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White Identity in the Caribbean

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White Identity in the Caribbean Behavioural Sciences ︱Michiru Ito Barbados developed as a British colony, which mainly depended first on convict labour from Britain and then on slave labour from Africa to work the sugar plantations established by settlers. Trinidad developed as a Spanish colony White identity but was unable to attract enough Spanish settlers and offered incentives to people from other Catholic nations The Goddard family in Barbados in 1926. to settle there. Many of those who established Trinidad’s sugar plantations, which also depended on slave labour in the Caribbean from Africa, were from France. As a result, even though the island What does it mean to be white hiteness studies – a subfield oral history might not be able to generate was surrendered to Britain in 1797, in a black majority population? of racial studies – is an scientific statistical data to generalise Trinidad’s society and culture continued That’s the question addressed W academic discipline which who is white in Barbados and Trinidad, to be governed by French morals, in ongoing research into provides a new way of looking at race and it does provide insights, explanations, and customs and language for some time. racial identity and ethnicity racism. Pioneered in the United States in space for interpretation, to understand Barbados in the mid 1900s. by Michiru Ito from Japan’s the late 20th century, there has so far been a marginalised segment of Caribbean When slavery was abolished in Irish name on a tomb stone at St. John Parish Church in Barbados. Otsuma Women’s University. little research into how whiteness as a society – the white population.” the British Caribbean in 1834 and Focusing on ‘whiteness’ in historical and social construct can be used plantation owners required a new the Caribbean islands of to understand societies in the Caribbean. COLONIAL HISTORY source of labour, employment on While maintaining the concept of racial Barbados and Trinidad, Ms Despite their similarities as former the islands was offered to people Ito’s work reveals substantial However, ongoing research by a Japanese European colonies with black majority from other parts of the British Empire. purity as white is difficult in the globalised differences between the two academic into what it means to be white populations, Barbados and Trinidad have Desperate to escape poverty at islands in how people who in black majority populations in the different racial demographics. home, many of those who came to Caribbean, colonial notions of whiteness identify as white perceive their Caribbean is producing valuable insights. the Caribbean as indentured labourers heritage and place in modern, Most importantly, it reveals that a sense In Barbados around 92.3% of the were from India. still remain in Barbados and Trinidad. post- colonial society. of colonial superiority remains rooted population is black African-descended, who have lived on the islands for more of differences in physical features. in the minds of some white people, even 2.7% is white European-descended, Although Barbados and Trinidad both than three generations. As one interviewee explained, they though younger generations try to deny and the remaining 5% is made up of gained independence in the 1960s, identify as white because they “look the existence of white privilege. people of Indian and Chinese origin. Ms Ito’s interviews reveal the ongoing BARBADOS INTERVIEWS white, act white and belong to white However, in Trinidad around 31.6% of the impact of the islands’ colonial history. In Barbados Ms Ito found that white society in Barbados”. They also Michiru Ito from Japan’s Otsuma Women’s population is black African-descended, She explained: “While maintaining people feel free to speak about acknowledged that they might not University specifically examines what 37.1% is of Indian heritage, 0.7% is white the concept of racial purity as white their ethnicity and that ‘whiteness’ be able to “pass as white” in Trinidad. makes people consider themselves ‘white’ European-descended, and the remaining is difficult in the globalised Caribbean, is a relative term. Even though they and different from non-white ‘others’ and 25.6% comprises people of Chinese and colonial notions of whiteness still identify as European-descended white, Class is also an important part what constitutes their whiteness in relation other origins. remain.” In other words, many of some interviewees said that they of white identity in Barbados. to non-whites. the white population in Barbados had an interracial family background. Interviewees explained that white The differences in the islands’ population and Trinidad are still taking advantage Their construction of whiteness society is divided into groups Ms Ito’s research is based on oral histories groups can be explained by their colonial of the idea of white supremacy in derives in part from their awareness according to income, educational gathered by face-to-face interviews with histories. Barbados and Trinidad were the 21st century, which is derived from white residents of Barbados and Trinidad both ‘discovered’ in the late 15th century the historical and social significance of who have lived there for more than three by Europeans who seized land from the colonial ‘race’ relations in each island. generations. She explained: “Although native populations. Ms Ito’s research therefore looks at who is considered white today, what constitutes their whiteness in relation to non-white others, and whether there are differences in that experience between the islands of Barbados and Trinidad. Ms Ito has based her latest study on interviews carried out between 2016 and 2019 with 53 men and women. 26 interviewees live in Trinidad and Bridgetown, the capital of “Little England” 27 in Barbados. Aged 18 to 78, all or Barbados. identify as coming from white families www.researchoutreach.org www.researchoutreach.org their favour. For example, they are more likely to get a better job and to be treated leniently if they have dealings Behind the Research with the police. They are also aware that whiteness signifies their ancestors’ historical roles as slave owners and will Michiru Ito therefore try to distance themselves from ‘whiteness’ in order to forge closer E: [email protected] T: +81 3 5275 6873 W: https://researchmap.jp/itomichiru relationships with non-white ‘others’. However, Ms Ito’s interviews suggest Research Objectives References that older people in Trinidad do still believe in white supremacy. One Ms Ito examines white identity in the Caribbean. Ito, M. (2019). Questioning Whiteness: Who is white? A interviewee explained the complex case study of Barbados and Trinidad. International Journal power dynamic between white of Human Culture Studies, 29, 129-137. Trinidad’s socially powerful white people and non-white employees. population, although it is very small in Detail number, cannot be ignored. For example, she abhorred how some Ito, M. (2016). Constructing and Reproducing elderly white people mistreated their Michiru Ito Whiteness: An oral history of French Creoles in Trinidad. non-white domestic workers but Otsuma Women’s University International Journal of Human Culture Studies, 26, background, membership of religious relationships, marriages and having explained that workers might not 12 Sanbancho 613-645. and social groups and skin colour. children of mixed race, Ms Ito found complain because working in a white Chiyoda-ku that this was not the case in Trinidad. household gave them status. Tokyo 102-8357 Whiteness is not of itself sufficient Here, European-descended white Japan Personal Response to allow people entry into high people, especially older people, placed BALANCED UNDERSTANDING society. Interviews with economically greater emphasis on ‘racial purity’. Ms Ito’s research suggests that there Bio Some of the interviews make uncomfortable disadvantaged white people – the are significant differences in the Michiru Ito is currently lecturing on Decolonized reading in modern, post-colonial society, ‘Poor White’ descendants of Irish The interviews also revealed gender historical and social constructs of History, Caribbean Studies, British Imperialism and especially when interviewees spoke candidly and English labourers transported discrimination. Ms Ito explained: white identity between Barbados and Postcolonial Experiences at Otsuma Women’s University about topics such as ‘racial purity’. Was there an to the Caribbean – revealed they felt “For white males, having illegitimate Trinidad and between different age in Tokyo, Japan. She formerly worked with the Japanese awareness among interviewees that some of their that all Barbadians are now the same. interracial children is one thing, but groups in the islands. government and the United Nations in the field of views are problematic? They had the same jobs as African- interracial marriage is another. For white diplomacy and socioeconomic development, and lived in Yes, there was. At the beginning of the interviews, descended Barbadians and had no females, having interracial children Most notably, while people who Jamaica, Trinidad and Guyana for more than a decade. many interviewees tended to avoid any racist remarks, objections to interracial marriages. and interracial marriage will directly identify as white in Barbados said that some were offended, manipulative or disgraceful, lead them to be cut off from the family.” white privilege no longer exists in and then many insisted they were ‘pure’ white. Funding st White Barbadian interviewees of Barbadian society, whites of European MEXT KAKENHI Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research Undoubtedly, in the modern 21 century, not many people wish to voice the opinion that a certain all ages said that they no longer In Trinidad interviewees of all ages heritage regarded themselves as (C) (17K02034), Otsuma Grant-in Aid for Individual ‘race’ is superior to others, because that argument believed in white supremacy or white were even more insistent than those belonging to elite social groups in Exploratory Research (S3008) is scientifically baseless and therefore considered privilege, although in reality many in Barbados on the importance of Trinidad.
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