, 1788; and that year the French

abolitionists, inspired by their English counterparts, founded the Société des Amis des

Noirs (Society of the Friends of Blacks). Finally in 1807, the British Parliament passed an

act prohibiting British subjects from engaging in the slave trade after March 1, 1808—16

years after the Danes had abolished their trade. In 1811 slave trading was declared a

felony punishable by transportation (exile to a penal colony) for all British subjects or

foreigners caught trading in British possessions. Britain then assumed most of the

responsibility for abolishing the transatlantic slave trade, partly to protect its sugar

colonies. In 1815 Portugal accepted £750,000 to restrict the trade to Brazil; and in 1817

Spain accepted £400,000 to abandon the trade to Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Santo Domingo.

In 1818 Holland and France abolished the trade. After 1824, slave trading was declared

tantamount to piracy, and until 1837 participants faced the penalty of death.

Abolition of Slavery

The campaigns to abolish the trade exposed the abusive nature of slavery and led to the

formation of the British Anti-Slavery Society in 1823. Long before that, the thrust for full emancipation of the enslaved Africans began with the successful revolt of the slaves in

the French colony of Saint-Domingue in 1791 during the French Revolution. The radical

French commissioner, Léger Félicité Sonthonax, emancipated all slaves and admitted

them to full citizenship (1793), a move ratified the following year by the revolutionary

government in Paris, which extended emancipation to all French colonies. This measure

was revoked by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1802. Emancipation nevertheless remained

permanent in Haiti, which won its independence under black leadership two years later.

Elsewhere slaves worked for the disintegration of the system, but the official acts of

emancipation lay outside their hands. Only in Haiti did they seize and hold political

power.

During the struggle of Spain’s American colonies for independence from 1810 to 1826,

both the insurgents and the loyalists promised to emancipate all slaves who took part in

military campaigns.Mexico, the Central American states, and Chile abolished slavery

once they were independent. In 1821 the Venezuelan Congress approved a law

reaffirming the abolition of the slave trade, liberating all slaves who had fought with the

victorious armies, and establishing a system that immediately manumitted all children of

slaves, while gradually freeing their parents. The last Venezuelan slaves were freed in

1854. In Argentina the process began in 1813 and ended with the ratification of the 1853

constitution by the city of Buenos Aires in 1861.

Brazil

Brazil suffered a long internal struggle over abolition and was the last Latin American

country to adopt it. In 1864 the Brazilian emperor Pedro II emancipated the slaves that

formed part of his daughter’s dowry and acceded to the request of French abolitionists

that the government commit itself to ending slavery. At the end of the disastrous

Paraguayan War in 1870, more than 20,000 slaves were emancipated as a reward for their

services. In 1871 the Brazilian Congress approved the Rio Branco Law of Free Birth,

which conditionally freed the children of slaves. Until they were eight years old, such

children remained in the custody of the mother’s master. At that time the state

could compensate the master for the emancipation of the child, or the master could elect

to have the child work without wages for 13 years. This scheme failed to satisfy

advocates of outright abolition, who won widespread support in the late 1870s. In 1884

dissatisfaction increased when it became known that in 12 years the Rio Branco Law had

freed only about 20,000 slaves—less than 20 percent of those voluntarily manumitted. In

1887 army officers refused to order their troops to hunt runaway slaves, and in 1888 the

Senate passed a law establishing immediate, unqualified emancipation.

The West Indies

Caribbean colonies required action by their European metropolises. In the British,

French, Danish, and Dutch Antilles, economic problems in the early 19th century

combined with the humanitarian and political pressures from Europe to weaken the

planters’ resistance to emancipation. West Indian sugar exports stabilized in volume and

declined in price, driving production costs up. Meanwhile, the slaves became increasingly

difficult to control. Emancipation became part of a general reform movement in Britain in

the 1830s, and Parliament abolished slavery in 1833, instituting an apprenticeship program for ex-slaves, an arrangement that lasted until 1838. France and Denmark followed Britain’s example in 1848, and the Netherlands did so in 1863. In

every case, emancipation resulted from the combined pressure of political reformers,

humanitarian idealists, and believers in more efficient methods of production—a

coalition that overwhelmed opposition from the colonial slave owners. Slaves also

contributed to the disintegration of the system by actively revolting and by passively

increasing production and administrative costs.

Largely under pressure from Cuban slave owners, Spain refused Puerto Rico’s request

that slavery be abolished on that island in 1812. In 1870 the Spanish Moret law freed the

newborn offspring of slaves, all those more than 60 years old, and those who fought for

Spain in the Ten Years’ War in Cuba. Slavery in Puerto Rico was abolished in 1873, and

in 1880 a system of gradual, indemnified emancipation was established in Cuba. The

gradual system was abandoned in 1886, when the last 30,000 Cuban slaves were granted

immediate emancipation.

BLACK SOCIETY AFTER EMANCIPATION

The black inhabitants of Latin America and the Caribbean were able to enjoy the rights of

full freedom depending on their relative numbers, their economic or occupational roles,

and the degree of their access to political power. In parts of Latin America where the

black population was relatively small, cultural and genetic integration with

the white or Native American majority over time blurred considerably the obvious ethnic

distinctions.

In Mexico, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay, the black

sector constituted less than 1 percent of the population. In Central America, coastal

Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil, and the Caribbean, the black concentration ranged from 2

percent (Honduras) to 99 percent (Haiti). People of mixed African, European, and Native

American ancestry, however, had ceased to be counted as "black."

Prejudice Against Blacks

 The rise of pseudoscientific racism and the popularity of social-engineering ideas among

Latin American white elites militated against the social acceptance of the black

population. The positivist followers of the French philosopher Auguste Comte thought

Africans were far from ready for the stage of technical modernity, and neglected them.

Adherents of social Darwinism considered the African dimension of the pluralistic

society a sign of fundamental weakness because they assumed the natural superiority of

the white race. The preoccupation of Marxists with class conditions dulled their

awareness of the problems of race and color. Thus, the Latin American elites of the 19th

century refused to accept cultural pluralism because they feared sharing power with the

domestic black populations. Several Latin American nations adopted laws prohibiting

black immigration during the 19th century. In most areas, the economic situation has not

yet diversified or expanded sufficiently to allow blacks to move out of menial

occupations. Most of them, therefore, remain in the lowest economic and social strata. 

Assimilation of Latin Population

The prevalence of intermarriage precludes the historical development of a two-tiered

society, and a racially mixed "colored" (as distinct from black) group frequently shared

the legal and economic opportunities of the white elites. Race mixture in Latin America,

however, is too complex for easy categorization. Centuries of contact among African,

European, indigenous American, and Asian people have produced a socioethnic

complexity in which status and racial designation depend on many factors.

When slavery collapsed, governments compensated not the ex-slaves, but the ex-slave

owners. The black masses possessed neither the requisite economic base nor the skills to

compete with the wave of new immigrants who poured into the southeastern part of

South America. Between 1870 and 1963, the country of Brazil absorbed nearly 5 million

European immigrants, a large number of whom had official or private sponsors who paid

for their transportation and resettlement costs. Eighty percent of these immigrants settled

in São Paulo and the southern states of the country, virtually inundating the resident black

populations. Later economic expansion did not substantially improve the poor economic

conditions of the blacks. Color and race contributed to the continued expulsion of AfroBrazilians

from occupations above the marginal and menial tasks assigned to servants,

odd jobbers, porters, and other nonorganized groups.

In Argentina the impact of European immigration on the country’s black people was even

more dramatic. Between 1869 and 1914, the Argentine population increased from 1.8

million to 7.9 million. During this period the total population in the city of Buenos Aires

increased eight-fold, but its black population remained stable. In 1970 the AfroArgentines

numbered only about 4000 in a city population of 8 million. Most of the black

men died in continuous wars, and a large number of Afro-Argentine women married

European immigrants, thereby losing their ethnic identity. Peasant and Maroon

communities in the West Indies the situation was different. White immigrants to the

islands were not numerous enough to swamp the Afro-Caribbean populations. In some

countries, independent African American communities were established in remote areas

by runaway slaves known as Maroons. Maroon settlements were continually challenged

by planters needing slaves. The Maroons resisted in Palmares, Brazil (1605?-1695), and

in Esmeraldas, Ecuador (1570-1738). In Jamaica they signed (1796) a formal treaty with

the British government after a series of conflicts and retained their independence until

1962. The Maroons were the first black peasants in the West Indies.

The trend to peasant production expanded greatly during the period after slavery. Exslaves

bought up abandoned or bankrupt estates throughout the Caribbean. In Barbados

and Antigua this was difficult, but in Cuba and Puerto Rico, land was available outside

the sugar zones. Free peasant villages thus became a feature of Caribbean life. Blacks

also entered commerce, the professions, and government. Throughout the 19th century

and the first half of the 20th century, Haiti remained the only independent black nation in

the Americas. By 1962, when Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, and other nations had

become independent, there remained much to improve in the economic realm. 

CULTURE

A strong African influence pervades music, dance, the arts, literature, speech forms, and

religious practices in Latin America and the Caribbean. Africans, whether as slaves or

free immigrants, brought a variety of African cultural influences to the New World. They

came from too many places in Africa and were too scattered throughout the Americas to

reestablish all the conditions of their homelands, but wherever possible, they did their

best to reconcile reality with their beliefs. Like all other immigrant groups, they

abandoned some aspects of their culture, modified others, and created new forms. This

adaptation to local American conditions is called creolization. The number of Africans,

their proportion in local society, and the length of time they spent in any one place were

crucial in the development of an African American culture.

Regional Differences

 In countries such as Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico, African immigrants were a minority

having to deal with a vital and dynamic form of European society and culture. The

African communities survived, and in some instances proliferated, but they did so against

the stiff and relentless competition of the majority, or "high," culture. Aspects of the

African ethnic subculture were eventually adopted by the mainstream. Nonetheless, in

such societies, the African character of the African American culture is less pronounced

than in societies where Africans formed the majority of the inhabitants.

In the essentially plantation societies of the Caribbean islands, people of African ancestry

retained considerable control over their daily lives, despite the efforts of the politically

dominant minority group to restrain and coerce them. The lack of cultural homogeneity

as well as the paucity of the plantation elites provided an almost unique opportunity for

the African masses to fashion their own society and influence the "high" culture.

Caribbean people speak variants of the standard European languages, which uniformly

reflect West African speech patterns regardless of whether the spoken language is

English, Spanish, French, or Dutch. The French spoken in Haiti constitutes a language of

its own. In Curaçao, Aruba, and Bonaire, Papiamento, a blend of Dutch, Spanish, and

Portuguese, is one of the official languages. Nor are these Creole languages confined to

the poorer, unschooled classes. Creole has now been accorded greater respect in the

literature and political life of the islands.

Cultural Modifications

Official acceptance modifies some forms of culture. The carnival is an example. Until the

19th century, the annual celebration of carnival was confined to the black population; the

upper classes deplored carnival and tried to destroy it as a public festival. By the early

20th century, however, it had attracted all classes and races, and currently it has official

government support in the Bahamas, Cuba, Trinidad and Tobago, and Brazil. Although

carnival has become respectable, and its festivities are open to all races and classes, the

chief participants of these carnivals are still black. The same remains true for other folk

festivals such as the Jonkonnu in Jamaica. In some cases, however, the transition from low to high culture obscured the African origin, as in Argentina where the tango was developed from dual African ancestry. One source is undoubtedly the Spanish fandango, but the fandango is really Moorish. The

other source is a black dance called the candombe, the feature attraction of AfroArgentine

festivals during and after the period of slavery. Latin American music has

always been deeply influenced by the vibrant rhythms and melodies that blacks brought

with them from their African homeland. This is particularly true of Brazil; in fact, the

first real music school in that country was founded by a black priest. Brazilian music is

thoroughly imbued with African themes, and illustrious composers such as Heitor VillaLobos

have long found inspiration in the black musical heritage. Many Caribbean

musical styles have become widely known, including the mambo from Cuba, salsa from

Puerto Rico, reggae from Jamaica, and calypso from Trinidad.

Religious Practices

When it came to religion, African immigrants to Latin America and the Caribbean not

only retained some of their original beliefs but also borrowed and modified religious

rituals from the various European Christian churches they encountered there. Religious

affiliation, however, is no longer restricted by race or color. A number of Christian

groups such as the Seventh-day Adventists, Pentecostals, and Churches of God are

predominantly black. On the other hand, religious sects of African origin—such as the

vodun in Haiti (see Voodoo); Shango in Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela, and Brazil;

Santería in Cuba and Puerto Rico; Kumina, Myal, Revivalist, and Ras Tafari in Jamaica;

and Umbanda, Macounda, and others in Brazil—are no longer only black.

Black Literature

African Americans have left a deep impression on the lore and literature of the New

World. In some parts of Latin America, such as Brazil, popular tales and legends are to a

great extent of African origin. Themes dealing with slavery have always been popular

with black writers. Some, such as the Brazilian poet Luis Gama, were also active in the

abolitionist movement. Antônio de Castro Alves was identified as the "poet of the slaves"

for his treatment of slavery in his writings. João da Cruz e Sousa, the son of emancipated

slaves, is considered one of Brazil’s greatest poets.

As nationalism has intensified during the 20th century, even more attention has been paid

to African origins. The Haitian poet Jacques Roumain stressed the value of his native

(African) culture, while expressing the pride and bitterness of his black ancestry. Nicolás

Guillén, one of Cuba’s most eminent poets, wrote some of his best works as "black"

poetry based on the rhythms of Afro-Cuban music. The novels, poetry, dance, and mime

of Latin America and the Caribbean area have all incorporated African speech patterns,

styles, or concepts and have tried to express the spirit of the black cultural heritage. In the

Nobel Prize-winning poetry of Derek Walcott and the autobiographical short stories of

Jamaica Kincaid, an effort is made to reconcile the differences between the writers’

native West Indian and adoptive white milieus. 

POLITICS

The Maroon settlements in the days of slavery were attempts to form black states; they

were, in effect, states within states. Haiti, where slaves led by Jean Jacques Dessalines

captured the governing apparatus in 1804, was only the second independent country in

the western hemisphere the first being the United States) and the first one ruled by blacks.

As such, it became a symbol of black independence and a catalyst for black nationalism.

Blacks in many other countries participated in politics within the prevailing political

structures, but in some nations such activities were restricted. 

In Cuba, for example, a law

forbade the organization of political parties based on race or color after 1911, and the

military efforts of the Afro-Cuban leaders Pedro Ivonet and Evaristo Estenoz to reverse

that decision ended in disaster in 1912. Government troops killed 3000 Afro-Cubans in

Oriente Province, putting an end to black political resistance in Cuba. In Brazil, the

Frente Negra Brazileira (Brazilian Black Front), founded in São Paulo in 1931, served

as the national political voice of Afro-Brazilians, but faded along with other political

parties during the Vargas dictatorship of the 1930s and ‘40s. In the British, French, and

Dutch Caribbean, blacks have participated in politics for more than a century, and today

hold local political power. Governments controlled by people of African ancestry have

been in power in the Netherlands Antilles, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, Saint Lucia,

Grenada, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Dominica, Antigua, Saint Kitts and Nevis,

and Jamaica. The Marxist government of Cuba has declared Cubans an Afro-Latin

American people and has formed close ties with Angola, Ethiopia, and other African

states.

Other Caribbean countries have also established contacts with the free nations of Africa,

both directly and through United Nations agencies and other international organizations.

Caribbean-African cooperation, however, has more frequently been based on shared

ideology than it has on race or color.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Braithwaite, Edward. 1971. The Development of Creole Society in Jamaica. Boston: New

Beacon Books.

Beckles, Hilary M. 1989. Natural Rebels: A Social History of Enslaved Black Women in

Barbados. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.

Curtis, Philip D. The Atlantic Slave Trade: A Census. Madison, WI: University of

Wisconsin Press.

Knight, Franklin W. 1970. Slave Society in Cuba During the Nineteenth Century.

Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press.

McGlynn, & Seymore. 1992. The Meaning of Freedom: Economics, Politics and Culture

After Slavery. Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press. Sheridan, R.B. 1974. Sugar and Slavery: An Economic History of the British West Indies,

1623-1775. Bridgetown, Barbados: Caribbean University Press.

Williams, Eric. 1970. From Columbus to Castro: The History of the Caribbean, 1492-

1969. NY: Vintage Books. 

RACE AND COLOR IN TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO

RACE AND COLOR IN TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO 

by Nakeba Stewart and Moses Seenarine, December 15, 2000
(Published by Saxakali.com on January 1, 2001)

Introduction

Throughout the world ethnicity has been (and still is) a critical factor in elements of social importance and everyday communal activities. This is especially true of such post-colonial and underdeveloped societies like those found in the Caribbean. Similar to other places, race permeates every aspect of social life in Trinidad. Race can determine one's access to wealth, status, political power and prestige. Throughout Trinidad's history there has been schisms within ethnic, social class, culture, religious and sexual parameters, leading to a lack of social cohesion. The absence of social solidarity has had comprehensive implications of the national identity of Trinidadians. By analyzing the historical relationship between the colonizer and those who were colonized we can trace the roots of the "colonial mentality" which plagues many West Indian societies.

Many world powers have never addressed the perceptions of people after the direct colonial experience and its legacy; the colonization of information and the educational system. One group of people is constantly being portrayed as better than another. Most people do not realize they harbor very distorted views and beliefs about themselves and other people, especially black people, with an unwarranted admiration for people of lighter shades. This is mostly due to the ingrained results of colonialism and the effect subjugation has had on the psyche of its victims.

Trinidad's History and Ethnicity

Amerindians also known as the Caribs and Arawaks originally inhabited Trinidad. Columbus and the advent of Europeans decimated these indigenous people. Disease, warfare, murder, forced labor and rape contributed to the destruction and extermination of the Amerindians. Initially a colony of Spain, Trinidad was ceded to the British in 1802 partially because of Britain's aggressive policy of imperialism.

At that time the island's economy was mainly fueled by the captive labor brought by French planters from other islands. The enslaved Afrikan population came from various cultural, linguistic, and religious backgrounds mainly from West Afrika. Groups of free blacks from America and other Caribbean islands also populated Trinidad during and after slavery. In 1838, Trinidad's ethnic composition was further complicated by the indenture of Portuguese and Chinese groups to supply plantation labor. However, these groups were not found suitable for the arduous labor of plantation work and instead became involved in grocery and dry goods trading. After World War II, the Syrians and Lebanese joined the already diverse population growing in Trinidad. Furthermore, the importation of approximately 144,000 indentured laborers from India had a profound impact on the demographics of the island's society in comparison to some of the other groups. In addition, a small number of Venezuelans immigrated to Trinidad during the nineteenth century. The following chart illustrates the population distribution by race in 1963.

The population and percentages are: Afrikan 358,558 or 43%; East Indian 301,946 or 36%; White 15,718 or 2%; Chinese 8,361 or 1%; "Mixed" 134,749 or 17%; and Lebanese/Syrian 6,714 at 1%.

As the percentagesshow, people of African and East Indian descent are the numerically dominant groups. While most of the discourse on ethnic relations center on Afrikan - East Indian relations, my focus will be an in depth look at the source of prevailing social attitudes among the many groups that inhabit Trinidad and Tobago. Many scholars (i.e.: Gosine) have characterized Trinidad as a pluralistic society consisting of a two-dimensional division of human relations. This concept however, has limitations in terms of inequalities based on not only race, but also class and gender.

Role of planters in shaping relationships between different ethnic groups

The role of European planters implementing indentured servitude had a tremendous effect on shaping social attitudes in colonial Trinidad. For instance, Indian indentured laborers were kept apart geographically and culturally from the rest of captive labor force. This separation fostered an atmosphere that perpetuated the negative stereotypes initiated by the white planters. This tactic was used to further divide the labor force from uniting. The planter elite rationalized the division of labor by claiming that Afrikans were poor workers, lazy, irresponsible and frivolous while East Indians were characterized as industrious, docile, obedient and manageable. Later, some East Indians also adopted this view of the enslaved Afrikans. Hence the perpetuation and institutionalization of hackneyed image of the oppressed by a group in a similar situation. East Indians were also stereotyped as stingy, prone to domestic violence, and a heathen for not adopting "Western ways". Therefore, the division of labor was created by the planter elite as a means of effectively controlling the labor force.

The social hierarchy in colonial Trinidad consisted of whites as the plantation owners; the Chinese and Portuguese in trading occupations; Afrikans and coloureds in skilled manual occupations; and East Indians in the agricultural fields. The "commodification of ethnicity" caused by the division of labor has had extensive implications on the process of symbolization for those it involves. This meant the subordinate groups could not fully develop their own-shared ethnic and cultural standards. Instead, images and stereotypes were superimposed by more powerful "outside" groups. Yet despite the isolation among the various ethnic groups during the nineteenth century, syncretism and acts of "cultural borrowing helped shape the formation of typical Trinidadian culture.

A note on the Creation of the Negro

In Trinidad, the word "Negro" is used almost always to refer to someone of Afrikan ancestry. Most people never question the origin of this word, which degrades black people every time it is uttered. Asians come from Asia, Indians from India; therefore Negroes must come from "Negroland". Since there is no such place one must question the definition and origin of the word to better understand the philosophy behind this concept. The word negro is Spanish for black. The Spanish language comes from Latin, which has its origins in Classical Greek.

The word Negro in Greek is derived from the root word necro, meaning dead. What was once referred to as a physical condition is now regarded as an appropriate state of mind for millions of Afrikans. Negro - a race of dead people with a dead history and no hope for resurrection as long as they remained ignorant of their past. This was a triple death - the death of mind, body and spirit of Afrikan people. The evolution of the word Negro from colored, to black, to Afrikan represents a progression of self-awareness. The name that you respond to determines the amount of your self worth. Similarly, the way groups of people collectively respond to a name can have devastating effects on their lives, particularly if they did not choose the name.

The Role of "Color"

An examination of contemporary Trinidadian society shows that light-skinned black people are still the preferred population. They are more likely to attain high-status jobs and be perceived as attractive. Although color is often tossed aside as a non-issue, it is something that tends to come up time and time again. The color complex, the stereotyping of individuals based on skin tone, is deeply embedded in the black consciousness. Historically, the issue of skin color has been used as a means of controlling and division. Skin color has effectively used to disrupt unity.

The seeds of the color complex were planted during slavery when the light-skinned enslaved captives were preferred to be domestics. The darker-skinned Afrikans were put into field labor. When enslaved Afrikans were put on the auction block, those of "mixed" ancestry and light-skinned tones generated the highest bids. Through their contact with white planters, the light-skinned and colored population were exposed to and cultivated what was considered proper speech, dress and etiquette. Enslaved Afrikaris or Creoles that were light-skinned were also the chosen population for sexual unions with masters. The children of these unions were more likely to be allowed to purchase their freedom and land, and have opportunities to obtain an education and better jobs.

Although there are exceptions, the unequal treatment of slaves fostered a light-skinned upper class and a dark-skinned lower class. Lighter blacks were consistently offered better opportunities than their darker counterparts and therefore established higher socioeconomic status. Racial categories and identities are socially constructed concepts. During the colonial days persons of Afrikan and European ancestry were designated as "coloured". This group of the population produced a coloured middleclass, a new West Indian social order. The colored population was somewhere between the upper and lower class. The mixed or colored people filled but did not bridge the social gap between the upper and lower classes. In this new middle class, color and status were portrayed as neatly coincident.

These conceptions instilled that each race had a status or hierarchal value. Genealogy was assumed to be connected with an observable physical appearance such as "white, colored or black. These categories were made symbols of racial ancestry. Likewise, skin color, facial features, and hair quality were also used as determinants to judge an individual. This incorporated characteristic like a straight nose, thick lips and hair quality. The closer the resemblance of these features to Europeans the better the individual chances to achieve acceptance and upward mobility. In addition to serving as a distinction of ancestry, physical characteristics and the opposition between "white" and "black" commonly employed these characteristics as a system of valuation for behavior and conduct.

Therefore a person could "talk white" and rituals such as wedding also had a "color identity". For non-white Creoles to acquire such "white" traits was to gain respectability. Terms of color were correlated to achieved as well as attributed traits. Respectability was used by the colored population to shield bodily exposure. White or "whiteness" was seen as the only positive terms. "Blackness" was seen solely as the absence of "whiteness". Thus, social mobility was contingent upon the reality of race and respectability is defined by being or assimilating whiteness.

Two Dimensions of Subordination

Although Afrikans and East Indians were both labeled as inferior, their subordinate status differed in form. This does not mean that one instance of racism is more or less vile than the other. It only illustrates that racism has multiple forms. Very different images of Afrikan and East Indian inferiority were conveyed to these groups. Although looked upon as inferior, East Indians were thought of as possessing their own civilization, evidenced by their text-based religions and corresponding languages. The presence of this "alternative" made the colonial relationship between Europeans and East Indians a matter of either/or.

By comparison, there was lift le, if any, sense of African alternatives. Afrikans were dispossessed of their language, culture, religions and customs. The Afrikan was viewed as not belonging to any one place. Here we find very different prescriptions for Afro-Trinidadians as opposed to other groups. Afrikans were encouraged or even forced to accept the culture of another people while other groups could retain much of their ancestral culture. In addition, the Afrikan and European represented a complete dichotomy within a system of color.

Achievements were equated to "whiteness", and the accomplishments made by "dark" persons contested the view that Afrikans were inferior. However achievements were not perceived as something that Afrikans possessed collectively. Instead accomplishments by Afrikans, "Negroes" or ~bIacks" was just an individual act. By contrast, the "race" of East Indians was circumscribed as something autonomous from the colonial order, for their racial identity maintained a constant value as a term solely of ancestry. Achievements did not make East Indian anything other that East Indian. Achievements did not alter Indian identity" but affirmed their identity, something denied of Afrikans. Achievements could thus be imaged as the property of Indians as a collective, not just exceptional individuals.

For example, during British rule, Trinidad observed the centenary of Indian habitation in the colony. Indians as a collectivity were esteemed as the "sterling peasantry- the backbone of the country" (Yelvingtori, 103). There is, by contrast, no evidence of any comparable amassing and celebrations of Afrikans or non-white Creoles as a solitary group of diverse achievers. While the centenary of emancipation was celebrated, the from of its celebration figured emancipation as evidence of the liberality of British rule, not as a triumph of African resistance. This was also marginalized by the brainwashing of the colonial regime.

The celebration of achievements by "dark Creoles" was not an affirmation of their Afrikan ancestry as such, but a valorization of the metropolitan civilization that enlightened them. By analyzing Trinidad's system of race and color distinctions, some of the social consequences of two different principles of subordination can be seen. These two dimensions structured a range of socially comprehensible actions, which have shaped subsequent patterns of social mobility. In this view, racial classifying is intimately involved with the forming of classes and the en-classing of persons.

Conclusion

The case of Trinidad and Tobago consists of an extensive discourse on race an color. One finds several racially and culturally exclusive groups struggling for power and jobs within an extraordinary small area. Radicals complain that the dominant political movements of the region have remained sectional and that instead of narrowing gaps between classes and ethnic groups, reformist politics have widened them. Nationalism within a plural society can prove to be a disruptive force tending to shatter and not consolidate its social order.

Until we can all unite and discard the colonial mentality, which plague us, Trinidadians and people the world over will not be considered as peacefully cohabiting. Humans tend to "plant flags" and celebrate our differences rather that our similarities. As a person of Afrikan, East Indian and Venezuelan ancestry, can I not embrace each aspect of my lineage? Or do I have to just be identified with one. There is no doubt that I know who I am, but does my race change the person that I am. We all share one race - Humanity.

Works Cited

Yelvington, Kelvin. Trinidad Ethnicity. University of Tennessee Press, 1993.

Ryan, Selwyn D. Race and Nationalism in Trinidad and Tobago: a study of decolonization in a multiracial society. University of Toronto Press, 1972.

IS THERE RACISM AGAINST INDIANS IN ST. VINCENT?

IS THERE RACISM AGAINST INDIANS IN ST. VINCENT? WHO ARE THE VICTIMS? WHO ARE THE CULPRITS?

by DONNA F. GAYMES and MOSES SEENARINE

May 30, 2000 (Published by Saxakali.com on September 1 2000)

I will prove that the East Indian population of St. Vincent receives the majority of racism against their minority group. 

I will do this by proving East Indians are the minority of the island, that the Black population In St. Vincent are extremely prejudiced against the East Indians, pointing out the stereotypes and myths told about the East Indians. 

I will prove that this racism against them stems from times of enslavement, and I will further prove that due to the racism and prejudiced, East Indians in St. Vincent have been deculturated. I will use written sources as well as interviews to prove my argument.

The East Indian population In St. Vincent is the minority population of the island. The current population In St. Vincent is approximately 150,000, of that number no more than a 5% of is made of East Indians. This is an extreme minority and with the Interracial crossings of marriage, and pregnancy that number is diminishing.

Interracial marriages were considered taboo and didn’t occur because according to East Indian tradition, the father makes the decision as to whom will marry his daughter. African men were taught that East Indian women did not know how to conduct themselves among blacks, because they were too shy and timid. (Skinner 1971) However, the times have changed and races have mixed and the population of East Indians in St. Vincent has been vanishing.

"All them black men does want an Indian girl, like she some kind of trophy. They does think some silky hair and light skin is a gift from God. Them nuttin’ but trouble. Hear me now, them Indian girl and she family is just headache. All them Indian girl come for take our men. But let me tell you, us black women ain’t want for none of them coolie men. Their men blame our men because they does say they take up their coolle girls, but they really just vexed because the black women dont want them coolie men for nothing." (Burke 2000)

East Indians in St. Vincent experience racism and prejudice mainly from blacks, due to the many myths told about East Indians. Some of those myths believed by blacks are: The East Indians would do anything for money, and that among them money is carefully saved instead of being used for food and clothing. (Horowitz 1971.)

While it may be true that Fast Indians prefer to save their money, rather than overindulging themselves with non necessities, this doesn’t mean they will do anything for money, nor does it make them foolish.

"When Mikey caine to the States he did work so hard and never spent a penny for heseif. Only bought what he needed and the real cheap things too. We did make fun of him, but look the man now. He have he own house, and a car and he children In college. Mikey did used to tell us to save we pennies, but we Liked to have fun and we have house and car, but it took us longer to get it. Mikey missed out on the fun, but he has the fun now. We did call him the coolie boy from Layou. His father had 11 kIds, all coolie, and his father would buy up plots of land to leave he children when he passed. But the older ones would take care of them young ones. Mikey saved he money to buy a guitar, and he father took the money and bought groceries and a new shoes for Mikey’s brother. But that is how them Indians are. What the hell is the sense of buying properties for children and you can’t put food in their bellies or shoes on they feet?" (Burke 2000)

Many people believe in saving money and spending only on the necessities. The blacks in St. Vincent believe themselves to be superior to the East Indians. They believe that because the population of East Indians is so minuscule, the East Indian population cannot compete at the same level, and gives the blacks the notion they are superior and are more productive.

Negative statements have been made against East Indians, however, when looked Into more deeply we can see that it is the majority and minority numbers of the populations that make these statements false. One statement is: The wealthiest man is an East Indian. Contrary to what you might be lead to believe, in actuality the wealthiest man is an East Indian, however, there are many more poorer East Indians than there are blacks. (Horowitz 1971)

Now, If the East Indians are more poor than the blacks, and they are the minority of the population, I would believe that there chances for advancement in their society is limited. I further would tend to think if an island has a big majority of blacks, that were running most of the businesses, the schools, and the medical facilities, on that island, then the chances of advancement are limited by the prejudiced and racism displayed by the blacks.

In America it is called being held down by the man, presumably a white man. Consequently, in St. Vincent, I would go so far as to say that it is being held down by the man, the black man. In a ratio of less than 5% of the population, and you are the poorest on the island, I would think racism fairs highly as one of the reasons. 

One instance is: 

"One time I do remember a girl in school she was very bright, but I was at the top of the class. When it came time to do some exams for end of the school term, she did score one point higher than me, and she graduated at the top of the class. I deserved to be at the top, but the teacher was black and my classmate was also black and I know that is why the teacher give she the better grade. That girl called me coolie’ everyday when I went to school, every single day. When she finished the class ahead of me, she started to call me ‘foolie coolie’ and asked me how I ever thought I could beat her? My parents didn’t have money to send me to university so I didn’t go. Now I does take me coolie’ ass to town everyday and work at the bank. But the girl who took my education Is a doctor now. I should to be a doctor, but I just a ‘coolie’ and I guess nobody doifl want no coolie doctor. They missing out, all they have is half a doctor. I would have been the best, now they have half a black doctor and its what they deserve." (Young 2000)

"Complete emancipation was on 1 August 1838 and many Blacks moved away from plantations." (Gullick 1985). Following this an episode of cholera broke out in 1854. "The cholera left St. Vincent witha labour shortage, so workers were brought from Barbados and Indenture slowly grew again. In 1861, 260 East Indians (coolies) were imported, in 1862, 307, in 1866, 214, in 1867, 477 and in 1869, 343. Chief Justice H. E. Sharp maintained that ensuing riots were, amongst other things, due to the ex-slaves jealousy of the Portuguese and Coolies.(Colonial Reports, 1860)

The blacks were freed and moved from the plantations. Then they rioted against the replacements? They should have rioted for the rights of replacements, not against them. The East Indians did not come here by choice, nor did the blacks, both groups were forced and yet the blacks were fighting the East Indians who were now brought in as the replacements. Indentureship in India is the way of life. It is the social and economic status of your family that will determine your future. You are born into it and there is basically no chance of improving your status. 

This is not based on your race, and so the blacks began a very racist and prejudiced rage against the East Indians, because they based it on race and color.

"The jealousy of the blacks turned to hatred and sparked the racism against the East Indians. Many blacks chose to believe that the Indians thought themselves better than the blacks because of their hair texture and skin color. These visual traits are more closely related to whites than blacks. However, it was the blacks who made these comparisons and presumptions. The blacks were freed in 1838 in St. Vincent, thirty years later the East Indian reinforcements were brought to the island. The blacks were filled with rage, anger, and now for competition. The blacks could do the work on the fields for wages now, and the indentured, although they received wages, were more valued to the land owners because it was cheaper to have them there." (Gunsam 2000)

’The Vlncentian East Indians are far more deculturated than those in Trinidad and Martinique." (Gullick 1985). It is true, the East Indians are far more at a loss for their culture than those in Trinidad and Martinique. The main reason for that is the numbers. The major population in Trinidad and Martinique is East Indian. So the customs and the cultures will affect that throughout the island. The customary religion among East Indians is either Hindu or Moslem. However, I learned through my readings that the East Indians In the Caribbean were forced to convert to Christianity.

This was due to the ideal of divide and rule. If you take a person’s character and beliefs away from them, they are left with no identity. And so an identity was created for the East Indians in St. Vincent. They were coolies, without their religious beliefs and were forced to assimilate with the others. Being the minority of the overpowered people, they had no choices as to their identity.

"Them coolies does cry how we so mean to them and they ain’t nice to we. They shop In our shops and complain the price, they does want things for cheap, cheap and we tell them the price is the price. Just because you all Indian dont mean you get different price. If ya want different price, then I go charge you more. It’s when me say that, hear them, no no it’s okay, we pay the price you ask. It’s just we poor folks and don’t have much so we does try to do the best we can. And they pockets fill with cash, like me dotish and don’t know they have money. I does tell them if you can’t pay the price because you too cheap, then you can’t shop here because you all would run me out of business." (Burke 2000)

There are East Indians who do own businesses and are doing well for themselves, however, this is not a large amount of the East Indian population. For the most part, the East Indian population in St. Vincent are suffering. Some live In conditions unimaginable in this day and age. 

In various parts of St. Vincent, such as Layou, Bambarou, and Baroulie there is no running pipe water. This means there is no indoor plumbing, no hot showers, toilet bowls, kitchen sinks etc. Everyday things which I take advantage of, have never been experienced by some of my own relatives.

"On a recent trip to St. Vincent, I stayed at the Cobblestone Inn for three nights. It is located in the heart of Kingston, and is a lovely place to stay. However, after preparations were made for my stay in St. Vincent, I stayed with family members in [ayou. It was a terrible experience for me. 

While I do not look down on anyone, especially those forced to live in the conditions of these people, I only lasted there two days. After the second day, I went back to the Cobblestone Inn for three days and then stayed with family in New Montrose. I would again stay in Layou overnight. When I saw how these people lived It disgusted me. To think this island with all it’s beauty to endure, could have people living like savages Is beyond my comprehension." !! (Gaymes 2000)

While I have witnessed many blacks living in these conditions also, the majority of the people living this way are the East Indians. They are forced to live like this and It is rather unfortunate. 

"I remember one coolle girl from Layou, that manied a black man. His family disowned him because he shamed them. It was like an insult to them. He didn’t think enough of himself to marry a black woman. His family felt like he lowered himself to be with that woman. To this day they don’t speak to him. He have children with the woman and he family refuse to recognize them as their blood. His family says she ain’t nuttin’ but a gold digger. How she only went after him because he have family in Annandale and she want for house in Annandale." (Young 2000)

In reality racism will be experienced in all walks of life. It is not uncommon and has been ongoing for a long time. However, It is rather unfortunate when a group takes on a role as the racists in a community, where it benefits no one. 

There are many stereotypes, myths, and untruths spread about many ethnic groups. The East Indians are not the first to experience this type of behavior and they will not be the last, however they have much to overcome in St. Vincent.

However, with race dying out slowly, through death, interracial marriages, losing cultural identity and the racism, which causes many to try to conform to the ideologies of the blacks. It will be a long journey, which may not result in a positive outcome.

I have explored how the East Indian population in St. Vincent receives the majority of racism against them. 

I have done this by showing that East Indians are the minority of the island, and how the Black population in St. Vincent are prejudiced against East Indians. 

I have pointed out the stereotypes and myths told about the East Indians and suggested that the racism against East Indians In St. Vincent stems from times of enslavement. 

I further suggest that due to the racism and prejudiced, East Indians in St. Vincent have been deculturated. 

I have used many written sources and all backed-up my arguments with interviews conducted by myself.

References: 

Burke, Camille. 2000. Personal Interview conducted by the author. Camille is a 39 year old, black nurse, who resides in St. Vincent.

Gaymes, Tracy. 2000. Personal Interview conducted by author. Tracy is a 22 year old, East Indian Vincentlan. She was born in New York and has resided in New York her entire life. She visits St. Vincent every summer

Gullick, CJMR. Myths of a Minority, 1985. Van Gorcum & Comp., Assen, The Netherlands.

Gunsam, Kathy. 2000. Personal Interview conducted by the author. Kathy is a 31 year old housewife. She has a degree in education.

Lowenthal, David. Consequences of Class and Color, 1973. Anchor Press/Doubleday. Garden City, NY.

Skinner, Elliot. Peoples and Cultures of the Caribbean, 1971. The Natural History Press, Garden City, NY.

Young, Madonna. 2000. Personal Interview conducted by the author. Madonna is manager of CBC Bank.

A Fractured Nation - The British Creation and Encouragement of Racial, Economic, and Cultural Separation in Guyana

A Fractured Nation - The British Creation and Encouragement of Racial, Economic, and Cultural Separation in Guyana by Premi Singh and Moses Seenarine

May 18, 2000 (Published by Saxakali.com on July 1 2000)

As Guyana continues to forge a strong national identity it is frequently noted that it is a nation composed of "six races living together". These six categories are the African, East Indian, Indigenous or Amerindian, Portuguese, and Chinese. However, for most of Guyanese history and for all of Guyana’s colonial history the six different "races" were encouraged not to live together and unite. In fact the diversity that existed within the country was used strategically to separate the working people, thus maintaining the dominance of the British colonizers. This policy of divide and conquer" has affected, or has been affected by three main areas: ‘Race’. Economics, and Culture. The fact that the people of Guyana have managed to develop a unique, although often volatile national identity that encompasses all of the different ethnic groups is very much shaped by the history of the colony and the three factors listed above.

From the onset of colonization, beginning with Columbus’ first encounter with the Caribbean the main focus of the Europeans has been accumulating wealth. As Eric Williams (1970) notes, Columbus was looking for gold as early as the day after he landed in the Bahamas. This legacy, started by the Spanish in the Caribbean was emulated by other European Imperialists. Williams (1970, p. 172) records that, "The Chamber of Commerce of Nantes stated categorically in 1762 that the value of the colonies was based purely on extent to which they enhanced the cultivation, arts and manufactures of the metropolitan country and furnished it with their produce, either for home consumption or for re-export." It is clear that the conquering of the Caribbean was less about "civilizing the savages" and more about economic gains for the Europeans.

Race

Maulana Karenga (1993, p.275) defines race as "...a bio-social category designed to assign human worth and social status, using Europeans as the paradigm of humanity and social achievement." This definition is quite accurate because it encompasses both the ideas that "race" is a human construction, and that it was created as a hierarchy with Europeans being on the top of the pyramid. In fact, the illusory "rac& theory has been historically used to excuse and explain the colonization and enslavement of non-European peoples.

As Brian L. Moore notes, (1987, p.81) "These racist views achieved more credulity by the development of a number of pseudo-scientific race theories in the19th century. He also goes on to point out that the belief that blacks were inferior was equated with their inability to govern, and was used to justtify "strong centralized white rule" after emancipation. (1987, p.81) It was typically believed by the British that blacks could not handle the responsibility that came with voting. This of course was used to deny blacks the right to vote, thus maintaining white rule in the colony.

Although I previously stated that race is a purely social construct, it is also important for me to mention that the categories of race" had a significant impact on the way that many people in the world view the differences between people, and in turn, themselves. So although it has no scientific grounding it does have quite a bit of social significance. What is important here is not the reality that there is no such thing as race, but that the people who were oppressing the masses and consequently the working class themselves believed in racial categories and saw the world through a lens imbued with these beliefs.

Guyanese society was highly according to race, (Moore 1987, p.10) writes that there were Creoles:

of almost every conceivable color gradation, ranging from the fustee who were nearly white, through the mustee who were a ‘shade" darker, the cob of a still darker hue, to the negro, some of who were nearly jet black, but the majority of a dark brown complexion. Other categorizations included octoroon and quadroon—one eighth and one quarter black respectively many of these categorizations were not very precise, although they had great social significance especially within the Creole section itself.

He also notes that "Differences, particularly of origin and colour, divided the black and coloured section" and that the worst insult that could be used against a Creole was calling them a "******" (Moore, 1987) This internalized inferiority regarding blackness and the obsession with skin color shows that planters were already successful in creating divisions among the people. This was easily achieved during enslavement when a color hierarchy was implemented so that light skinned Africans had better positions (usually in the house) on the plantation and the darker Africans were forced to toil in the fields.

This hierarchical system was continued even after the introduction of indentured servants. The Portuguese were one of the first groups of indentured workers to immigrate to then British Guiana (Despres, 1967). The population of whites in the colony never exceeded three percent (Moore 1987, p. 82). Therefore the immigration of Portuguese workers "...was encouraged on essentially racial grounds" because the ruling whites admitted the importance of their numerical contribution to the white population and to the preservation of white interests in the colony." (Moore 1987, p. 140) The indentured Portuguese workers were sought after for their color and not for the economic benefits to the planters. Even after they escaped their indenture they were still encouraged to come to Guyana (Moore 1987; Despres, 1967).

In 1856 when the Portuguese refused to emirate and serve three years of indenture the planters waived the indenture obligation and granted "$35,000 of public money to finance their reintroduction." (Moore 1987 p. 140). By all standards this was not sound economic investment and therefore the planters actions can not be attributed to economics. Instead, the desire to have more whites, (even if they were considered lower than British whites) in the colony seems more plausible.

Unlike the Portuguese, the Indian and Chinese indentured workers introduced to Guyana for the exclusive purpose of providing cheap labor. All aspects of their lives were tied to the plantation. (Moore, 1987) Stringent laws were applied to the Indian and Chinese workers who tried to evade work. In addition, many planters tried to re-indenture the Asians to work for a longer period of time than the customary three years. Sometimes they used monetary rewards, but all too often coercion by the police was used to get them to re-indenture. (Moore, 1987) Still, even though the introduction of the Asians was primarily economic the Indians and Chinese became an integral part of the racial hierarchy. Like the Portuguese they served as a buffer zone between the white planters and the free Africans, and Creoles. The tensions created in the economic sector to aggravate "racial" hostilities in order to maintain white power will be discussed in the next section on economics.

Economics

After the Emancipation of the enslaved African population in Guyana planters were threatened with economic devastation. The plantations were built, and maintained with the sweat of the enslaved population of 100,000 Africans. In the immediate years following emancipation (1839.1842) the "...level of production declined by three-fifths (Despres. 1967 p.45) The planters were losing a significant amount of profits.

One solution to the problem of labor shortage was the introduction of Indian and Chinese indentured workers who saturated the market and created an oversupply of labor thus increasing competition with Creoles and driving down the wages. Walter Rodney (1981, p. 34) notes that, indentured labor "... continued to function as the basis upon which the plantation work force was constructed. They were the lowest paid group of workers." Creole and Black workers had to compete with the new immigrants for much needed jobs. Consequently, they had to also accept lower wages as well or face unemployment. Rodney (1981, p. 38) records that "In October 1886, G.R. Sandbach indicated.., that the most effective way of’ reducing labor costs "was to increase the indentured gang relative to the free Creoles. He explained that so long as an estate has a large Coolie gang, Creoles must give way to the prices asked or see the work done by indentured labourers..."

The planters played the Creoles and the Asians off each other thus creating tensions divided along racial lines. This type of economic policy creates what is referred to as a split labor-market theory. In this type of economic situation "...racial antagonism begins in the labor-market split along racial lines when business promotes worker competition to displace higher paid labor...class antagonism is transformed into racial antagonism." (Karenga, 1993, p.274) The racial tensions created amongst the working class divided them and allowed the planters to implement a divide and conquer strategy that lead to their own economic wellbeing, and their continual rule over the oppressed.

It is important to note that all of the aspects of colonial life, including "race", class, gender, economics, climate and weather conditions, etc. all interact to form the totality of the colonial experience. Economics then is wholly and inextricably linked to issues of race and class. Thus planter’s nurturing of animosity between Blacks, and Indians who now constitute the majority of Guyana’s citizens has created long lasting effects in every aspect of life Guyanese life.

With the case of the Portuguese the planters wanted to increase their status to a level above the Blacks, and Indians, and below their own. Public policy afforded the Portuguese immigrants room to improve their status within the society, while at the same time limiting the ascension of other groups. The Portuguese were very successful in retail trading and huckstering and amassed a significant amount of wealth. But Creoles were denied access to this market through a licensing system that "like the imposition of other licenses and forms of taxation, was calculated to hinder the Creoles from establishing an economic base independent of the plantations." (Moore, 1987, p.142) This policy not only hindered the economic success of the Creoles but also prevented them from gaining any political control held by the British planters.

This economic policy, like the practice employed by planters with the indentured servants created hostility between the Creole and Portuguese communities. Moore (1987, p.156) writes that "The high level of racial tension and antagonism, and sharp cultural and economic differentiation contributed to the persistently poor between the Portuguese and the Creoles." The result of these divisions is a nation that is fractured into very diverse segments. How then can contemporary Guyanese citizens claim "One People, One Nation, One Destiny" when there has historically been so much division created among them?

Culture

The British planter’s policy of keeping each group separate also played a role in the sharing of culture. The British authorities strongly discouraged the intermixing of the different communities in order to prevent "... the moulding of interracial understanding and cooperation between the two sections." (Moore, 1987. p.lSl) Of course other reasons were given for the separation of the people. such as the pretense of trying to prevent hostility and violence between any two groups.

Still, the intermixing of different groups in festive activities was not uncommon in the colony. ~It is true that Creoles participated in immigrant festivals, particularly the Muslim Mohurrum festivities and the Chinese New Year celebrations... During the 1870s the Creoles even organized their own "tadjas" (Moore, 1987, p.180) While some point out that there is still no significant intermixing between the two largest groups. East Indians, and Africans (Despres, 1967) the culture of the people as it has evolved to the present day shows some signs even though they are small of cross cultural interaction between the different groups have managed to blossom,and were probably initiated in the years of colonization by the attendance of the kinds of cross-cultural activitiesI have mentioned previously.

The challenge of the Guyanese people of today is to take the advances that came about slowly in the area of culture and use them to form a link between the different factions in other areas such as Economics, Education, and Politics. The Guyanese people can not allow legacy of the planters to continue dividing the country. The existence of a blending of culture is powerful and reassuring for two reasons. Firstly, it reaffirms the strength of the human spirit to overcome adversity and find "sameness" and direction even in an overwhelming sea of differences. Secondly, it provides a kernel of hope that Guyana can really become "One People, One Nation, One Destiny" and march into the new mililenium stronger, better, and unified.

Works Cited

Despres, Leo A. (1967) Cultural Pluralism and Nationalist Politics in British Guyana. Chicago: Rand McNallyand Company.

Karenga, Maulana. (1993) Introduction to Black Studies. Los Angeles: The University of Sankore Ness.

Lionnet, Francoise. (1998) "The Politics and Aesthetics of Me’tissage" Women, Autobiography, Theory, Edited by Smith and Watson. Madison: The University of Wisconsin Press.

Moore, Brian L. (1987) Race. Power and Social SeEmentation in Colonial Society. New York: Gordon and Breach Publishers.

Rodney Walter. (1981) A history of the Guvanese Working People. 1881-1905. Baltimore, Md. : The Johns Hopkins University Press.