DAVID mwENTEAL, a geographer and historian, bas devoted twenty years to research on the West Indks. Ha has taught at Vaswu College and has been visiting professor at a number of ' CONSEQUENCES universities in thc United States and at thc University of the West In* where he was Fulbright Research Fellow at the / OF CLASS Institute of Social and Economic Raiearch (195657). During 196162 he worked in thc Lesser Antillw with the assistance of a Rockefeller Foundation research grant and later received AND COLOR a Gnggenheim Fellowship. Until 1972. he was Secretary and Research Awdate at the American Geographical Socity, and he is currently Professor of Geography at University Col- West Indian Perspectives lege, London His most recent book is We~tIndian Societies, a comptehensive study of the non-Hispanic Caribbean. Lambma Comitas is Professor of Anthropology and Educa- Edited and Introduced by tion, Director of both the Center for Education In Latin Amer- 1 David Lowenthal and Lambros Comitas ica and the Center for Urban Studies and Programs, and As- sociate Director of the Division of Philosophy and Social Scienas at Teachers College, Columbia Univwaity. He is also hiate Dhctor of the Research Institute for the Study of Man, an institution for research and scholarship of the Carib- bean. Awarded a Fulbright Graduate Study Grant (1957-58) and a Guggenheim Fellowship (1971-72), Mr. Comitas' 6eld research was done in Barbados, Jamaica, Bolivia, and the Do- minican Republic. He has written numerous articles, he was editor of Cdbbeona 1900-1965: A Topical Bibliography, and serves as consultant or editor for several pubWg project^. Four books, edited and introduced by Lambros Comitas and David Lowenthal, provide a broad variety of material for the West Indics as a whole; each has the subtitle West Indian Perspectives: SLAW, PREB mN, CITIZENS WORK AND FAMILY LIPB CONSEQUENCES OF CLASS AND COLOR 'IHE WMOF SOMSeIONN Anchor Boob Anchor Press/Doubleday Garden City, New York, 1973 The Aochor Bwks edition is the CONTENTS first publication of Conrequences of Chand Color: West Indian Perspectives. Anchor Bwks edition: 1973 EDITORS NOTE ix ISBN: 0-385-04402-x Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 72-84928 INTRODUCTION: CULTURAL EXPRESSIONS OF Copyright @ 1973 by David Lowcnthal and hb~osComitas xv All Rights Reserved CLASS AND COLOR Printed in the United States of America I I RACE AND COLOR

1. Marcus Garvey I The Race Question in Jamaica (1916) 4 2. C. V. D. Hadley Personality Pattern, Social Class, and Aggression in the British West Indies (1949) 13

3. Rex Nettleford National Identity and Attitudes to Race in Jamaica (1965) 35

4. James A. Mau The Threatening Masses: Myth or Reality? (1965)

5. C. L. R James The Middle Classes (1962) vi Contents Contents vji I 6. Adrian Espinet 16. 0. R. Dathorne Honours and Paquotille (1965) 95 1 Caribbean Narrative (1966) 263 7. A Young Jamaican Nationalist 17. W. I. Carr Realism and Race (1961) 103 The West Indian Novelist: Prelude and Context (1965) 281 8. H. P. Jacobs Reality and Race: A Reply to 'Realism 18. Derek Walwtt and Race' (1961) 123 Meanings (1970)

9. Anonymous I SELECTED READINGS 313 The Favored Minorities (1970) 143

10. Eric Williams Education in the British West Indies (1951) 148

11. Edward P. G. Seaga Parent-Teacher Relationships in a Ja- maican Viage (1955) 169

12. M. G. Smith Education and Occupational Choice in Rural Jamaica (1960) 191

13. Mewin C. AUeyne Language and Society in St. Lucia (1961) 199

14. Edith Efron French and Creole Patois in Haiti (1954) 215

IS. Lloyd Braithwaite The Problem of Cultural Integration in Trinidad (1954) 241 EDITORS' NOTE

The West Indies, the earliest and one of the most impr- tant prizes of Eumpe's New World and the firat to experi- ence the full impact of the black diaspra from Africa, were also the most enduringly colonized territories in the history of the Western Hemisphere. Here more than any- where else mastera and slaves constituted the basic ingredi- ents of the social order; here more than anywhere else class and status were based on distinctions of color and race. Yet out of that past, here more than anywhere else sodeties with black majorities have emerged as self- governing, multiracial states. Tbi8 collection of four volumea4Iaves, Free Men, Citizens: Work and Family Life; Consequences of Ch and Color; and The Aftermaih of SovereiBnty--chroniclea the remarkable story, played out on the doo18tep of the North American continent, of transitions from slavery to freedom, from colonialism to self-government, and from self-rejection to prideful identity. The West Indies face a host of conthuing problems-- foreiga economic domination and population pressure, ethnic stress and black-power revolts, the petty tyranny of local rulers and an agoniziag dependence on expatriate culture. For these very reasons, the West Indies constitute an exceptional setting for the study of complex social re- lations. The archipelago is a set of mirrors in which the lives of black, brown, and white, of American Indian and x Editors' Note Editors' Note xi East Indian, and of a swre of other minorities continually pression in the smaller French and Netherlands Caribbean interact. Constrained by local circumstance, these inter- and larger but less well-known Haiti lie in the future. actions also contain a wealth of possibilities for a kind of In the Caribbean, a real understanding of any problem creative harmony of which North Americans and Euro- requires a broad familiarity with all aspects of culture and peans are scarcely yet aware. Consequently, while these society. Thus the study of economic development relates volumes deal specScally with the Caribbean in all its as- intimately to that of family organization, and both of these aspects systems pects, many dimensions of life and many problems West interlink with of political thought, of edu- cation, and patterns of speech. Consequently. the subject Indians confront have analogues in other regions of the matter of this collection lies in the domains of history, world: most dearly in race relations, economic develop geography, astthropology, sociology, economics, politics, ment, colonial and post-colonial politics and government, polemics, and the arts. For example, easays on work and and the need to Bnd and express group identity. family life by economists and anthropologists are comple- It can be argued that the West Indies is a distinctive mented by other studies tracing the historical background and unique culture area in that the societim within it dis- and sociological interplay of these with other themes. play profound similarities: their inhabitants, notwitbstand- Throughout the volumes economists and geographers ing linguistic barriers and local or parochial loyalties, see indicate bow social structure bears on and is influenced themselves as closely linked. T%eae resemblances and by economy and land use, and linguists, littbrateurs, recognitions, originally the product of similar economic lawyers, and local journalists provide insights on the im- and social forces based on North European settlement. pact of these patterns in everyday life. plantation agriculture, and -can slavery, have subse- The reader will 6nd here not a complete delineation of quently been reinforced by a wideapread community of the Caribbean realm but rather a sketch in breadth, with interest, along with interregional migration for commerce, fuller diision of significant themes, given depth and personality by picaresque flavor. He may gain a sense of employment, marriage, and education. These volumes what West Indians were and are like, how they live, and focus mainly on these underlying uniformities. Within the what problems they confront; he can sea how their own Caribbean itself, however, one is more conscious of dif- view of themselves differs born that of outsiders; he will ferences than of resemblances. While each Caribbean land know where to look for general studies and for more de- is in part a microcosm of the entire archipelago, local tailed iaformation. And if there is such a thing as a conditions-&e, resources, social structure, political status regional personality, this collection may enable him to ac- -also make it in some significant fashion unique. quire a sense of it The range of these essays is the entire non-Hispanic What is currently available to most students of Carib- Caribbean, but most of the material that is not general in bean dah is woefully inadequate by comparison with character deals with the Commonwealth Caribbean, a pre- most other regions of the world A few general histories, ponderant share of this specifically with Jamaica and technical analyses on particular aspects of Caribbean Trinidad. This reflects neither a bias in favor of these ter- society or culture, and detailed studies of one or two ritories nor a belief that they are typical, but rather the individual territories comprise the holdings of all but the fact that most recent scholarly attention has concentrated best-equipped libraries. Moreover, no book has yet been on, and literary expression has emanated from, the Com- published that includes a broad variety of material for the monwealth Caribbean. Close understanding of and ex- area as a whole, and few studies transcend national or xiii xii Editors' Note Editors' Note linguistic boundaries. We therefore aim to make available owe a special thanks to Marquita Riel and Claire Angela a wide range of literature on the Caribbean that is not Hendricks, who helped with the original selections and readily accessible anywhere else. styled the references. Mi Riel also made the original Most of this collection is the work of West Indians translations from the French. We are indebted to the Re- themselves, for they contribute forty-five of the seventy- search Institute for the SNdy of Man, and its Director, two selections. Seventeen of these are by Trinidadians, Dr. Vera Rubii, to the American Geographical Society, fifteen by Jamaicaos, four by Guyanese, three each by and to Teachers College of Columbia University, and Vincentians and St. Lucians, two by Martiniquans, and notably to their library st*, for many facilities. one by a Barbadian. Non-West Indians contribute twenty- Our main gratitude goes to the contributors represented seven selections: fourteen by Americans, ten by British in these pages and to their original publishers, who have in writers, two by Canadians, and one by a French author. most cases freely and uncomplainingly made available their Many of the North American and European contributors work and have helped to co& errors. We are particu- either have been permanent residents in the West Indies larly obliged for cooperation from the Institute of Social or have worked there for long periods of time. and Economic Studies and its Ditor, Alister McIntyre, Editorial comment has been held to a minimum, but and to the Department of Extra-Mural SNdies, both at readers will find three levels of guidance. An introduction the University of the West Indies, under whose auspices a to each of the four volumes summarizes the general im- large number of these studies were originally done. We plications of the issues therein surveyed. A paragraph of are also obligated to M. G. Smith for encouragement topical commentary together with a few lines identifying throughout the course of selection and composition. the author introduces each selection. Finally, a selected West Indian reading list appears at the end of each David Lowenthd volume, and a general comprehensive bibliography is ap hbros Cornitus March 1972 pended to The Aftermuth of Sovereignty. The papers and documents included bere have been altered only for minimal editorial consistency and ease of reference. AU original titles of articles have been retained. but where none appear or where book chapter headings do not identify the contents of excerpted material, we have added descriptive titles, identified by single asterisks in the text. Series of asterisks also indicate the few instances where material is omitted. When required in such cases, we have completed some footnote references. Otherwise, only obvious typographical and other errors have been corrected. Our own two translations from French sources adhere to the originals as closely as possible, withi the limits of comprehensibiity. The editors are grateful to those who have assisted them in this enterprise, both in and out of the Caribbean. We INTRODUCTION: Cultural Expressions of CIass and Color

The foundation of the West Indian social order on a colonial class-color hierarchy has had effects that remain manifest in every aspect of Caribbean culture. The focus of this volume is on the nature and style of these influences in West Indian life and thought. Another volume in this collection, Slaves, Free Men, Citizens, explores the struc- tural constraints of West Indian societies as consequences of imperial goals, forced labor, and ethnic diversity. This volume examines the racial stresses within the West Indian social hierarchy, the stereotypes about race and class that the society fosters, and the acculturative media-education, language, the arts-through which social and racial atti- tudes and values are transmitted from generation to generation. It is through these media too, however, that traditional values are at times challenged in the search for an autonomous and self-respecting local culture. The ascription of inferiority lies at the heart of West Indian racial problems. In the Caribbean, color is a com- mon indicator of status, and racial identification pervades everyday life; those least favored by racial circumstance and stereotype comprise a majority that is increasingly con- scious of its deprivations. West Indians are not sealed off from one another in separate worlds, like blacks and whites in South Africa or, to a lesser degree, in the United States. And because they live in societies that publicly celebrate multiracial harmony and equity, West Indians I xvi Introduction 1 Introduction xvii have more reason to be privately aware of how often color 1 same time to establish a sense of West Indian identity that constrains access to status, power, and rewards. 1 will transcend racial stereotypes. Allegiance to Eurocentric culture and institutions like- 1 How people are taught, how they communicate, and wise continues to impede social reform. Western models I what they create are products of their social structure; they and experience provide the only available vehicle for most I also help to confirm that structure along with its en- West Indian cultural expression. Denied a tradition of in- trenched valuea The steeply hierarchical, colorconaciou~, digenous culture and deprived of links to African and status-ridden, European-focused West Indian social order Asian homelands, West Indians of all colors tend to identify 1 was a consequence of conquest, slavery, and expatriate I themselves as, and with, Europeans. Black may now be I economic controL But that order has also been ratified politically beautiful, but the ubiquity of European forms by West Indians of all dasseg who have accepted the and the general absence of African connections make a / framework and internalized its concomitaat valuea Al- positive identification with Africa unviable for most West though every institution-law, the family, religion, educa- Indians. tion, and the like-exhibits a wide range of local forms Self-rule and the diminishing role of local whites in and norms, the closest appro~mto whatever is be- political affairs have expanded opportunities for those of lieved European has traditionally been the ideal, even other races, but deeply imbedded prejudices still persist in among subordinates barred from realizing it in practice. many areas of economic and social life. This is a conse- I The idealization of European standards has signi6cant consequences for West Indian education, language, and quence not merely of discrimination by white and light I the creative arts. Classdriented upbringing emphasizes elites, but also of the fact that West Indians of all shades distinctions between elites and other West Indians. At the have internalized the white code of color values and its same time, everyone is exposed to a double system of accompanying stereotypes. Fundamental social change is culture, European and local, blended together in different all the more dil3icult to achieve because racial position in ways in various social contexts. But the poles of the the social structure is not wholly fixed by birth but can cultural continuum are not equivalent in value: European fluctuate with such circumstances as appearance, educa- forms identify the user as superior, to himself and to tion, marriage, wealth, and personal associations. others. Elite and folk alike have incentives to exaggerate Two opposing trends suffuse West Indian social relation- distiuctions of education, expression, and creativity, the ships today. In many areas of life, racial diierences are elite to denigrate the folk, the folk to show their familiarity being bridged and racial inequalities overcome to an ex- witb the elile ways they seek to emufate. Thus everyone tent that would have seemed impossible under colonial I idealizes British, French, Dutch, or American forms of regimes. But far from allaying the sense of racial injustice, expression and behavior, even though local Creole ways progress toward social equality has engendered a keener are in most circumstances both more to the point and more sense of resentment against the racial and ethnic minorities serviceable. -white, colored, or whatever-that have traditionally held I The persistence of colonial educational styles, whether privileged positions in West Indian society. The crucial by choice, by habit, or by economic necessity, impedes Caribbean dilemma, as many thoughtful West Indians see the cultural integration local governments proclaim as it, is to overcome the residues of prejudice, to instill self- their goal. The West Indian literary and artistic efflores- respect in the historically deprived majority, and at the cence of the past two decades, notwithstanding its social xviii Introduction Introduction xix realism and its concern for local identity, likewise remaim I the elite and middle classes is queried in the following essentially European in style and expression. Folk themes article; and white upper-class attitudes toward the fok and local forms of speech render much of this new work are the subject of the succeeding selection, highly critical vivid and meaningful, and local cultural expression is in- of the middle class for its entrepreneurial incapacity creasingly acceptable even to the middle class; but the and lack of nationalist zcaL Physical deparhme does West Indian author, who writes mainly for European and not eliminate the expatriate presence; as the ensuing American readers. like the West Indian teacher and ad- selection shows, a system of imperial rewards helps main- ministrator, writes mainly in French and English. Patois / tain West Indian values, with European and white ways or Crrolese writing may be an mation of being West seen as best. The two following articles debate the extent Indian, but it has little currency for larger audiences. In 1 of actual, as opposed to fancied, discrimination against this sense the writer's dilemma is somewhat analogous to black Jamaicans a decade ago; and the rising temper of that of the local champion of the masses who orates in I West Indian dialectics is apparent in the wocluding selec- patois during election campaigns but once in office reverts I tion, a 1970 black-power diatribe against all elite minori- to standard English or French. ties. West Indian teachers, writers, and artists and all their I The second part of the volume, 'Tutelage, Expression, audiences are tom between inherited values and new 1 and Creativity," divides into three broad themes, one on values often no less exclusive. To some, an exclusive West education, a second on language, and a third on the arts Indianness is the hallmark of local authenticity. But others i and literature. ltte first opens with a description of the feel that a commingling of forms and features from all background of West Indian schooling as an externally over the world is more apt to be locally functional, more oriented, class-biased system designed to produce colonial broadly acceptable to West Indians in all their modes of administrators and subservient helots and lays bare its de experience. This multiformity of experience and values fecb of focus, content, recruitment, and training. Elemen- has, in any event, stimulated an extraordinary and crea- tary schooling, with all these drawbacks, has a critical tive outpouring. Considering how little from the local past function in the fabric of West Indian life; the next selec- has survived and how rapidly anything of local origin is tion shows how expectations and aspirations in a rural dispersed by export or expatriation, it is remarkable that Caribbean creative expression is so recognizably idiosyn- village afiect parent-teacher-pupil relationships and per- cratic, exuberant, and vivid. ' petuate barriers to educational reform. Just how great the The first section, "Race and Color," opens with a hith- disparity is between the goals in life that most Jamaican erto unpublished letter by the black Leader Marcus Garvey I children are taught to select and those they have the describing the Jamaican racial scene in 1915. Gamey's remotest chance of realizing is analyzed in the subsequent principal targets-white domination and colored and black selection. The second subsection sweys the social implications emulation of white values-were responsible for contlicts I and tensions which, as the next selection suggests, have of diierences between formal and folk speech patterns, remained characteristic of the West Indies. The persistence first in St. Lucia, where standard English coexists with of a hierarchy stratified by color, of black self-denigration, French patois, then in Haiti, where the patois and official and of underlying aggressivity is then discussed, again in tongues are both French-based. In each case, problems a Jamaican context. The extent of mass hostility toward 1 stem not merely from diliiculties of communication but xx Introduction from the approbation of European speech and the denigra- tion of Creolese by all speakers. The third subsection focuses on metropolitan influences and local concepts in culture, art, and literature. The in- teraction of British and West Indian perspectives on the creative arts in Trinidad is the theme of the htselection. The next surveys the rise of a truly native West Indian literature and elaborates its deep concerns with folk life RACE AND COLOR and national identity. There follows a critique of the search for relevance and audience that confronts the West Indian writer. Lastly, a St. Lucian dramatist offers pemnal testimony about the problems of creativity in a d- island society imprinted by colonial tradition. Marcus Garvey 3 i on the local scene. Only since his death have the causes he championed-the return to Africa, actual or symbolic, I black pride, and black power--become significant forces / in West Indian life and thought. Marcus Garvey (1887-1940) 6rst contacted Tuskegee ' Institute in April 1915, when he asked Booker T. Wash- 1 ington for assistance on a lecture tour of the United States. i After Washington died in late. 1915, Garvey was informed 1 that bis successor, Robert Russa Moton (1867-1940), would be taking a vacation trip to Jamaica in late February , 1916. Oarvey then wrote Moton the long, informative, This unpublished letter by Jamaica's renowned black , and impassioned letter printed here. prophet was written to an American before Garvey had In a covering note accompanying this letter to Moton ever set foot in the United States. It highlights the racial I (called "Major" because of his post as commandant of components of the Jamaican social structure. Then as I cadets at Hampton Institute) Garvey explained that his now, Americans, conscious of their own color bar, were Universal Negro Improvement Awxiation, founded prone to new the West Indies as a region marked by in- eighteen months before, was "well appreciated by the terracial understanding; but as Garvey shows here, Ja- I culhed white. people of the country, and in a small way maican social conditions had improved little since they have come to my assistance to help me along." Yet emancipation, partly because brown men imitated whites in spite of such assistance "from His Excellency the Gover- and successful blacks emulated both. What Gamey de- nor down," Garvey found himself "engaged in fighting plored most in Jamaica was the failure of black leader- a battle with foes of my own all around, but I am prepared ship and the absence of black racial unity against white I to fight on with the strength given me by Almighty God." oppression and cooptation. He described the following letter as "the honest views of a true man who believes himself called to service in the MARCUS ~ARVBYcame from a lower middle class back- interest of his unfortunate race."+ ground on Jamaica's north coast As a radical activist, he t Professor Carl S. Manhews of the Department of History, became progmsively disillusioned by his failure to get Georgia State University, has provided this background to tbe black Jamaicans to insiist on their rights. In the United Garvey letter. States, after 1916, Gamey was more successful, owing to the prevailing sense of all-Negro unity engendered by traditional white exclusion of all nonwhites. But Gamey's Universal Negro Improvement Association foundered after he was imprisoned for mail fraud and then deported. After his return to Jamaica in 1925 he had little impact ' Marcus Gruvey 5 I I The black people have had seventy eight years of Emancipation, but all during that time they have never I produced a leader of theii own, hence they have never ' been led to thii racially but in common with the destinies of the other people with whom they mix as fellow citizens. After Emancipation, the Negro was unable to cope intel- lectually with his master, and per-force he had to learn The Race Question in Jamaica* i at L* *ow of bi emancipator. He has, therefore, grown with his master's ideals, and Marcus Garvey up to today you will find the Jamaica Negro unable to think apart from the customs and ideals of his old time slave masters. Unlike the American Negro, the Jamaican 30 Charles Street. has never thought of race ideals, much to his detriment, Kingston, / as instead of progressing generally, he has become a serf Febry. 29th. 1916. in the bulk, and a gentleman in the few. To Major R. Moton, Racial ideals do no pwple harm, therefore, the Jamaica Head of Tuskegee Industrial Institute, Negro has done himself a harm in not thinking on racial On visit to Jamaica Febry., 1916. 1 ideals with the scattered Negroes of other climes. The Dear Sir, coloured and white population have been thiig and You, being a prominent American Negro Leader, com- 1 planning on exclusive race ideals--race ideals which are ing into a strange country, and I, being a resident here, and unwritten and unspoken. The diplomacy of one race or one who also claims the distinction of Wig a race leader, class of people is the means by which others are outdone, I think it but right that I should ~TYto enlighten you on hence the diplomacy of the other races prevent them lead- the conditions existing among our people; hence 1 now ing the race question in Jamaica, a question that could take the opportunity of laying before you my views on the I have been understood and regarded without friction. local aspect of Negro life. You will find the Jamaican Negro has been sleeping Jamaica is unlike the United States where the race ques- much to his loss, for others have gained on top of him and 1 are still gaining. tion is concerned. We have no open race prejudice here, I and we do not openly antagonise one another. The ex- Apparently you will think that the people here mu at tremes here are not between white and black, hence we the end of a great social question, but in truth it is not so. have never had a case of lynching or anything so desper- The mixture is purely circumstantial and not genuine. ate. The black people here form the economic asset of The people mix in business, but they do not mix in true the country, they number 6 to 1 of coloured and white society. The whites claim superiority, as is done all over combined and without them in labour or general industry the world, and, unlike other parts, the coloured, who the country would go bankrupt. ancestrally are the illegitimate off-springs of black and white, claim a positive superiority over the blacks. Tbey Letter to Major Robert R. Moton, 29 February 1916, Rob ert Russa Moton Collection; Tuskegeo Institute Archives. train themselves to believe that in the slightest shade the * [Editors' title] coloured man is above the black man and so it runs right 6 The Race Question in Jamaica I Marnrr Gamey 7 up to white. The black man naturally is kept down at the I professions are generally taken up by the white and foot of the ladder and is trampled on by all the shades coloured men because they have the means to eqrup them- above. In a small minority he pushes himself up among selves. the others, but when be "gets there" he too believes him- Whenever a black man enters the professions, he per self other than black and he starts out to think from a white force, thinks from a whte and wloured mind, and for and wloured mind much to the detriment of his own peo- the time being he enjoys the apparent friendship of the ple whom he should have turned back to lead out of sur- classes until he is made a bankrupt or forced into dif- rounding darkness. 1 ficulties which naturally causes him to be ostracised. The black man lives directly under the white man's The entire system here is bad as atTecting the Negro institutions and the influence over him is so great that he and the Negro of education will not do anything honestly is only a play-thing in the moulder's band. The blackman and truly to help his brethren in the mass. Black Miniisten of Jamaica cannot think for himself and because of this aud Teachers are moral cowards, they are too much be remains in the bulk the dissatis6ed "beast of burden." 1 afraid to speak to their people on the pride of race. When- Look around and see to what proportion the black man ever the black mm gets money and education he thinks appears a gentleman in office. With a small exception the himself white and coloured, and he wants a white and black man is not in office at all. The only sphere that he I wloured wife, and he will spend his all to get this; much dominates in is that of the teaching profession and he ' to his eternal misery. dominates there because the wage is not encouraging Black professionals who have gone abroad have nearly enough for others; and even in this department the Nego all married white women who on their anival here leave I has the weapon to liberate himself and make himself a them and return home. Others marry highly coloured man, for there is no greater weapon than education; but women and others taking in the lessons of others refuse to the educated teacher, "baby-like" in his practice, does not marry in preference to manying the black girls. You wiU think apart from the written code, hence he, himself, is a find a few educated black men naturally having black slave to what is set down for hito do and no more. wives but these are the sober minded ones who have taken If you were to go into all the offices throughout Jamaica I the bad lessons home. Our black girls are taught by obser- you will not 6nd one per cent of black clerks employed. vation to despise blackmen as they are naturally poor and You will find nearly all white and coloured persons in- of social diswunc hence you will find a black girl wiIling cluding men and women; for proof please go through our to give herself up to any immoral suggestion of white or Post Office, Government Offices and stores in Kingston, I w1oured men, and positively refusiing the good attentions and you see only white and coloured men and women of a blackman at the outset. in positions of importance and trust and you will find the Not until when she has been made a fool of by white black men and women, as store-men, messengers, attend- and coloured before she turns back to the black man and ants & common senrants. In the wuntq parts you will wants him as a companion. Our morality is destroyed this find the same order of things. On the Estates and Planta- way. Ninety per cent of the wloured people are off-springs tions you will find the blackman and woman as the of immorality, yet they rule next to the whites over the labourer, the coloured man as clerk and sometimes blacks. owner and the white man generally as master. White and This is shameful, but our men hav'nt the wurage to coloured women are absent from the fields of labour. The stem the tide. Our ministers are funrung at the '"teaching 8 The Race Question in Jamaica Marcus Gawey 9 of the gospel" and they have been often criticised for 1 hundreds of Black prostitutes in the lanes, streets and their inactivity in correcting vice and immorality. I am / alleys. sorry I have to say this; nevertheless it is true. I Our people in the bulk do not live in good houses, they The blackman here is a slave of destiny, and it is only live in "huts" and "old shanties," and you will see this as by bold and conscientious leadership that he can emanci- I you go through the country. If you care to see this in Kings- pate, and I do trust your visit will be one of the means of ' ton you can visit places like Smith's Village and Hannah's helping hi. I am now talking with you as a man with a I Town. Our people in the bulk can't &ord to wear good mission from the High God. Your education will enable clothes and boots. Generally they wear rags and go bare- you to understand me clearly. I do not mean literary educa- , footed in the bulk during the week, and some change their tion alone, for that we have here among a goodly number garbs on Sundays when they go to church, but this is not of Blacks as teachers and ministers. I mean the higher general. education of man's appreciation for his fellowman; of The people have no system of sanitation. They keep selfish man's love for his race. Our people here are purely I themselves dirty and if you were to mix in a crowd on a and no man or people can lead if selfishness is the cardinal hot day you would be stieed with the bad odour. You can principle. only see the ragged and dirty masses on alarming occa- One Negro here hates to see the other Negro succeed sions when you will see them running from all directions. and for that he will pull hidown every time he attempts If a band of music were to parade the city then you would to climb and defame him. The Negro here will not help have a fair illustration of what I mean. Our people are not one another, and they have no sympathy with one another. encouraged to be clean and decent because they are kept Ninety per cent of our people are labourers and serfs, the down on the lowest wage with great expences hanging other ten per cent are mixed up in the professions, trades I over them. and small proprietorships. I mean the black people, not Our labowera get anything from nine pence (eighteen coloured or white-you look out for these carefully. We cents) 1/- (25 cents) 1/6 (36 cents) to fifty cents a day, have no social order of our own, we have to flatter our- on which they have to support a family. selves into white and coloured society to our own disgrace 1 This is the grinding system that keeps the blackman and discomfiture, because we are never truly appreciated. down here, hence I personally, have very little in common Among us we have an excess of crimes and the prison with the educated class of my own people for they are the houses, alm houses, and mad houses are over crowded I bitterest enemies of their own race. Our people have no with our people much to the absence of the other classes. respect for one another, and all the respect is shown to Our prisoners are generally chained and marched the white and coloured people. through the streets of the city while on their way to the The reception that will he given you will not he genuine I Penitentiary. You should pay a visit to the Prisons, Alms I from more than one reason which I may explain later on house, and Asylum to test the correctness of my state- to you. ments. We have a large prison in Kingston and another Black men here are never truly honoured. Don't you one at Spanish Town. You will find Alms Houses all over believe like coloured Dr. Du Bois that the "race problem the Island, but the Union Poor House is near to Kingston is at an end here" except you want to admit the utter in- in St. Andrew. sidcance of the black man. Our women are prostituted, and if you were to walk It was never started and has not yet begun. It is a para- the lower sections of Kingston after night fall you will see 1 dox. I wrsonal~v ~,-,,,l,i litrntA m~.r~+ha -:+..-&:-- -- aL- 10 The Race Question in Jamaica ( Marcus Garvey 11 broadest humanitarian lines. I would like to solve it on ! P.S. Another condition that I would like you to observe is the platform of Dr. Booker T. Washington, and I am work- i how our people attend church. The churches are generally ing on those lines hence you will find that up to now my 1 crowded with women with an opposite absence of men. one true friend as far as you can rely on his friendship, 1 The women are of diierent classes but the majority of is the whiteman. them are people of questionable morality who parade them- I do not mean to bring any estrangement between black I selves in the garbs of vice for which the men have to pay. and white. I want to have Jamaica a country of "Black and White" all living in peace and harmony but with equal rights and opportunities. I would not advise you to give yourself too much away to the desire and wishes of the people who are around you for they are mostly hypocrites. They mean to deceive you on the conditions here because we can never blend under the existing state of affairs-it would not be fair to the blackman. -To bknd we must all in equal proportion "show our hands." Your intellect, I believe, is too deep to be led away by "sham sentiment." If you desire to do Jamaica a turn, you might ask those around you on public platforms to explain to what proportion the Merent people here enjoy the wealth and resources of the country. Impress this, and let them anver it for publication, and then you will have the whole farce in a nut shell. When you are travelling to the mountain parts, stop a while and observe properly the rural life of your people as against the life of others of the classes. I have much more to say, but I must close for another time. Again I wish you a pleasant stay. Population of Jamaica white 15,605; wloured 163,201; black 630,181; East Indian 17,380; Chinese 2,111; 2.905 wlour not stated

Yours in the Brotherhood, Marcus Garvey I Personality Patterns,

1I Social Class, and Aggression in the British West Indies C. V. D. Hadley The tacit acceptance by the majority of West Indians of I the patterns of racial inequality that Gamey described has had an enduring impact on personality structure, as a West SOCUL CLASS AND PERSONALW PATlElWS Indian psychologist shows in this pioneering article. At- tempts by the masses to confonn to elite and middle-class Professor T. S. Simey has described1 one type of person- ality pattern which has resulted from tbe interplay of the standards inevitably fail, partly because West Indian society social forces operating in the West Indies since the emanci- offers little opportunity to realize these standards, partly pation of the slaves in 1834. After discussing the applica- because it is in the self-interest of local elites to bar lower- bility to West Indian wnditiona of the concepts evolved class access. The frustration of ambition finds outlets in by Dollarda in Caste and Class in a Southern Town and aggressive behavior, reinforcing the derogatoly stereotypes Frustration and Aggression, and by Home9 in The of the West Indian proletariat already held by elites. Neurotic Personality of Our Time, he goes on to sum- manse his observations in this way. 'In the light of psycho- c. v. D. HADLEY was born in St. Vincent of a prominent logical theory, it is seen to be inevitable that the West planter family. He became well known as a clinical psy- Indian should be exceedingly unsure of himself, inclined chologist, social worker, and educator. towards quarrelsomeness, and generally hypersensitive. He is, above all, exceptionally vulnerable to ridicule, which is Human Relations, Vol. 2, No. 4, 1949, pp. 349-62. Reprinted with permission of Plenum Publishing Co.. England. IT. S. Simey, Welfare and Planning in the West Indies (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1946). pp. 9P-100. 2Joh Dollard and others, Frustration and Aggression (New Haven, COM.: Yale University Press, 1937); Dollard, Cme and Class in a Southern Town (1937) (New York: Doubleday Anchor Books, 1957). 8 Karen Homey, The Neurotic Perso~lityof Our Time (London: Kegan Paul, 1937). 14 Personality Patterns, Social Class, and Aggression a weapon that should never, in any circumstances, be i class. A more detailed analysis of this statement will be used against him. When the West Indian encounters re- , attempted in this paper. sistance he is apt to assume an attitude of reserve, and withdraw himself into a world of his own, remote from contact with the people or classes with whom he came into 1 DEPM1TION AND DEVELOPMENT OP THIS CLASS STRUCTURB collision. Administrative &airs in the West Indies accord- I ingly tend to become submerged in a welter of conflicting I The term proletariat is used to describe the people en- personalities, until almost all traces of principles and poli- gaged in agricultural field labour, io 6shing. and in occupa- cies are last The wllisions between individual and individ- I tions in which wages are earned on a daily or weekly basis. ual, and social frictions generally, are so acute that even / as for example, in road making and dock work. The term the most doctrinaire advocate of a competitive economy would apply to the vast majority of the villagers in the should be satisfied. The daily round of human existence is West Indies. made difficult, and at times almost intolerable, by the strug- In the unestablished, emergent or lower-middle class. gle of one human being against another to assert himself. salaries are paid, and individuals of this class are found Man is forever claiming, questioning, demanding. A gen- in such occupations as elementary school teaching, in the erous offer cannot be regarded as such, and thankfully junior posts in business, and in the civil service; they may also be small landed proprietors. accepted; there is no standard to judge it by, and the offer The established upper-middle clasp is composed of in- of much only provokes a demand for more. Even after dividuals in the professions, or in senior posts in the civil discounting a tendency which gradually asserts itself in service or in business, and whole families usually have the mind to 6nd aggressiveness everywhere (which is itself behind them at least one or two generations of such status. one of the unfortunate features of the situation), there The historical development of this structure must now can be no doubt that the amount of aggressiveness that be briefly described, since it throws light on the satisfac- is discharged is quite abnormal, and that it is often mani- tions, frustrations, anxieties, and hostilities of members of fested in a direct sense in a physical way.' these three social classes. What follows is, in part, an attempt to apply the theory The slave society which existed on the plantations in of basic personality type to the class structure of West In- the West Indies shortly before emancipation was a singu- dian society; and from this point of view to modify Profes- larly interdependent structure. The relationship between sor Simey's general statement in terms of this chsa structure. the slave and his owner rested on certain sanctions, em- His description applies particularly to the lower-middle bodied in custom and law, which gave the owner certain class, and does not appear to apply to the same extent to disciplinary and coercive powers. The owner was bound the proletariat or to the established, wloured upper-middle to provide hiis slave with the necessities of lie-food, and upper classes. It would seem that there is no single shelter, and clothing-and in return the slave was compelled basic West Indian personality, but that there are at least to work on the plantation. In this social situation, with its three major types. These may be described as: (a) the clean-cut roles and relationships, certain traditional atti- proletarian personality pattern, (b) the personality pattern tudes developed on the part of both slave and slave of the unestablished, emergent or lower-middle class, and owner-to each other, to work, property, and, indeed, to (c) the personality pattern of the established, upper-middle all values of life. 16 Personality Patterns, Social Class, and Aggression From Mrs. Carmichael's account4 we can gather the I Having been accustomed to authority in a personal form content of a number of these attitudes and realis that the in the guise of a manager, overseer, or driver, and having. behaviour trends and habits of present day West Indian 1 therefore, been frequently subject to a considerable proletarian society are, in many respects, very similar to amount of arbitrary control, the freed slaves were unac- those which characterised the slaves in the earlier period. customed to law as a socially sanctioned and impersonal One problem, therefore, is to explain the survival of these / directive. They were accustomed to a mode of life in which patterns, with scarcely any modification, in a large section 1 forms of sexual and parental behaviour, which appear of the population over a subsequent period of more than strange and irresponsible in our eyes, had been forced a hundred years. Customary behaviour, individual or so- 1 on them, especially on the men; in the women the biologi- cial, is developed as an adaptive response to the particular , cal bonds of motherhood qualified this irresponsibility. In environmental circumstances with which the individual has this connection it has to be remembered that the slave- to deal. Prior to 1834 those environmental circumstances owner had taken care to safeguard the health and lives were the state of society which obtained under slavery; of the children. According to Mrs. Carmichad, 'Children after 1834 the environmental circumstances were those who are too young to be employed are all brought up by which obtained under the type of capitalist economy then women whose sole office is to take care of them . . . Their almost universal in western societies. Sithe experience ! food is given by the manager to the nurse. They re- ' . . . was that behaviour developed as an adaptive response in the tuxn to their parents at night but not till then. . . . The first situation possessed survival value in the second, the woman who has the care of them keeps them together all obvious conclusion seems to be that for large numbers of day in a building, appropriated for them, out of the sun. West Indians the emancipation altered in very little degree It is her business to keep them clean. . . . Every mother the normal circumstances of their lives as they had ex- has time allowed her in the morning to wash, dress and perienced them under slavery. It could, indeed, be said suckle her infant-that is when she again returns from her that one sort of slavery was, apparently, exchanged for conhement to work. The nurse keeps the baby and at- another. tends upon the mother from three to four weeks, as may The individual, habituated to institutional life, for exam- be requisite. One or more nurses are required for the es- ple, or to the conditions of military service, hds it more tate, according to the number and ages io the nur8ery.' and more dacult, in proportion to the length of time of In the slave society, work had been regarded as an im- the habituation, to adjust to a less autocratic society when position and a burden, to be avoided as much as possible. released, and may in fact seek to return to the mode of It bore no particular relation to securing the necessities of life to which he has been conditioned. In a similar way, life; and money, used mainly to buy luxuries, did not re- slaves in a slave society, habituated to dependence and late to purchasing such necessities. Self-expression came unaccustomed to self-reliance, selfdirection, and initiative, through dancing, singing, dressing up, i.e., through emo- found it didt to adjust themselves after emancipation tional release, rather than through constructive activities to what is potentially a very difIerent mode of life. directed to economic and social ends, since such activities were denied to them. 4 Mrs. A. C. Carmichael, Domestic Manners and Social Con- ditiom of the White, Coloured and Negro Population of the Tbe slaves were accustomed to a social stratification in West Zndies (2 vols.; London: Whittaker, Treacher and Co.. which everything "white" had high prestige value, and in 1833). which, therefore, "colour" was of great importance-not, 18 Personality Patterns, Social Class, and Aggression of course, that prestige value was attached to the mere remain in his employment. He endeavoured to retain a fact of 'khiteness," but rather that whiteness was, in the large and elastic supply of labour by offering labourers then scheme of things, indissolubly associated with power; task work and the perquisite of a plot of land. The labourer to be white meant to be powerful. The slaves were un- , could be deprived of his provision ground if he failed to lettered, and largely untutored in the moral restraints re I work to the satisfaction of his employer. Thus, the use of a quired by an internal discipline such as an accepted reli- 1 provision ground which had been secured to the slave by gious ethic, being accustomed to a morality which waa law, now became subject to the arbitrary decision of the almost wholly external and in which their chief concern employer. The labourer had no legal security of tenure was, therefore, "not to be found out," i.e., in psychological and was not entitled to compensation on eviction.' terms, an extra-punitive type of morality. As a consequence Successful adaptation to a competitive, capitalist society they possessed a character structure in which there was rests on the ability to accept the values which are the little obvious development of a social conscience or a per- dynamics of such a society. One of the essential "incentives" sonal morality. Such slaves, freed without preparation into in a society of this sort is the ability to regard "work" as a society of free competition, might, indeed, find their the chief means of securing the necessities of life, of rising psychological equipment woefully inadequate to deal with up in the world, and of acquiring such other embellish- this , their new environment. For environment could be ments of lie as social comforts, position, and prestige. As mastered only by a quite different set of psychological tools Simey sayse: The compelling social tendencies of the pres- from those which, as slaves, they had been accustomed to ent age give as the dominant aim of modern (western) use. Moreover, their emancipation had not resulted from their own efforts. It was a gift, in the sense that they got it society the acceptance of middleclass patterns of conduct and for nothing. It had no relation to their own striving and by the whole population, this is as true in the West participation, but was brought about through the efforts of Indies as anywhere else.' To do this must have been ex- others who represented groups with independent goals, tremely ditlicult for the majority of the ex-slava; only and from impersonal causes connected with general ew- those slaves who had already, before emancipation, gone nomic developments in western society. some distance along the road of acculturation, of acquiring Work-and unfortunately for the freed slave, estate work "white" or middle-class values and standards, would be -became almost the sole means of securing the necessities in a position to make a serious efiort to do so after emanci- of life, whereas before, these necessities had been pr* pation. The fact remains that 115 years after emancipation vided either directly by the planter or through the gift of there are large numbers of West Indians who have never a "ground". With regard to this point Sbephard says6: successfully made this adjustment, and who, to a large 'The conditions regulating the allocation and cultivation extent, retain much the same psychological attitudes as of estate gardens and provision grounds were altered by did their forefathers under slavery; they exist in economic the Act of Emancipation. The planter was thereby relieved circumstances which, from the point of view of social of the obligation to provide his labowen with rations, security, are certainly little better and, if anything, worse housing, and provision grounds; but he could no longer than those which obtained under slavery. compel them either to work as and when required, or to 'JSimey, OP. cit., pp. 99-100. 6C. Y. Shephard. Peasant Agriculture in the Leeward ad Windward Zslands (Ms.), Ch. 11, par. IS. I 20 Personality Patterns, Social Class, and Aggression 1 C V. D. Hadley 21 / so many West Indians do not find it possible to accept these values and to develop the motivations which would lead FACTORS APFECTINO FAILURE TO ADJUST 1 to the acceptance of middle-class pattern of conduct. For an ex-slave suddenly (or even gradually) to change The question still remains to be answered, however. 1 his whole mental attitude to work and labour-from an why the present day West Indian proletariat have in so 1 attitude which regarded work as an imposition and a bur- many instance8 failed to acquire the psychological adjust- den, bearing no close relationship to the procurement of ments necessary to successful adaptation to a competitive , food, shelter, and clothing, to an attitude which regarded society. A genetic argument, sometimes put forward by I it as the sole means of honestly attaining these things- members of the established middle class, states simply that wmpelling reasons would be needed, and these wmpelkg they are. too "stupid* or "worthless" to do so. It is believed ' reasons wuld only reside in the opportunities provided that "stupidity" and "worthlessness" are inherited char- by the society in which he lived for the realisation of these acteristia which preclude the possessors from sud ambitions; i.e., for a demonstration of the practical adjustment in modem society, and that the position of the achievement of these values and of the successful operation proletariat is the inevitable social result of such handi- of the motivations derived from them. caps. This belief represents a typical defensive rationalisa- I The fact, however, is that since emancipation West In- tion of a type commonly put forward by an uncertain dian society has never provided the conditions by means of social group in such circumstances. Similar attitudes and which the vast mass of the proletariat could possibly hope arguments concerning the working class of that day were to achieve through work any rise or improvement in their developed, for example, in Victorian England, and in status. It is irrelevant at the moment to consider whether more modern times the rationalisations with which the this was due to factors outside the control of West Indian Nazis defended their attitudes to subject-peoples were of a society-such as prices in world markets, poverty of natural similar nature. Such defensive attitudes are maintained in resources, etc.-or to factors within West Indian society face of the fact that members of the West Indian proletariat itself, or to both. No human being is likely to adopt the who have emigrated in the past to such places as values of a society and to acquire the motivations which Panama, Cuba, and the U.S.A., and more recently to derive from and maintain such a value system, if, at the Trinidad, Aruba, Curacao, and America, have successfully same time, this society does not provide the means which adjusted themselves to the conditions of work experienced its value system lays down as the only possible way of in these places, and have often acquired considerable af- achieving satisfaction of these values. There is a manifest fluence and position. inconsistency in suggesting that working hard for wages is But if the general arguments are valid, first, that suc- the only legitimate and praiseworthy manner of getting on cessful adaptation to a modem competitive society means in the world and of acquiring middle-class standards, if at that the individual must be able to acquire the motiva- the same time the only kind of work and wages open to tions which are the dynamics of the society, and, secondly, those concerned make it practically impossible for them to as Professor Siey contends, that '. . . the acceptance do so. If the values and modes of a society demand that of middleclass patterns of conduct by the whole popula- the barefoot man must acquire boots, then reasonable tion is the dominant aim of modern society,' then the prob- means for procuring boots must be provided, or alterna- lem under consideration reduces itself to the question why tively, that society will inevitably be perceived as hypo- 22 Personality Patterns, Social Class, and Aggression critical in its values. Such a situation existed in other forms beset by forces of which he understands little, and over in the mass unemployment in the United Kingdom in the 1 which he can exercise little control, achieves through pro- 1930'9. It is small wonder that many West Indians give up miscuous sex relations the experience of a certain mastery the unequal struggle, and retain or adopt patterns of be- / over a portion of this environment, namely the woman. haviour which serve to compensate them for repudiation In his relations with women at least he is dominant, and of the values of the society in which they live. in this freedom to pick and choose, to cast off or to keep, he It is probably for reasons of this nature that so many I is acting as an individual whose "wii" has some relevance of the behaviour patterns of slavery persist to this day in to-and in reality in-his behaviour. There are psychological the West Indian proletariat, as for example, concubinage I reasons to suggest that similar considerations are connected of various degrees of permanency, which is very largely with the wide occurrence of gambling.' Attitudes towards the basis of family life among them. In slavery, marriage I work, responsibiiity, and authority, etc., betray this same of the conventional pattem-in those years largely patriar- 1 repudiation of middle-class standards. chal in type-was obviously impossible, for no slave owner From the point of view of the frustration-aggression could possibly share or dispute the control of a female hypothesis,8 proletarian culture in the West Indies can be slave and her children with a slave-husband. Hence the , regarded, therefore, as an attempted solution of a conflict casual type of sex relationship which obtained in slavery I situation which arose through the emancipation of the was the way in which the slaves accommodated their sex- slaves from a situation which was one of almost complete ual needs and interests to the conditions under which they dependence to a situation of severely handicapped free lived; that accommodation is still an adaptive response competition and individual responsibility. menecessity for under present day conditions. The slave owner has gone, I such a solution was brought about by the fact that the and there is no apparent reason why marriages should society into which the slaves were freed did not provide not take place. The reasons why they are not the general the means whereby the dynamic of the society could be- custom are probably complex, and systematic investigation come operative in the vast majority of individual cases. It is lacking. The financial aspect is important, hut there is is in this sense that the statement that the proletariat have another which is not often discussed: observation suggests repudiated middle-class standards must be understood, and the probability of the view that many of those under dis- not in the sense of conscious repudiation. cussion do not get married simply because they see no point in it. They have to a great extent given up any strug- gle to acquire middle-class status and standards, and there BXlSTING PROLBTARUN PERSONALJTY PATTERNS fore do not feel any necessity or compulsion to abide by those standards. They have evolved a mode of life which The personality pattern which resulted from this situa- is satisfactory in that it is shared by a large number of peo- tion has given rise to that stereotype of the negro which ple, and is not liiely to give rise to endo-psychic conflict TThese views are supported by Arthur Geddes, "The Social as long as there is no striving for middle-class status. Again, and Psychological Significance of Variability in Population it is probable that the present norm of social behaviour in Change'' (Human Relations, Vol. 1, No. 2 [November, 19471 this respect may have compensatory advantages of its p. 198), who provides observations from India which suggest a co~ectionbetween "loveless promiscuity" and "despair, own. The individual who, in his economic and other rela- frustration, and anger." tionships with his environment, is in the position of one 8 Dollard and others, op. cit. 24 Personality Patterns, Social Class, and Aggression pictures him as a happy-go-lucky irresponsible, indolent, socially constructive channels. We can also understand, if childlike creature who is always laughing and happy in this analysis is correct, the source and nature of the apathy spite of his poverty. This stereotype is, of course, an exag- which characterises so much of rural life in the West Indies. geration; but the personality pattern which in fact resulted (Such "apathy" is here regarded as a withdrawal from --that of the non-aggressive (i.e., from the point of view social lie, with an accompanying inhibition of feeling, in of class or race-directed aggression), dependent, accom- order to avoid the pain of severely frustrating social rela- modating, and deferential negro who "knew his place" i tionship~.) and stayed in it, was a real one; and it can be regarded ars It is an important conclusion that welfare efforts in the the basic proletarian personality pattern which is still to be I West Indies, if they are to he successful, must largely con- found among the rural proletariat of the West Indies. This cern themselves, at least in the short run, with the difficult basic proletarian personality pattern is, however, under- : problem of providing constructive channels for aggression going change, especially in the direction of an increase in , which has been aroused by those efforts. We must now overt aggression. This is apparently due to the stress of 1 tum to the situation of the middle classes. modem conditions, particularly the results of participation in two world wars; of emigration to countries more ad- vanced industrially and culturally than the West lodies; of , THE PERSONALlTl PATTERN OF THE UNESTABLISHED LOWEB- the introduction of the cinema and radio; of trade union MIDDLE CLASS organization; and particularly through the activities of such Governmental agencies as the Colonial Development The coloured man who is just emerging from the pro- and Welfare Organization. The modem West Indian prole- letariat and who has had the influences of a wider society tarian is becoming increasingly unwilling to tolerate what brought to bear on him is liable to be much more aggres- he was formerly accustomed and, indeed, expected to a+ sive in his bebaviour than is the long-established, wloured, cept. middleclass individual, or the proletarian. Tbe true pro- If the above analysis is correct, it is seen to be inevitable letarian, as we have already suggested, has no desire to that efforts to better the proletarian's position, if success- aspire to, or to compete for, middle-class standards, he has ful, must result in an increase in overt aggression on his made certain compromises with his environment which part unless the fmstrations which intensify the aggression have resulted in his retaining or adopting modes of behav- are dealt with equally and simultaneously. Since the frus- iour which originated under slavery, and which, it is to be trations are likely to be slow in moving, such efforts must vresumed, also possess compensatory value under present persuade the proletarian to accept the dynamic of his conditions. culture, to strive for middle-class status and for greater In West Indian circumstances, the only direction in identification with the culture in which he 6nds himself; which the proletariat could express class-instigated or class- it must induce him to try to improve his position and to 1 directed aggressiveness is upwards, that is, against the class get on in the world; and this, inevitably, will produce frus- or classes above it. The expression of aggressiveness de- trating situations with resulting aggressions similar to those pends on the nature of the related frustrations and the which proletarian culture was evolved, in the first instance, 1 extent to which they occur. It has been assumed, however, to circumvent. The final success of these efforts will depend 1 that most members of this proletarian group are not class- almost entirely on the ability to guide this aggression into conscious to the extent which would bring them into c0C 26 Personality Patterns, Social Class, and Aggression lision with the members of the established middle and crowded Council Chamber, finds all of the seats occupied upper classes owing to their repudiation of any striving or except one, which he is informed is being kept for the wife competition for middle-class standards. That is to say, they of the whte Administrator, and orders his own wloured have accepted the existence of a "social distance" which I wife to sit. it, is exhibiting the type of aggressive behaviou they make no attempt to cross and, this being so, this which WIIIfrequently result from the conditions described group, as a class, will display little aggressiveness which above. could be said to arise out of their class situation vis-a-vis The emerging middle-class individual, by reason of his the other classes. This is stiU largely true of the rural pro- new orientation, that is, by reason of his new set of goal- letariat of a small island such as St. Vincent. Such aggres- responses, is inevitably brought into situations with many siveness as they do display tends to be as individual more possibihties of frustration than the proletarian who reactions to individual circumstances within their group. has not made this re-adjustment. This change in behaviou But when an individual of this class has started to im- is clearly demonstrated by men who have been to Aruba, prove his social status by the acquirement of middle-class Curacao, Trinidad, or U.SA, and who have acquired standards, he has become class-conscious. He now deliber- / some money. On their return this change is evident in their ately recognises the existence of a group or class of per- , dress, their speech, and in their general attitude to life. sons who have qualities, possessions, privileges, to which / They are apt, as the West Indian saying goes, 'to show a he aspires and which he does not himself possess; he recog- I lot of form'l In this group the "Saga-Boys" are to be nises, therefore, that he is different, and that certain peo- found-flamboyantly dressed men with exaggerated man- ple are regarded as "better" than he is. This "recognition" , ners and mannerisms and somewhat aggressive tendencies. does not necessarily take place at a fully conscious level; , They now have goal-responses which include seats "up most of it appears to be carried on at subconscious levels. stairs" in the cinema, car hue, good clothes, opportunities The opportunities for "frustrations" to arise in this type to show off, and, if at all possible, girl friends of a lighter of individual are great. He is self-assertive-striving up complexion and better social status than themselves. It would seem safe to draw the conclusion that the emergent, wards, unsure of himself, and uncertain as to what recep ' tion his self-assertiveness will encounter in his contacts with or lower-middle class, individual is, by reason of his class- established middle-class people and with the upper classes. position, more liable to experience frustrating situations It is in this group that there are found examples of what , and therefore more liable to overt aggression, especially of in the West Indies the upper classes refer to as "a bump a class-conscious nature, than individuals of any other tious nigger". Conscious of his proletarian origin, fre- ' group or class in the West Indies. He is liable to feel quently of illegitimate birth, and facing a future of con- threatened or frustrated by claims made on him by the siderable uncertainty in the social field, an extreme group from which he is emerging, claims which remind sensitivity and touchiness is developed, the individual is him of previous identScation with the group, e.g., iuegiti- perpetually on the outlook for possible slights and insults, mate children; he is also liable to be frustrated by individ- and frequently, by his own manner, succeeds in provoking uals of the group above-the upper-middle-class group, who them. It is obvious that in such a situation the possibilities may refuse to accord him the recognition of a social status of frustration are great; and, as a corollary, the oppor- which he desires. To an even greater extent he is also tunities for displays of aggressive behaviour are increased. frustrated by the feelings of insufficiency and inadequacy, The man of recent proletarian origin who, on entering a related to the wlour situation, which he would have been 28 Personality Patterns, Social Class, and Aggression a fortunate and exceptional West Indian to have escaped equality and easy familiarity are established and taken for He is, therefore, very liable to be an exceedingly aggree I granted, so that no possibility or even suspicion could sive person. ever arise that the person being subjected to this "friend- Dficulty in dealing with the local ex-service men has / liness" wuld possibly be the cause of frustrations. Unlike been experienced in the West Indies by the committees the attitude of withdrawal, which reduces the number of appointed to re-absorb demobilised West Indian person- frustrations by reducing the possibilities for their occur- nel into civilian We. These men, the majority of them from i rence, this attitude offers reassurance by assuming boldly the proletariat-middleclass youth for various reasons that frustrations simply do not occur. It has much the same seldom joined the Caribbean Defence Force-proved to transient or inadequate psychological value to the individ- be dicult to handle. Their mode and manner of life had 1 ual as talking loudly in a dark room has to the somewhat been raised, and their social status increased by being in / timid and frightened child; it attempts to reassure in a the army, and on demobiisation they were apt to seek roles social context which without the reassurance might be which were out of proportion to their knowledge, abilities, somewhat menacing to underlying fears. or previous experience, and which were all directed to I These two types-the withdrawn, defensive type, and enhancing their previous social status. For the most part I the expansive, emotional, friendly type, represent the two they wanted to be clerks, road overseers, lorry drivers, / poles between which the coloured middle class personality mechanics, or shopkeepers. Most of them had the feeling pattern oscillates.@ that the community was not adequately Nfilling its obliga- The emerging or lower-middle-class individual is on tions to them by offering lesser roles, and they were in- many occasions a most dicult person to deal with. He is clined to be rather aggressive in consequence. apt to be very verbose, for like Mr. Polly he is very fond In this lower-middle-class group, overt aggressiveness is of big words: and he is apt to be somewhat lacking in ob- sometimes replaced by an attitude of aloofness or with- jectivity and in the capacity for analytical thought. He is drawal. This attitude of aloofness which is clearly a less "difficult" because his manner and general attitude create external form of the apathy seen in proletarians is, of frustrating situations for himself. The gened aggressive- course, a self-protective one as it reduces the possibilities ness which some West Indian and other colonial students of frustrations by reducing the number of social contacts appear to display in London is due very largely to the which could produce them. It sometimes takes interesting expectation that they will be "discriminated against" in the forms as, for example, in the development of a carefully "white man's country". They react to this expectation by formal and somewhat exaggerated politeness. One has the an increased aggressiveness, and, in so doing, probably feeling here that the individual who is protecting himself succeed in provoking "discriminations" which they might in this way is determined that in the event of the occur- otherwise have avoided, and which, whatever may have rence of any "unfortunate" social situation he, at any rate, been the circumstances, are likely to be interpreted as due will never be the one who is "in the wrong". to "colour". There is, of course, more to it than just this, Conversely, in personal relationships, a hearty, expan- but, in point of fact, individuals of this type do on occasions sive attitude is sometimes developed, involving excessive succeed in making life much more dicult for themselves friendliness, familiarity, and the use of Christian names. The function of this attitude is apparently to create a situa- QH. Powdermaker, 'The Channeling of Negro Aggression by the Cultural Process" in Clyde Kluckhohn and H. A. tion in which, from the very beginning, conditions of Murray, eds., Perso~lity(New York: Knopf, 1948). 30 Personality Patterns, Social Class, and Aggression and for other people than the objective situation by itself fact that a coloured West Indian had failed to act accord- would normally warrant lo terms of practical social work, ing to the required white standards., the obvious-perhaps it is often extremely difficult for individuals of this class to largely unconscious-fear being that this failure would be act together as a group. The normal self-assertiveness of attributed to the fact that the individual had failed because each individual makes it diicult for him to accept leader- he was a coloured person. This interpretation is illustrated ship or direction from another individual of the same class by the following incident. The author, remonstrating with --even one he may have elected himself-and he is ex- a good friend of his on the latter's failure to clear himself tremely sensitive to any suspicion, real or imagined, that of a certain charge by placing the fault where it really such an individual may be attempting to "show off on lay, namely at the door of another individual, was told. him" by ordering him around or by giving him directions. Well, you see, old man, we are aU black people togetherl' In consequence, as Simey says, 'principles and policies The decisions of juries have, on occasions, been such as to tend to bewme submerged in a welter of conflicting per- cause suspicion that they were moved largely by this wn- sonalities'. sideration. The reluctance to exercise &~plinary measures, One of the weaknesses in the social structure of a West due to this "face-saving" imperative, quite obviously leads Indian island, especially a small island such as St. Vincent, to mculties in maintaining standards and discipline, es- for example, is the paucity of the middle class as a whole, pecially in public affairs. with a preponderance, among such middle-class families as do exist, of families of the emergent type, and a relatively small number of families of the upper or established middle- THE PERSONALITY PATTERN OF THE ESTABLISHED OR UPPER- class type. The West Indian middle class has not yet been MIDDLB CLASS able to produce in any numbers individuals with those qualities of objectivity, disinterestedness, and rationality The coloured individual who belongs to the established which are so necessary for dealing with public affairs. or upper-middle class is not as a rule as overtly aggressive An attitude which grows out of the general sensitivity as the lower-middle-class individual. His position in the to criticism, either overt or implied, of the lower-middle process of acculturation is a much more advanced one. and middle-class individual, is the necessity to "save face". He has had at least a generation or two of established The compulsion to "save face" is an obvious imperative middleclass security and status behind him, and in con- when we consider the equally compulsive imperative to sequence, his place, and that of his family, in the commu- assert and maintain social status; these two attitudes are nity is an assured one; and he has the confidence and the complementary to each other. A coloured middle-class sense of security which comes from such a background. West Indian is usually reluctant to exercise disciplinary It does not follow, of course, that he will be satisfied with measures which will have the effect of "showing up" an- his position as a member of a dependent and subject peo- other coloured middle-class individual in some delinquency; ple, or that he will necessarily be free from all the resent- his tendency is to try to cover the matter up and smooth ments and antagonisms which consciousness of "colour" it over, "to give hi a chance". The motive behind this brings in its train, especially in those colonies in which attitude would appear to be a general reluctance to do any- membership of certain clubs and residence at certain hotels thing which would bring discredit on coloured West In- are contingent on the absence, or the degree, of pigmenta- dians as a group or class, by advertising or publicising the tion of one's skin; but his reactions to these matters will be 32 Personality Patterns, Social Class, and Aggression much more self-conscious, discriminating, and subtle than the absence of aggression of a class- or race-instigated those of the lower-middle-class individual. He is capable nature. in many cases of a much greater objectivity and rationality The integration of the proletariat into the dominant in his attitude. The established, or upper-middle-class per- culture of which they form a part is necessary if the West son is usually a professional man-a doctor, lawyer, etc.- Indies is ever to take its place as a democratic community or he is a member of the Civil Service, or holds some re- among the nations, and will inevitably result, at any rate sponsible position in business, or he may be a planter; and, in its initial stages, in a recrudescence of aggressive be- in point of fact, there is no difference culturally between haviour, since it will be necessary for the proletariat to him and the average white member of the same class; as accept the dynamic and the value system of the culture in frequently as not the advantages culturally, if any, will lie which they exist. This hypothesis is supported by the be- with the coloured person. haviour and personality pattern of the emergent or lower- Since there is no aristocracy in any real sense of the middle-class individual who has set about the process of word in the West Indies-there are merely people with identifying himself with the prevailing culture, by the more or less money-the upper-middle-class individual we acceptance of the cultural dynamic and value system; this has been accompanied by a recrudescence of overt ag- have been describing is, for all practical purposes, at the gression in this personality pattern. top of the social tree in the West Indies, and the manner The upper-middle-class individual represents the end in which he deals with any "frustrations" which may arise product of this process of acculturation, and his personality as a result of racial or colour snobbery will depend largely pattern tends to be similar to that of any integrated indh'id- on his temperament and character. ual, white or coloured, within the culture.

SUMMARY

The proletarian personality pattern has been evolved be cause of the necessity to solve a conflict situation which has arisen through the fact that West Indian society, after emancipation of the slaves, did not provide the means necessary to achieve the ends which its value system lays down as the desirable objectives of human endeavour. Such a situation would have been an intolerable one if no solution to it could have been found. The proletariat have attempted to solve this conflict situation by refusing to accept the dynamic of the culture, that is by refusing to strive for the improvement of class status and associated goals. The benefits or gains which accrue from this, lie in the greater freedom for impulse gratification and in the avoidance of frustrating situations which, in turn, lead to National Identity and I Attitudes to Race in Jamaica A Jamaican educator and creative artist here explores the i Rex Nettleford social and psychological dimensions of residual racial prejudice. Black political power and increasing access to high-status positions notwithstanding, the system of color The need for roots and the attendant quest for identity are stratification deplored by Garvey and explicated by Hadley said to be natural to peoples everywhere. The phenomenon survives to this day. Jamaica's official multiracial creed may be said to inhere in a people's desire to collate and camouflages the conviction of the black majority that the codify their past collective experience as well as to lay country does not really belong to them and conceals their foundations for the realisation of future aspirations. New ingrained equation of blackness with inferiority. Mass de- nations usually give large portions of their creative energy spair and self-denigration can only be overcome, the au- to what may be termed the 'identity problem' and the mid- thor contends, by major social and economic reform. twentieth century with its flux of emergent countries in Africa, Asia and the Caribbean is particularly noted for this aspect of nation-building. In Jamaica, a Caribbean REX NE~EFORD,himself of rural background, is a strik- country which attained independence from Great Britain ing exception to most of the consequences he perceives. in August 1962, the search for identity has been the focus He followed a degree in history at the University of the of attention for some time. It is indeed dicult to determine West Indies with a Rhodes Scholarship at Oxford in poli- what exactly is meant by the tenn 'the Jamaican identity'.' tics; on returning to the West Indies he became a Resident It is variously expressed as 'things Jamaican' or 'the Jamai- Tutor, then head of the Trade Union Education Institu- can image'." tion in the University's Department of Extra-Mural Stud- Race, Vol. 7, No. 1, July 1965, pp. 59-71. Reprinted with ies, of which he is now Director. In addition to his work permission of the Institute of Race Relations, London, and the in social science, trade unionism, adult education, and author. university administration, he is co-founder, director, cho- 1 M. G. Smith, 'Our National Identity and Behavior Pat- terns' (Lectures on Jamaican National Identity, Jamaica: Uni- reographer, and principal dancer of Jamaica's world- versity of the West Indies, Radio Education Unit, n.d.), renowned National Dance Theatre Company. Mirror, Mir- reprinted in Race. Vol. 7, No. 1 (1965). ror: Identity, Race, and Protest in Jamaica and Roots ZAfter 307 years as a British colony, Jamaica gained her independence on 6 Auyst 1962. A strong Jamaican nationalism and Rhythms are his most recent books. bad shown itself from the thirties, when labour disturbances I 36 Nationality Identity and Attitudes to Race ! Rex Nettleford 37 There are, however, ways of approaching the problem. The multi-focal nature of Jamaican life and history is The question 'What are we?' entails the desire of 'what we often said to be the greatest obstacle to a real national want to be'. And if what we want to be must have any I identity. And tbe object of this article is to relate the re practical significance for Jamaica, there should be some sultiag quest to Jamaicans' attitudes towards race. concordance between the external conception of the is- There are obvious dficulties in any such task. For one land's 1.6 million people on the one band, and Jamaicans' thbg, data drawn from attitudes, revealed or scientifically own internal perception of themselves as a national entity 1 observed, do not usually solve the problem of the transi- on the other.8 This is presumably one certain way of heiig I tion from attitude to behaviour. For another, there is need saved from a schizoid state of existence. The postulate for a social psychology of West Indian race relations. What seems more reasonable when one remembers that Jamai- is more, race presupposes a biological purity which is dif- cans are a people who are constantly exposed to external ficult to justify. This makes the concept an extremely dif- iduences, whose economic system traditionally depends 1 ficult one with which to work. The fact is that claims to on the caprice of other people's palates, whose values are such biological purity are not absent from Jamaican society largely imported from an alien set of experiences, and , and these claims have traditionally served to underline, whose dreams and hopes have, at one time or another. raiher boldly, the social stratification, thus making the been rooted either in a neighbouring Panama, Cuba or 1 matter of race more than yeast for the dough. If one as- Costa Rica, in big brother America and sometimes in Can- sumes that the Jamaican identity must entail a measure of ada, a Commonwealth cousin. Of late, they tend to be national unity, though not uniformity, among all the dif- rooted in father Africa and more so in mother England.4 ferentiated sectors of the society, then one can pose the and middle-class clamour for orself-govement characterled the question of whether the phenomenon of racial conscious- political mne. But from the late forties there was a slight shift ness or non-consciousness is an obstacle to national unity. of emphasis to West Indianism in the plans for a Federation This is the measure of the internal problem. Since race is of the British West Indies which was actually established in an important determinant in people's assessment of each 1958. Jamaica withdrew in 1961 by referendum from the Fed- eration and decided to 'go it alone'. Since then the 'Jamaican other countries like Costa Rica (for railroad building and image' has become a positive goal for dlerent efforts in the banana cultivation) drew some 33.000 (George W. Roberts. country. The Population of Jamaica [Cambridge: Cambridge University BThis approach is suggested by a paaper presented in the Press, 19571, p. 139). Some 10,000 went to Britain during the U.W.I. Extra-Mural Sunday morning lecture-series, and en- Second World War for war work, while some 48,000 went to titled 'Our National Identity and Behavior Patterns', by Pro- the U.S.A. in the Farm Work Scheme. The postwar period saw fessor M. G. Smith of the University of California (U.C.L.A.), migration largely to Britain where nearly 200,000 Jamaican first op. cit. gewration now live. Emigration to Africa is the dream of some 'This refers to the external intluenees on Jamaica. As a Jamaicans, who endow tbeir sentimental attachment with reli- primary-producing agricultural wuntry, the economy is de- gious fervour in the 'Back to Africa' movement. But West pendent on the outside market. This is also tmc of bauxite Africa has benefited from the skills of Jamaican and other which is shipped in its raw state or as alumina to North Amer West Indian migrants who went to Nigeria, Sierra Leone and ica. Jamaicans have also been a migrating people ever since the the old Gold Coast as engineers, teachers, lawyers, civil serv- late nineteenth century when the %%st Panama Canal project ants and mi&iooaries. See Don Mils, 'Migration-Where DO was started. Between the 1880s and 1920, net emigration from We Go Next'? (Lecture presented for the Extra-Mural Sunday Jamaica amounted to about 146,00046,000 went to the U.S.A., Seminar on 'External Relations and the Jamaican Economy; 45,M)O to Panama, 22,000 to Cuba (to work in sugar), and Jamaica: U.W.I., Radio Education Unit, ad.). 38 Nationality Identity and Attitudes to Race Rex Nettleford 39 other in the outside world, it is of particular relevance to are none of them 'sons of the soil' in the sense that Tunku know if what we think of ourselves racially as a nation Abdul Rahman is of Malaya, Jomo Kenyatta is of Kenya, coincides with what others think of us in this particular. Nkrumah is of Ghana or Nehm was of India. No Jamai- Racial attitudes, especially when they are accompanied by can can seriously make claims to Arawak ancestry. In a national or individual schizophrenia, are themfore impor- real sense, we are all of us immigrants-most of us of long- tant The Jamaican Mental Health Association wuld well standing, but immigrants, nevertheless! We have had to do a serious study of the factor of race attitudes in its work out ways and means of distributing power internally records of mental illness. Paranoiac experiences some- as a result of our uprootedness. Over the centuries this times turn on a patient's frustrated aspirations of being has been done by a certain amount of piecemeal political 'white'. In this context being 'white' means little more than engineering. One significant thing about the progressive being privileged and rich. But the fact remains that even assumption of civic status is that the people receiving their today one is still able to have 'whiteness' connote privilege, share of power at the different stages of development came position and wealth and, of course, purity which is in- from groups distinguishable largely by their racial origin grained in Christian mythology. This attitude is particularly and were in fact so described. So, if it were the white evident among many who form the large majority of the. planters and their managerial aides who first received con- population and who happen to wear that colour of skin trol of representative government in the late seventeenth long associated with poverty, manual labour, low status and century," it was the 'free coloureds' who next shared in ignorance. The in-betweenness and half-identifrcafionresult- the citizenship rights in 1832;T and although they both ing from these attitudes is probably one of the positively joined with the blacks to encourage the takeover of the distinctive features of Caribbean communities emerging Constitution by white honest brokers at the Colonial Office from a plantation and colonial system. It does mark us off after the chaos of 1865,B it was the whites and free coloureds from many of the developing countries of Asia and Africa, whose wealth, ineuence and social position quaMied as can be seen in fundamental differences in attitudes to them for participating in the nominated legislatures of the certain aspects of social and political organization. Crown Colony system. It was not until 1944,s following For example, it is difficult to find the kind of logic that Indian; Edward Seaga is of Syrian stock who is Minister of would justify the renunciation of the Queen of England, Development and Welfare in the government which has been as the head of the Jamaican State, in favour of a 'son of in power since independence; and Bruce Barker is of European the soil'. Quite apart from the fact that any such sugges- stock who, from his letters to the press, seems to disapprove of tion would be confronted with letters of horror from con- the idea of nationalism and is seen by many of his opponents scientious Jamaican 'monarchists', one would have to ask as a representative of traditionalist white upper class Jamaica. " Anton V. Long, Jornaica and the New Order 1827-1847 who are the real sons of the Jamaican soil. Is it Sir Clifford (Jamaica: University of the West Indies, LS.E.R., 1956). pp. Campbell, Sir John Mordecai, Hubert Tai Tenn Quee, 15-16 (monograph). Dr. Varma, Edward Seaga or Bruce Barker?&In fact they TBryan Edwards, History of the West lndies (London, 1807). Book 1, Chapter 3. 6These are names of well-known Jamaicans of diflerent 8E. B. Underhill, The Tragedy of Morant Bay (London: racial origin. Sir Clifford is the Governor-General and of Alexander & Shepheard, 1895); and S. H. Olivier, The Myth African stock; Sir John is a distinguished civil servant of Afrw of Governor Eyre (London: The Hogarth Press, 1933). European stock; the Tai Tenn Quees are a Chinese family and OJamaica Constitution Order in Council 1944 (London: prominent in the mercantile community; Dr. Vanna is an East H.M.S.O., 1944). 40 Nationality Identity and Attitudes to Race Rex Nettlelord 41 the disturbances of the late thirties, that the blacks who is not psychologically significant'.1° This was a report of form the vast majority of the populace were given the a speech made by a prominent Jamaican leader in April right to share in the political cake. Despite the potential 1961 to an American audience. It was, therefore, some power of the black vote which followed universal adult what reassuring to read subsequently in a Jamaican news- sulbge, one still hears that the upper echelons of govern- paper that the Jamaican Oovernment had admitted to the ments and the centres of influence do not reflect the racial Secretary General of the United Nations that 'racial dis- composition of the country. The Queen, despite the way *tion has yet to be entirely eliminated from the she looks, therefore fits into the landscape as head of state. island'.ll The Report was, however, soon spoilt by the ae It is fair to say that she is generally preferred to a black sertion that any problem of racial discrimination still exist- President, though a black representative of the Queen ing in Jamaica was due in part to the fact that Jamaica manages to hit a very comfortable medium. The feature was a small wuntry which received large numbers of visi- makes tors from abroad and that some 'of these visitors bring with Jamaica an autonomous Commonwealth entity re- acquired sembling Canada, Australia and New Zealand inhabited them prejudices they in societies less tolerant than Jamaica's'." This betrays a somewhat smug pride in what by Britons overseas, more than Ghana, India, Nigeria, is assumed to be tolerance and we still look outside of our- Malaya or Tanganyika which are autochthonous entities. selves for the foreign bogey which should take some, if Jamaicans have earned the name, understandably, of not all, of the blame. One has cause to wonder how it is 'Afro-Saxons' among some Africans at the United Nations. that visitors hdit so easy to practise discrimioation when Jamaica's apparently peculiar position is usually ex- they visit Jamaica The question could be asked whether plained along lines somewhat like this: 'We are neither there is a cradle ready and waiting to receive the bad seed? Africans though we are most of us black, nor are we Or, is it that there are certain visitors who believe in the Anglo-Saxon though some of us would have others to be- old injunction-when in Rome, do as the Romans do. lieve this. We are Jamaicansl And what does this mean? With a bit of charity one could assert that the tendency We are a mixture of races living in perfect harmony and as of Jamaicans to deny their own shortcornin@ in the matter such provide a useful lesson to a world tom apart by race may indeed stem from a genuine desire to free our national prejudice.' The harmony based on tolerance is the thing unity and identity of a disruptive racial differentiation. which is supposed to make Jamaicans distinct from such The motto is almost daily invoked in sermons4ecular and countries as (Southern) Rhodesia, South Africa, and parts religious-to make into a fact what is as yet an aspiration.18 of the United States of America In other words, Jamaica Unfortunately, it is the 'many' in the motto and not the is a non-racial nation and the non-racialism, besides be- 'one' which tends to get the emphasis. So against a back- ing a distinctive feature, is an essence of the Jamaican ground of unemployment, and disparities of economic identity. Jamaican leaders make non-racialism into an im- wealth and educational opportunities, the 'maw too often portant national symbol by declaring at home and abroad ION. W. Manley, Premier of Jamaica, Speech made to Uta that Jamaica and the West Indies are 'made up of peoples National Press Club, U.S.A. April, 1961. Report in New York drawn from all over the world, predominantly Negro 01 Times. 11 Jamaica, Report to the United Nations on Racial Dis- of mixed blood, but also with large numbers of others, criminatioa Reported in Daily Gleaner (October 9, 1964). and nowhere in the world has more progress been made "Zbid. in developing a non-racial society in which also CO~OW 1sThe national motto is 'Out of Many One People'. 42 Nationality Identity and Attitudes to Race Rex Nettleford 43 connotes a ditferentiation according to how people look. in the national life of Brazil this phenomenon has reputedly In the minds of many Jamaicans, it is still a poor black, helped that country to hdand project an identity generally a middle-class and privileged brown man, and a rich or accepted at home and abroad. Indeed, it can probably wealthy white man. This is the traditional colour-class wr- be said that the objective norm in the minds of many relation.14 Chinese and East Indian Jamaicans are mar- Jamaicans (both black and coloured) who chww beauty ginal to thia structure, having come to Jamaica after the queens is the hybrid or the miscegenated person.la The classifications were long determined in society. They tend trouble with thia solution to our race ditferentiation prob- to be assessed by the mass of Jamaicaas largely on their lems is that if the hybrid is the norm, then the vast major- economic position rather than on their racial origin. The ity of pure blacks must be the aberration. It therefore in- peasant Indian hardly has significance outside of his mem- vests the mixed blood idealization with a middle-class bership of the lower class where he marries and still Lives unction which is unacceptable to the lower-class blacks. and has his being. Significantly, no one makes a mistake The implications are also a source of great irritation to a about to what section of the society the Bombay merchants growing body of middle-class black opinion which Mists and their sariclad wives belong. The Chinese have grown that, despite the virtues of a mixed-blood ideal in Jamaica, in stature since the early days when terms like 'Madam' it is the 'African' which is the constant in the racial complex and 'John' expressed attitudes of disrespect or even con- and all other racial strains are variables among the major- tempt for the men and women, in what has always proved ity of the people. to be a self-contained and restrained minority group. They, The 1960 census beam this out by padding the categories the Chinese, chose to stay out of the society as long as they into which people are placed. These are African, Euro- could and now enter the society at the top on the basis of pean, East Indian, Chinese or Japanese, Syrian, Afro- their wealth and education. When the commercial banks European, Afro-East Indian, Afro-Chinese, and Other yielded to pressure to employ Jamaicans of colour the Chi- (meaning, no doubt, odd admixtures).17 The prefatory nese were among the first to be used to break tradition. remarks in the provisional report give something of a clue to our racial attitudes. For it declares that the 'intention They provided a gradual and smooth transition for the of the first Eve categories should contain persons who ap more recent developments in those very commercial banks. peared to be racially pure and the following three, various Yet both the Indians and the Chinese intermarried, or mixtures'. This betrays a certain sensitivity to universally rather cohabited, with the blacks quite extensively to pro- duce a new group of Jamaicans numbering some thirty- 16Beauty contests are held frequently for the selection of 'queens' from all sections of the community. Traditionally six thousand.1~ This new development bolstered an atti- 'Miss Jamaica' tended either to be near-white or to have coffee- tude long evident among the middle-class people of mixed coloured European features and straight ('good') hair. 'Ibis fact African and European blood. This attitude is expressed sparked off controversy in the press from time to time until in in the idealization of mixed blood. As an integrating force 1955 the island's evening newspaper-The Stnr--sponsored a Ten Types One People' contest giving the titles to Jamaican 14P. Henriques, Family and Colour in Jamaica (London: women who span the colour spectrum from 'Ebony' (black) Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1953), pp. 33-63; and Madeline Kerr, through 'Mahogany' (coloured), 'Lotus' and Satinwood' Personality and Conpict in Jamaica (London: Collins, 1963), (Chinese and Past Indian), and 'Pomegranate' (Mediterranean pp. 93-104. fype, Syrian-Jewish), to 'Appleblossom' (Caucasian). The 16 West Indies Population Census, Jamaica 1960 (Kingston, event received wide international press coverage. Jamaica: Dept. of Statistics), Bulletin No. 20, Vol. II, Part A. 17 We~tIndies Population Census, Jamaica 1960, op. cit. 44 Nationality Identity and Attitudes to Race Rex Nettleford 45 accepted norms which classify races into Caucasoids, For of every 100 Jamaicans, 76.8 are of pure African Mongoloids and Negroids, usually in that order. But the descent, 0.8 are pure European or White, 1.7 are East Jamaican classification betrays also a sensitivity to the real- Indian, 0.6 are Chinese, 0.1 are Syrian, 14.6 are Afro- ities of the local situation. It not only puts the Negroid European, 1.7 are Afro-East Indian, 0.6 are Afro-Chinese group first, it gives a detailed breakdown of groups of and other mixtures add up to 3.LZ0 If we add together persons who in the wider world would be termed simply all the persons of obvious African descent (pure or mixed) 'coloured', The preface further informs us that enumera- we get some ninety-one persons out of every hundred with tors were 'instructed to include in the group "African", the 'tarbrush'. It is this obvious fact which apparently leads pemns of pure African descent, that is those who were to the external conception of Jamaica as a coIowed coun- classiiied as "black" in 1943'.'8 This is a clear indication try-a conception whicb does not coincide with the current of the growiq refinement in attitudes since the term 'black' internal perception which is one described usually in terms has long been considered an epithet of opprobrium in the of multi-racialism. Now this implies a number of things. country and not suitable for use in official circles. It has It gives to the hybrid groups a positive racial quality whicb in a sense now changed places with the term 'African' in terms of external classi6cations they should not have. which once meant 'primitive' and 'uncivilized' in the vo- There is nothing necessarily wrong with the claim, how- cabulary of Jamaicans. The enumerators were also in- ever, since it further implies a robust and even healthy structed to include in the term 'European' persons usually refusal on the part of some Jamaicans to bow to the rather listed as English, French, Spanish, German, etc.lQ Could arbitrary and crude classification of human beings into this mean that attitudes which once marked off the English coloured and white. Such Jamaicans prefer to see the world as a privileged group among whites have changed? It cer- in tenns of greys and 'in-between colours', each shade and tainly makes for easier census-taking, if nothing else. The hue deserving of its own individual identity. This taken to same cannot be said, however, of the group that used to its logical conclusion produces in practice a denial of that be classifled 'coloured' in previous censuses. The Jamaican half of the racial ancestry which is regarded as inferior census restricts the term to Afro-European though the out- and a corresponding exaltation of the other half which side world would include Afro-Asians as well. Small won- happens to be respectable in the sight of the world at this der, then, that the resultant large areas of doubt as to pee particular time. This comes out in many Jamaicans' atti- ple's descriptions of themselves led the census organizers to tudes towards Great Britain and the white world in general omit the racial classification of Jamaicans out of the final and to the black world and emergent Africa in particular. census reports. The historical antecedents of slavery, the plantation This does not, however, prevent racially conscious black system, and colonialism which are responsible for this, are Jamaicans from keeping their eyes glued to the census too well known for detailed recapitulatio~.~But the con- figures. For although the blacks cannot claim prior dis- scious choice by some Jamaicans and the projection by covery of Jamaica (the Jews were here before) nor effec- 200. C. Francis, The People of Modern Jamaica (Kingston, tive occupation (the economy is still said to be in the hands Jamaica: Department of Statistics, 1963). of the white and half-white groups) they make strong 21 1. H. Pany and P. M. Shcrlock, A Short History of the British West Indie8 (London: Macmillan and Co.. 1960); and claims for more influence on the basis of their numbers. L. J. Ram The Fall of the Planter Class in the British 18 Ibid. Caribbean, 1163-1833 (New York: Century Co., 1928). csp. 10 Ibid. chapter on 'Caribbean Society'. 46 Nationality Identity and Attitudes to Race Rex Nettleford 47 those Jamaicans of civilized 'whitedom' over primitive persist in attitudes which bolster the motto, reprimand the 'blackdom', result from the firmly rooted attitudes of a Rastas for turning the clock back, and indulge in a strange plantation society of a perfect pyramid with white masters love-hate relatiomhip with the whites of both local and at the apex and black labour at the base. The free coloured expatriate vintage who threaten their claim to the inherit- butter between the two extremities developed out of wide- ance from Britain. They regard themselves as the true spread miscegenation and formed a natural middle class. heirs to the governing dass despite their small numbers if This middle class became the target as well as the expres- only because they were the htto display a capacity to sion of all the pressures and psychological problems of a assimilate completely the ideals of the masters. They society that depended for its rationale in the long IUD on could be as good as, if not better than, the whites. Job theories and attitudes of superiority on the part of a white Heme in his essay on 'The European Heritage' discusses governing and ruling class over an inferior black labouring this group'a striving towards the European image--an ef- group. The free coloureds had to pay for their African fort which was further aided by the system of boarding taint by suffering indignities in the early stages but they and grammar schools in which some 'five generations of were later to benefit from their European blood-strain this new brown ruling middle-class learned by rote aIl the through the acquisition of wealth and inheritances and attitudes, patterns of behaviour and values taught to Eng- of culture through exposure to tolerably good education lish contemporaries."s These are the people who domi- both in Jamaica and in England. As the pure white popu- nate the trading classes and exert intluence in the taking of lation dwindled, the free coloureds became the heirs to decisions of national moment. the European position and power and regarded themselves The assertion by Ras Tafari cultists24 that since 1938 as the rightful sons of the Jamaican soil since they, of aU there has been a series of 'brown-man governments' there- groups in Jamaica, were the ones that came directly nut fore makes sense in the light of Jamaican history.% And of the peculiar circumstances and conditions of early the further assertion that these people are really white in Jamaican society. After all, the argument seemed to go, attitude is merely another way of describing what the the blacks can look to Africa, the whites to England, the sociologists call the 'white bias' in a society with a popu- Chinese to Formosa or Hong-Kong, the Indians to India lation, 76 per cent of which is black. The incongruity has led Jamaican commentators to declare that Jamaica will and the Syrians to Lebanon. But they, the coloureds never know what she really is until she accepts the fact (mullatos), must look to Jamaica.22 This IS per cent of Afro-Europeans form the core of the middle class and 28John Heme, 'The European Heritage and Asian In- fluence', Our Heritage (Jamaica: University of the West Indies, Z2The problem is succinctly expressed in a Trinidadian Extra-Mural Maim Pamphlet, 1963). calypso which carries the following refrain: "The 'Ras Tafari' rue a Jamaican cargo cult whose You can send the Indians to India, doctrines of social rejection postulate a promised land in Mica And the Negroes back to Africa, in general (and Ethiopia in particular) where their earthly de- But will somebody please tell me, liverer and leader Haile Selassie lives. They see repatriation Where they sending poor me, poor me? as an ultimate necessity since there is no hope for them in Six of one, half a dozen of the other, Jamaica from which they are alienated. See M. O. Smith, Roy If they serious 'bout sending back people in tru- Augier, and Rex Nettleford, The Rar Tafari Movement in They're RO~Rto have to solit me in two. Kingsfon, Jamaica (Jamaica: University College of the West The ~igbtybou&' (Dougla ib Trinidad vernacular meam hdies, Institute of Social and Economic Research, 1960). an Afro-Indian). 25 Ibid. 48 Nationality Identity and Attitudes to Race Rex Nettleford 49 that she is a black country and projects a black personality. terial blessing. Such harmless terms as 'bad hair' and This is a counterclaim to the unspoken but eloquent 'good hair', meaning African kink and European straight claim by the brown middle classes that the Jamaican respectively, are still being used and one can still hazard image should root itself in this group of Jamaicans who are the guess that certain mothers will prefer a white Glasgow the very embodiment of the tensions set up by the counter- carpenter to a Jamaican flag-black civil servant, for their point relationships in the twin heritage from Europe and daughter.28 The latter alternative might just mean hard- Africa. A well-known Jamaican journalist and political ships for everybody concerned. The Daily Gleaner, Jamai- commentator once said that 'the most obvious bar to inte- ca's only daily newspaper, wuld carry without fear of gration of our society is the white bias that assaults and contradiction a leader, the first paragraph of which read: degrades the sense of self-respect of the vast majority of 'Many people in Jamaica still boast that they have never the Jamaican people. If everything worthwhile is to be entertained a negroid person in their homes. They do not associated with white-goodness, beauty, even God-and if say it openly but that is their boast nevertheless. Every the society as a whole accepts these standards without change in our society that has enabled the people really to question, then you are condemning the non-white groups live like the nation's motto is pain and distress and in our society to a permanent and perpetual inferiority "disaster" to them'.a A letter to the editor published sub- since they are inexorably outside the pale of whiteness.'zE sequently commented on the inconsistency between this This plea for a fundamental change will have to be seen in a wider wntext. The Jamaican's conception of his own view and what is often proclaimed as the island's attain- racial rank is going to be determined partly by the con- ment of racial harm~ny.~o ception of racial segmentation in the world at large. It If we look at the expressed attitudes of people on the is significant that with the rise of black Africa, greater Jamaican Government's plans to make a national hero out confidence has developed among the black people of the of the late Marcus Garvey, we find the anxieties and society. And many a black middleclass professional need emotionalism that exist among many Jamaicans on the no longer carry around with him a protective hostility matter of race.81 It is more than coincidental that it to the group he has left behind. He can even marry a Za'Flag-black' alludes to the symbolism behind the colours black woman of class and thus save her from lifelong in the Jamaican flag, which are green, gold and black. The spinsterhood in the confines of the teaching, social wel- black symbolizes 'hardships' and this was criticized as a further example of Jamaican attitudes to that colow. Significantly, the fare or nursing professions which Professor Fernando argument sometimes ran, the black in the Trinidad flag sym- Henriaues once observed as havens of black unrnamable holiw. -~trmoth- --- -. spinsters.27 Many Afro-Europeans of the middle class are 2"Editorial, Daily Gleaner (May 6, 1964). even now discovering the beauty of the blacks among 80 Letter to the Editor, Daily Gleaner (June 24, 1964). 8lMarcus Garvey is to some African and American Negro them and there are several places now in the sun for leaders the meatest 'black oroohet and- visionarv'. since Nemo- Jamaican young women of all shades through the fetish emancipation. His '~ack&4fhE> movement won enorL&w of the beauty contest. These have even received minis- support from some six million American Negroes in the early 1920s. and his advocacy of the City of the black man and 2eFrank Hill, "Racial Integration in Jamaica" (Lecture de- his rightful place in the world made him a bite noire to Ewo- livered at the University of the West Indies, February 10, pean rulers at the time. His Universal Negro Improvement 1963 ). Association (U.N.I.A.) was designed as a 'social, friendly, hu- 27 Henriques, op. cit. manitarian, charitable, educational, institutional, wnstructivo 50 Nationality Identity and Attitudes to Race Rex Nettleford - 51 should be a white Jamaican who took the trouble to the local press. There can hardly be any diffculties of chronicle the misdemeanours which Garvey reputedly identification. There are people 'Syrian' enough to want committed during his lifetime.B2 One wuld indeed have to return to Lebanon for a spouse. The bond among the predicted the sharpness of the replies in the press. They Chinese of Jamaica may be said to be a racial Cbiese one all expressed people's belief in the importance of African and not a sophisticated Jamaican one. And there are consciousness in Jamaican development. Here is a typical I 'English' or white people who are English or white enough argument against the fuss that was made over Garvey: it is to want to help out people who look like themselves when in a letter to the Daily Gleaner: 'Certainly, transporting of it wmes to the matter of a job. Whether this kid of dii- Negroes from America to Africa does not in the least af- ferentiation is strong enough to rend the society apart is fect the welfare of Jamaica. To my way of thinking we do doubtful outside the framework of purely private individ- not have in Jamaica any Negroes, Chinese, Syrians or ual relationships But this is where the shoe pinches, and English; we have Jamaicans and certainly if we are to a localized pain can &ect the entire body. The scores of spend thousands of pounds on a monument to honour letters from middle-class citizens clearly indicated further someone, let it be spent to honour a Jamaican who has that Garvey's championing of the dignity and self-respect contributed tangibly to the development of the nation.88 of the black man is a very tangible contribution to the This was doubtless written with the best intentions, but development of a nation which is 91 per cent of African this may well be mistaking a wish for the facts1 There are descent. indeed all the racial groups which the writers claimed not Yet for all Garvey's work, one might say that attitudes to exist. There are people 'Negro' enough to feel a sense among the black-skinned masses still exist which betray of personal affront when reports of discriminatory acts a self-contempt and a lack of self-confidence. Herein lies against a black American college student are reported in the greatest danger to attempts at finding an identity in terms of race. For a people who do not believe in them- and expansive society' founded for the general uplift of the Negro all over the world. He was convinced that given the time, selves cannot hope to have others believing in them. 'lhe opportunity and self-confidence, the Negro could equal the insecurities of this important racial grouping pemist with whites in all the latter's intellcctnal, cultural and technological a vengeance. A poor peasant is indeed glad to have her attainments. He even set up a provisional Government of children rise above the peasantry, marry brown, and for- Africa complete with himself as President and a court of titled men mid women. Bad business management put paid to the get the roots. A bright young university graduate must scheme. His involvement in Jamaican local government politics suffer praise for a barely tolerably competent speech be- was wt su~fdand he went to England, where he died in cause of no other reasons than he 'use the white people 1940. His remains were brought back to Jamaica early this year and placed in a shrine as Jamaica's first National Hem. dem word good good'. People like the Ras Tafari and their See George Padmore, Pan Africanirrn or Communism (Lon- neighbours in West Kingston are still convinced that there don: Dobson, 1956). pp. 228.; Marcus Garvey, 'Philosophy and is some dark conspiracy to keep 'black people down' and Opinions: Declaration of the Aims of the U.N.I.A.' (speech although Millard Johnson's coarse negritud8' was re- delivered at the Convention, August 1. 1920); Amy Jacques Garvey, Gawey and Garveyism (Kingston, 1963); and 84 Millard Johnson, a Jamaican barrister, attempted to base D. Cronon, Block Mose~(Madison: University of Wisconsin his campaign on racism by invoking the name of Garvey dur- Press, 1955). ing the 1962 (April) General Elections. His People's Progres- "Letter to the Editor, Doily Gleaner (September 10, 1964). sive Party (P.P.P.) polled 12,616 votes with no seats while the Ibid. (September 22, 1964). People's National Party (P.N.P.) now in opposition polled 52 Nationality Identity and Attitudes to Race Rex Nettleford 53 jected the leadership of two bona fide political parties are with the wrong accents and betray no sensitivity for the sometimes identified with the brown middle class. A maid her things.86 The trouble is that these people come in insists that she would never work 'for black people'; and and take their traditional place of privilege in the white weU she might not, for the bad treatment meted out to bias structure: they drink in the right bars and hotels and servants by wloured and black middleclass housewives even get into the right kinds of brawls. The coloured mid- is usually a topic for conversation among some visitors to dle class resent the pretensions and even object to their the island. A watchman in a private compound coldly in- children 'picking up cockney intonations from certain forms a black-skinned university student that he could not expatriate children'.Se It might very well turn out that the proceed on the compound for the authorities had in- coloured middle class will be the ones to find greatest structed him (the watchman) not to let 'any black people satisfaction in the new act designed to limit the employ- pass there after six o'clock'. A black doctor goes into ment of expatriates.87 The resentment of the Jamaican stores in Kingston and fails to receive the civil attention blacks to thii group of people and indeed to white visitors due to every citizen until he pulls rank and invokes his in places like hotels may very well be an extension of their status. A worker in an industrial plant finds it impossible dislike for the Jamaican high browns who have long been to have any interest in the plant because 'there is no hope the symbols of wealth, influence and privilege in the for the black man' and he resents the black supervisor in society. authority. The black supervisor in turn abuses his unac- The important thing about aU this is that the black- customed power in dealing with his own and toadies to skinned Jamaican senses that he must compete on the the white boss. A black young woman destroys a photo- same ground as his brown, Chinese and white compatriots. graphic print of herself because it is printed too black In many a case he has to work twice as bard because of and an older black woman insists that she is giving her the handicap of being years at the base. Psychologically, vote to a white candidate 'for no black man can help me he does not possess too strong a racial memory of great in this yah country these days'. The examples just cited are cultural achievements as these European, Chinese and based on actual occurrences and betray an interesting Indian compatriots. The Africans, of aU the groups which ambivalence on the part of these people in their attitudes came to the New World, came as individuals and not as to race. It also betrays a signal lack of self-confidence. part of a group which maintained identity through some This happens to coincide with the attitudes of coloured great religion, or activity through age-old recognizable cus- and near-white Jamaican groupattitudes towards the toms. The obvious answer for the African or black Jamai- blacks. So when a black-shed official replaces the white can is to sink his rnciol comciourness in the wider greater official at the old colonial governor's mansion some middle arpirations to acquire education and other means of mak- class verandahs sighed sighs of disapproval and even ap SSShirley Maynier-Burke. The Jamaican Civil Rights Di- prehension. The Afro-European middle classes seem to be lemma', Daily Gleaner (October 2, 1964). fighting on two fronts. For they are beginning to experi- SeThe view of a coloured Jamaican housewife in interview ence competition from a growing group of newer wbite with the author. expatriates who are felt to be without caste since they speak ST The Foreign Nationals and Commonwealth Citizens (Em- ployment) Act, commonly called the Work Permits Act, came 279,771 votes and the ruling party, the Jamaica Labour Party into force in Jamaica on April 1, 1965, limiting the employ- (J.L.P.) polled 288,130 votes out of a total of 580,517 votes ment of aliens only to those jobs which cannot be suitably fillui cast (i.e., 72.88 per cent of registered voters). by lamaicans. 54 Nationality Identity and Attitudes to Race 1 Rex Nettleford ing himself economically viable. Of course, if he sees no evil rather than accept the uncertain good. As I have said chance of doing thii he is bound to fall back on the religion elsewhere, the parboiled state of our national identity will of race which is the one thing which he will feel makes continue to be just this until adjustments are made in the him distinctive and which is aided and abetted by the rise !, society in bold economic and social terms.S8 People who of black Africa and the increased stature of the black man ; look lie Africans will then no longer have evidence to in the world at large. support their much-repeated claim that their poverty, It could indeed be argued that there is nothing neces- destitution and loss of hope is somehow organically linked sarily 1 wrong with stratification based on racial wnacious- with the fact that they are of a certain ethnic origin in a ness per se. But there is everything wrong with racial has country controlled by people of another ethnic origin who stratification which no compensatory responsibilities to think themselves superior. complement it. In other words, each racial group must be assured of such things as adequate educational oppor- 8sRex Nettleford, The African Connexion', Our Heritage tunities, of accessibility to rewards for efforts and of an (University of the West Indies, Department of Extra-Mural environment which provides incentives to even greater ef- Studies. Public Affairs Pamphlet, 1963). forts. Only with these will there follow an accelerated social mobility, which is yet another compensatory respon- sibility. Such ccunpensatory responsibilities do indeed exist in Jamaica and this is frequently the cause of the hyper- bolic expressions of the virtue of racial harmony in Jamaica, but in fact they are extremely limited. However, where attempts might be made to plough more money and planning into the black groups, as the Malayan peo- ple did among the Malays, there is fear that accusations will be made that blacks are being favoured at the expense of other racial groups in the societyalour prejudice in reverse. And this is so even if politicians are able to justify their actions with the democratic argument of the greatest good for the greatest number. The truth of the matter is that while in Malaya the Malays are the accepted indige- nous sons of the soil and the foundation of the Malayan image, in Jamaica the blacks are not regarded as the desirable symbol for national identity. The fact is that we are still enslaved in the social structure born of the planta- tion system in which things African, including African traits, are devalued and primacy is given to European values in the scheme of things. The developments of the twentieth century are putting pressures on the structure but most people seem to prefer to remain with the known The Threatening Masses: , Myth or Reality?' I lames A. Mau The distinctions of race and class explored in the preceding selections engender widespread mistrust and animosity. In 1965, Jamaicans will mark the centennial of the An American sociologist here describes the Jamaican elite Morant Bay Rebellion. It was an incident hardy deserving stereotype of mass hostility as an outgrowth of relation- the name "rebellion": it was not part of a general insur- ships stemming from slavery. The author's interviews of rection, nor was it an uprising against the white oligarchy. a sample drawn from the urban proletariat, however, lead A militant band of St Thomas hilt-people, intent on air- him to believe that these stereotypes are erroneous: most ing their grievances, marched to Morant Bay to confront poor blacks express admiration rather than anger toward the administration. In the rioting that followed, a handful of the black rioters and perhaps 21 other persons were the elite. It is only the self-fulfilling quality of some elite killed. The official reaction to the incident by the Oover- fears, he suggests, that prevents Jamaican class tensions from diminishing. But in the light of recurring outbreaks The Caribbean in Transition: Papers on Social, Political and Economic Development: eds., F. M. Andic and T. G. Mathews of violence in Jamaica, middle-class and elite Jamaicans (Ria Piedras: Institute of Caribbean Studies, 1965). PP 258- might weU be reluctant to assume that emulation character- 70. Reprinted by permission of the author sad the InstitUte of izes the masses more than hostility, whatever the conclu- Caribbean Studies. Copyright 1965 by the Institute of Carib- bean Studies, University of Puerto EW. sions of visiting social scientists. Often the expression of 1 Revised version of a papr pnsented. at the. bwnd hostility is real and vivid Caribbean Scholars' Conference, Mona, Jamruca, Apnl, 1964. These data are also reported in lames A. Mau "Soczal Change and Belief in Progress: A Study of Images of the Future m JAMES mu took his doctorate, based on field work Jamaica" (PkD. Dissertation, University of California, LOS Angeles, 1961). I sbould like to express my thanks to the Car- under a Social Science Research Council grant in Jamaica, ,pie Corporation which hnanced part of my fieldwork, and to at the University of California, Los Angeles. He is presently the Socii Science Research Council for a Pre-doctoral Train- Associate Professor of Sociology at Yale. His Social Change ing Fellowship during the years 1961-63. I am indebted to Wendell Bell for his suggestions and criticism lhroughout the and Images of the Future expands some of the themes in project, and to Leo Kuper and Raymond J. Murpby for their thin article. helpful comments. I also wish to thank Phillip E. Hammond for his wmments on an earlier draft of this paper. 58 The Threatening Masses James A. Mau 59 nor, Edward John Eyre, was brutally vengeful. Six hundred ! cans who view the lower social orders as malevolent and "rebels" were flogged and nearly as many kiUed.2 This ! barbaric. violent reaction effectively "pacilied" the parish of St j To many Jamaicans, this popular image of the black i masses as hostile would not seem unreasonable or un- Thomas, but probably did little to aUay the fears of the ! ruling minority. founded. It is an image supported by objective conditions In April, 1963, Jamaicans heard by radio broadcast of 1 of social and economic life in Jamaica. Who should be another "uprising", this time involving six Ras Tafarians more aware of the improvements in levels of living than , the burgeoning middle and upper classes to whom the on the North Coast of the island. Reminiscent of the i benefits of Jamaica's development have accrued7 But some Morant Bay disturbance of 1865, the nature of the inci- , of them are also aware of tbe vast disparities in the dis- dent was misjudged. It was most certainly not an uprising, tribution of those benefits. While the lessening of inequali- yet the misnomer was quickly applied. The repressive of- : ties of minimum rights of all Jamaicans has been an im- ficial reaction in the hours and days that followed, al- / portant trend of social change, it remains clearly evident though less severe, was also reminiscent of Governor Eyre : that gross inequalities of opportunity and achievement and Morant Bay. The Prime Minister called out the Chief j are widespread. The level of living among the lower classes of Stall of the Jamaica Defense Force; troops, armed is certainly not desirable. The maldistribution of income, police, armored cam and Cabinet Ministem rushed to I the level of unemployment, the rising cost of living, the Montego Bay. Hundreds of persons, some Ras Tafarians, lack of educational opportunities, the lack of adequate others simply black men with beards, were imprisoned or : housing, and inadequate social services are only a few denied their freedom temp~rarily.~Reports of police j of the acknowledged deficiencies. Moreover, these short- brutality during this roundup were frequent4 Yet, this : comings are magnified in the urban areas by the pressure was occun'ing even while it was known that the six "Ras- of sheer numbers. Awareness of these conditions obviously tas" involved in the incident had either been killed, I buttresses the middle and upper-class Jamaicans' belief in captured, or were elsewhere in the district. One can only I the hostility of his less fortunate countrymen. surmise that this repressive reaction to a purely local inci- In addition to these objective conditions of deprivation dent grew out of fear and the belief that others among ' of the lower classes, support for the belief that they are at the depressed and poor might heed the example given by i war with the middle and upper classes may be found in some criminals in the "lunatic fringe". What other reason j the styles of thought concerning social relationships among wuld explain the mass arrests? Vengeance? Probably not. ! the various social classes. For example, a government of- Rather, the reaction was probably intended to intimidate ficer publicly declared that the condition of the lower any others who might be a threat to order and stability, classes "constituted a peril that might erupt at any time." and to put to rest the easily aroused fears of many Jamai- ! Comparable sentiments have been expressed by a writer : who remarked that "nervous people sipping Scotch by the J. H. Parry and P. M. Sherlock, A Short History of the West Indies (London: Madan and Company Ltd., 1957). I poinsettias on their patios have asked one another how p. 241. I long they will be safe in their beds."6 Also, it has been in 8 The Daily Gleaner (April 13, 1963). p. 1; Newday, Vol. 7 1 vogue among middle and upper class persons discussing (April, 1963). p. 14; Spotlight, Vol. 24 (April-May, 1963), ' p. 17; The Star (April 13, 1963), p. 12. 5 Marjorie Hughes, The Fairest Land (London: Vic- ? tor Gollancz, Ltd., 1962), p. 12. Public Opinion, Vol. 27 (June 7, 1963). I 1 ! 60 The Threatening Maanes ! James A. Mau Jamaica's development to lay heavy stress on the problem a and the objective conditions of the lower classes all con- of the "revolution of rising expeaations among the 1 tribute to the maintmrmw of an image of the massea masses." Similarly, it was fashionable to point to the con- ' which is marked by virulent hostility and animosity. In servatism of organized labor, especially among tho= / this paper we shall explore the prevalence of this view workers called by one Jamaican economist, "the labor I among a systematically drawn sample of public leadem elite." These more prosperous workers seem to establish 1 in Jamaica. The universe of leaders was made up of per- their self-identification with the middle class by moraliz- / sons who were influential in policy formulation and ing about the behavior of the less fortunate masses, and 2 implementation in relation to West Kingston, the largest negating any association with them.O These people feed 1 area of urban lower-class residence. These leaders included on and foster the stereotype of the masses as harboring / Members of Parliament, Cabiit Ministers, PdhCoun- dangerous animosity toward the rest of society. I cillors, civil servants, clergymen, and some prominent Another facet of this phenomenon may stem from an / solicitors and businessmen. All of these leaders were per- important influence in the heritage of modem social and / sons who had a reputation for playing an important role political thou& namely, Marxism and the radical tradi- i regarding the urban lower-class area and the problems of tion. This tradition of thought promotes an interpretation I the people there. Depth interviews were conducted with of history and a definition of the current situation that I 54 such leaden. In addition, some comparable data col- supports the belief that the lower classes are in conflict lected in 132 interviews with a 25 per cent random sample with the middle and upper classes. Even the loudest anti- of heads of households in a selected squatter-housing area communists among Jamaican politicians view the lower ' of West Kingston allow a partial verification of the image classes with an eye on their revolutionary potential. Ja- of the threatmiup masses. Is it myth or realityls maica's confrontation with the experience of Haiti and Whether founded on myth or reality, the image of the other republics in and around the Caribbean basin lends hostile masses can be very real in its consequences. Just credibility to their fears of lower class antagonism. A fear as pessimism can facilitate the failure it anticipate^,^ 80 of fidelismo and any other movement of an ideological nature directed at the lower orders has resulted.' slle universe of leaders under consideration was dehd In brief, the stereotypes conveyed by the press, the by the reputational or "power attribution" approach. Of tbs 66 leaders who received three or more nomination% 82 per styles of thought regarding the relations between classes, cent were interviewed, includig 90 per cent of the 50 top EM. G. Smith, "The Plural Framework of Jamaican Soci- ranked persons. The data were collected between August 7, ety," The British Journal of Sociology, Vol. 12 (September, 1961, and September 21, 1962. A complete discussion of the 1961), p. 261. findings and methodology of the larger study from which these will be A 7 On more than one occasion my presence in some areas of data are drawn won available. See James Mau, "Social Change and Belief in Progress: A Study of Images of West Kington at odd hours was not too subtly probed by mem- the Future in Jamaica," in Wendell Bell, ed., The Demacralic bers of the security police. It is interesting to note that I was , most often forewarned because the officers were quite well , Revolution in the West Indies: Studies in Natio~lism,Leader- known in the area. Norris ha8 suggested that persons showing ship, and the Belief in Progress (Cambridge, Mass.: Schenkman an interest in the masses are liable to be suspected of being Publishing Company, 1967). Communists. See Katrin Nonis, Jamaica: The Search far an @Forexample Sanford and associates bave concluded that the ' "the pessimist, belittling the likelihood of appreciable or Identity (London: Oxford University Press for Institute of significant progress, by bis attitude adds obstacles to practical Race Relations, 1962). p. 69. 62 The Threatening Masses 1 James A. Mau also the belief that the lower classes are hostile may moti- The lower classes are hostile 61 % vate or engender a style of behavior on the part of the They are not hostile 39 1 middle and upper-class persons that could further estrange TOTAL 100 % members of the lower classes. This may be particularly Number of cases (51) true if the view that the masses are hostile is held in of- No answer (3) ficial or quasi-official circles. Such an image of the masses 1 The majority of these leaden would have agreed with may result in repressive legislation and action conducive the nineteenth century West Indian colonial governor who to mass reaction, rather than more positive integrating I wrote that he was ". . . convinced that the spirit of dis- measures. As one Jamaican columnist has observed: content is anything hut extinct, it is alive as it were under : the ashes."12 And with a recent writer: "So one might Already we spend four million pounds on internal all security in the army and the police force. Much of it sum up the information on Jamaica today: the island is littered with the remnants of a fire that is liable to flare could be better spent on feeding people instead of pre- I paring to shoot them when they become too hungry to up again. Jamaica is still branded by the institution of care.10 i slavery."la One question of immediate interest is whether the la- Writing about the need for a change in thiig about the maican leaden were correct in their assessment of the dissident groups in Jamaica, another journalist stated, "And sentiments of the urban lower classes. Were the majority if we think only in terms of repression, eventually we shall of the urban lower-class people hostile toward the middle have a movement not far removed from the Mau Mau."" I and upper classes of Jamaica as 61 per cent of the leaders As part of a discussion of the people and problems of believed them to be? The findings of the swey in the se- West Kingston, the Jamaican leaders interviewed in this lected urban lower-class area of Kingston clearly indicate research were asked, "What would you say the people of the mythical nature of the leaders' image of the hostile West Kingston think of the middle and upper-class people of Jamaica?" This question and the conversational probes masses. The attitudes toward the privileged classes actually that followed elicited detailed statements about the typical expressed in interviews with the urban lower~lassrespond- or majority view of the urban lower-class people. The con- ents were:" tent of these responses was analyzed to determine whether IzQuoted in Ruth Glass, "Ashes of Discontent: The Past the leaders perceived the typical attitude to be one of as Present in Jamaica," Monthly Review, Vol. 14 (May, 196% hostility toward the more privileged classes in Jamaica p. 24. The leaders' perceptions of lower-class attitudes were: 18 Ibid. 14 Because one might expect reticence of the lower-class re- accomplishment and facilitates the very failure he anticipates." spondenb to expreas hostility, it should be noted that in R. Nevitt Sanford, Herbert S. Conrad, and Kate Franck, "Psy- analyzing the responses any indication of hostility by indirect chological Determinants of Optimism Regarding Consequences statement or even mode of expression was classi6ed as a hostile of War," The Journal of Psychology, Vol. XXII (1946), p. response; also, the inte~iewingwas done by two black or dark- 235. See also Robert K. Merton's discussion of social fatalism shed Jamaicans. It should be noted that 59 per cent of the in "The Self-fullilling Prophecy," Social Theory and Social lower-class respondents answering this question were women, Slruclure (rev. ed.; Glencoe, Ill.: The Free Press, 1957), pp. and as might be expected they were somewhat less likely to 421436. express hostility in the interviews than were the men. The phi 'OPublic Opinion, Vol. 27 (June 7, 1963). p. 13. correlation coefficient for the relationship between sex and "Zbid. (May 11, 1963). p. 2. expression of hostility was .22. 64 The Threatening Masses James A. Marr 65 despite their concern and involvement with the area, the ~nmeknce 12 % majority of these leaders asserted, apparently incorrectly, Emulation 56 % that resentment and animosity were the dominant senti- Friendshiu (muNal respect) 11 % ments of the people. We should like to know why the Mixed TOTAL majority of the leaders were mistaken in their acceptance Number of cases (120) of the myth of the hostile masses. What differentiated No answer (12) those leaders who perceived lower-class enmity and hos- tility from those who did not accept this view? One-Mh of the lower-class respondents in West Kings- A partial answer to this last question may be found in ton expressed hostility toward the middle and upper classes Table 1 where the percentage of Jamaican leaders who of Jamaica, whereas these sentiments of enmity and animosity were believed by 61 per cent of the leaders to TABLB1 be characteristic of the majority. The typical lower-class PERCENTAGE OF JAMAICAN LEADERS WHO attitude was found to be one of emulation or aspiration PERCEIVE URBAN LOWER-CLASSHOSTILITY to the standards of life and behavior exhibited by the BY SELECTeD SOCIAL CHARACTERISITCS privileged classes. As Henriques has said, commenting on Percentage No. of Cases on the relations between segments of Jamaican society, ". . . Selected Characteristic Who Perceive Which the Per the majority of the people, are constantly striving by every Hostility Cent is Based means in their power to emulate and imitate the Euro- AE~- pean."l6 Indeed, more than half of the lower-class re- 50 and over spondents indicated this desire to emulate the practices of 40-49 39 and under the privileged classes. Only 11 per cent of the leaders re Education ported such an attitude to be typical of the people of West University or college graduate 56 Kingston. Some university or college (16) Secondary school or lea 5688 (8) Although one might wonder how widely accepted tbh Race-color (27) mythical hostility of the lower classes is among the more White socially distant middle and upper-class population, the Bmwn question of overriding significance tums upon the need Black to explain the leaders' remarkably inaccurate perceptions Occupational Rating I (Highest) of the views of the people of West Kingston. AU of these 24(Lowest) leaders were persons whose acknowledged social and civic Religious Preference responsibilities lie to some extent in West Kingston. All of Anglican 43 (14) them, because of their official positions or their public Other Protestant 73 Roman Catholic 67 (15) activities were more or less influential in the planning and Jewish - (6) implementation of policy directed to the solution of the Political Party Preference (1) problems of West Kingston and the people there. Yet, Jamaica Labour Party 58 (12) Peoples' National Party 62 16 Fernando Henriques, Jamaica: Land of Wood and Water Other 62 (26) (London: MacGibbon and Kee, 1957). p. 128. (13) 66 The Threatening Masses James A. Mau 67 perceived hostility is shown by selected social characteris- these data on social characteristics and types of positions tics. Briefly, it was found that the oldest group of leaders held by the leaders would seem to offer little help by way less often reported the lower classes to be hostile than did of interpreting or explaining the variation in the percep the intermediate or younger age groups Nearly three- tion of lower-class hostility, they do importantly provide quarters of the leaders 39 years of age and under perceived the descriptive backgrounds of the leaders. lower-class hostility compared to 55 per cent of the oldest TABLE 2 leaders. In addition to age, the clearest differences to PERCENTAGE OF JAMAICAN LEADERS WHO emerge were by race-color, religion, and political party PERCEIVE URBAN LOWERCLASS HOSTILITY preference. Those leaders who were white, members of BY TYPE OF EWIB POSllTON the Anglican Church, and who preferred the Jamaica La- bour Party, were the groups least likely to perceive hos- Percentage No. of Cases on Tm tility. Those leaders with the highest occupational rating,'@ .- of Elite Position Who Perceive Which the Per Hostility Cent is Based were also less likely to report the lower classes to be hostile than those leaders in lower rated occupations, though this Politiciaas 55 (20) Members of Parliament 50 ditference was quite small. The educational level of the (12) Parish Councillors 63 (8) leaders presented a curious relationship with the percep Government Officers 60 (15) tion of hostility. Those leaders who were in the intermedi- Servants 56 (9) Jamaica Social Welfare Comm. 67 (6) ate category with some college or university training were Non-Governmental Community the most likely to report the lower classes to be hostile. Welfare Leaders 69 (16) Additional information about the leaden is presented in Clergy 88 (8) Table 2. There the percentage of the leaden who perceived Other 50 (8) hostility is shown by the type of elite position they held.17 We have seen that the majority of these Jamaican Members of the clergy, officers and stalf of the Jamaica leaders incorrectly accepted the stereotyped hostility of Social Welfare Commission, and the Parish Councillors the people of West Kingston. Most of the leaden confirm were the groups of leaders who were likely to accept the one of Eric Hoffer's many aphorisms. He wrote: image of the hostile masses in West Kingston. Although ''Them is a tendency to judge a race, a nation or any distinct l@The measure of occupational rating was adapted by group by its least worthy members."18 The myth of the Wendell Bell for use in Jamaica from W. Lloyd Warner, hostile masses in Jamaica would seem to be based on just Marchia Meeker, and Kenneth Eells, Social Class in America (Chicago: Science Research Associates, hc., 1949). pp. 140- such a tendency suggested by Hoffer. There can be no 141; and Carson McGuire, "Social Status, Peer Status, and denial that one encounters hostility among the people of Social Mobility," a mimeographed memorandum for research West Kingston. This is particularly true of some members workers based on procedures used in studies for the Committee of the Ras Tafari cult and others who don their symbols. on Human Development, University of Chicago, Chicago, IU., 1948. Overt manifestations of hostile attitudes are more likely to 1TLeaders holding more than one such elite position were be highly visible than those of indifference, friendship, or classified according to that position which was most relevant to their role in dealing with the urban lower classes and West 18Eric Hoffer, The True Believer (New York: New Amer- Kingston. ican Library, 1951), p. 29. The Middle Classes C. L. R. lames

OUR MWDLE CLASSES, UNPREPARED, MISEDUCATED PEOPLE The West Indian middle class has inherited many of the SUDDENLY PACED WITH THE ENORMOUS MESSES nlE IM- privileges and prerogatives of expatriate and local white. PERULISTS ARE LEAVING BEHIND. elites. But there is great disparity between what the mid- dle class has been brought up to expect and what is now The middle classes in the West Indies, coloured peoples, expected of it. C. L. R. James here indicts the West Indian constitute one of the most peculiar classes in the world, middle class as ill-prepared for the role of leadership. Ex- peculiar in the sense of their unusual historical develop cluded from the productive arena by elite solidarity and ment and the awkward and difficult situation they occupy by its own concept of gentility, it lacks experience in the in what constitutes the West Indian nation, or, nowadays, management of economic affairs. Trained to a hierarchical some section of it. view of society, the West Indian middle class, in James's Let me get one thing out of the way. They are not a view, must reeducate itself to work for the broader na- defective set of people. In intellectual capacity, i.e. ability tional interest. to learn, to familiarise themselves witb the general scholas- tic requirements of Western civilization, they are and for some time have been unequalled in the colonial world. If c. L. R. J~ES,born in Trinidad in 1901, is teacher. you take percentages of scholastic achievement in relation journalist, novelist, revolutionary, Socialist, pan-Africanist, to population among the underdeveloped, formerly wlo- and cricket devotee. He played a major role in anti- nial, coloured countries, West Indians would probably imperialist activities in England during the 19309 and 1940s he at the head and, I believe, not by a small margin either. and returned to Trinidad in the late 1950s to serve as edi- What they lack, and they lack plenty, is not due to any tor of The Nation, the organ of the People's National Move- inherent West Indian deficiency. If that were so we ment, only to break witb that party's leader a few years would be in a had way indeed. I set out to show that later. He currently teaches in New York and Washingto& the blunders and deficiencies of which they are guilty are Party Politics in the West Indies, San Juan, Trinidad: Vedic Enterprises, 1962, pp. 130-39. Reprinted with permission of the author. 68 The Threatening Masses James A. Mau 69 the desire to emulate others. Hostility gains attention more ceived lower-class hostility and those who rejected that readily because of its association with threats to one's se- view. curity. Reports of "incidents" and violent expressions of The role of the ideology of egalitarianism would not be illiterate resentment rapidly gain in significance and detail unanticipated in its effect upon the perception of lower- with the momentum of exaggeration. To focus attention class hostility. A person's views of his society are condi- on these incidents is to foster an incomplete conception of tioned to some extent by the ideas and attitudes to which the views of the people of West Kingston toward the he subscribes. "Ikat is to say, men have various ide- privileged segments of Jamaican society. From the data ological or judgmental views of different parts of their reported here one must insist that hostility is far from the society, and these view8 may give them a 'false' or 'dis- typical response to the better-off segments of society. torted' picture of their social w~rld."~So among these In exploring the reasons for the prevalence of this myth leaders it was found that their attitudes toward equality among the leaders, we might suggest that those who ac- induced selective perception of the views of the urban cepted the veil of these misconceptions, in some sense, lower classes.21 Attitudes toward equality are here equated lacked access to the complete "reality" of West Kingston. with expressed preference for the maintenance or reduc- Either by preference or circumstances, or both, many of tion of status differences and ascriptive barriers which limit these leaders were limited in the range and intensity of participation in the social process. The Jamaican leaden their involvement with West Kingston and the problems of were asked: people. In contrast, those leaders who rejected the myth of the hostile masses possessed greater access to the people Do you think it is advisable that any barriers to full in- of West Kingston, and had a broader scale of activity con- teraction of people in Jamaica should be broken down, cerning the problems of the urban lower classes.'@ In the or are there some status differences which should be analysis to follow we shall examine the relationship be- maintained? tween the leaders' perception of hostility and three varia- bles which may be broadly interpreted as indicators of the Those leaders who favored the reduction of such barriers to participation were categorized as egalitarian. Leaden leaders' actual or preferred degree of involvement with the who did not clearly favor the reduction of these limitations, urban lower-class area and the problems of the people or who gave equivocal answers were classified as inegalitar- there. These three variables, the leaders' attitudes toward ian. Two respondents who said there were no barriers in equality, their relative knowledge of the complaints and Jamaica were also classified as inegalitarian. In this man- discontents of the people of West Kingston, and their ner 60 per cent of the leaders were found to be egalitarian. relative power in public affairs concerning West Kingston The remainder did not favor the extension of social equal- are shown to diierentiate between those leaders who per- 20 Bernard Barber, Social Stratification (New York: Har- 19 See Godfrey and Monica Wilson, The Annlysis of Social court, Brace and Company. 1957). p. 187. Change (Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 2lFor a somewhat comparable 6nding see Donald R 1954); and Charles C. Moskos, Jr., "The Sociology of Politi- Matthews and James W. Protbro, "Southern Racial Attitudes: cal Independence: A Study of Nationalist Attitudes and ConEict. Awareness, and Political Change," The Annals of the Activities Among West Indian Leaders," in Bell, ed., op. American Academy of Political and Social Science, Vol. 344 cit. (November, 1962). pp. 108-121. 70 The Threatening Masses James A. Mau 71 ity and were classified as inegalitarian, with the exception the poor or the subculture created by poverty.22 To what of two respondents for whom there were insufEcient data. extent was this true in Jamaica, and more importantly, how The effect of the leaders' attitudes toward equality upon TABLE4 their perception of lower-class hostility is shown in Table 3. About half of the egalitarian leaders perceived hostility PERCENTAGE OF JAMAICAN LEADERS WHO PERCEIVE THE URBAN LOWER CLASSES TO BE compared to three-quarters of the inegalitarians. Those HOSTU BY THE INDEX OF KNOWLEDGE leaders who favored the incorporation of all social, eco- nomic, and racial groups into meaningful participation in Percentage No. of Cases on Jamaican society were less likely to view the lower classes Index of Knowledge Who Perceive Which the Per as hostile than those leaders who did not assert the im- Hostility Cent is Based portance of extending equality to all Jamaicans. This find- Most knowledgeable 45 (31) ing is consistent with our earlier suggestions that the Least knowledeeable 85 120) leaders' attitudes toward equality sewed to limit their ac- did the possession of knowledge dect the likelihood that cess to the reality of West Kingston, or induced partial the leaders would accept or reject the myth of the hostile perception of that reality. masses? The measure of the leaders' knowledgeability is based on the accuracy and completeness of their knowledge of PERCENTAGE OF JAMAICAN LEADERS WHO PERCEIVE THE URBAN LOWER CLASSES the complaints and discontents of the lower-class people TO BE HOSTILE BY EGALITARIANISM who reside in West Kingston. Both the leaders and the lower-class respondents were asked to list the most im- Percentage No. of Cases on portaot complaints and sources of discontent in West Egalitarianism Who Perceive Which the Per Kingston. Each leader's list was scored according to the Hostility Cent is Based extent of agreement with the discontents reported by the Egalitarian 52 (29) lower-class people themselves. In the resulting distribution Inegalitarian 75 (20) of leaders according to their level of knowledge, 63 per cent of the leaders were classified as most knowledgeable A second indicator of the Jamaican leaders' range and about the needs and problems of the people of West Kings- intensity of interaction with the people of West Kingston ton; the remaining 37 per cent were relatively less and their problems is the leaders' relative knowledgeabi- knowledgeable. Although this index does not purport to ity concerning the specific discontents and complaints of measure the leaders' knowledge of the problems of the the people. These leaders were all, in some measure, re- urban lower classes in any absolute sense, it does provide sponsible for the betterment of the social and physical an indication of their knowledge relative to one another. milieu of West Kingston. Consequently, we might expect As shown in Table 4, the leaders' relative level of knowl- them to be aware of the various shortcomings of the area edge concerning the complaints and discontents of the which the residents desire to have corrected. However, West Kingston people was closely related to the percep- Oscar Lewis has suggested that the elite in most develop- 220scar Lewis, Five Families (New York: Basic Books, ing countries do not usually have much knowledge of hc., 1959). p. 2. 72 The Threatening Masses James A. Mau 73 tion of hostility as the typical attitude of the lower classes. in question.23 These two components were averaged for Those leaders with the least knowledge were also the most each leader and the resulting distribution of scores was likely to perceive hostility. Forty-five per cent of the dichotomized at the median interval. Again, it should be knowledgeable leaders accepted the stereotyped hostility noted that this measure of power, like the measure of of the lower classes, while 85 per cent of the leaders with knowledge presented earlier, indicates only the relative little knowledge expressed the conviction that the people power of the leaders, and is restricted to the issues con- of West Kingston were hostile toward the middle and cerning the people of West Kingstm. upper classes. This finding would also tend to confirm our Following our earlier line of reasoning, we should ex- contention that widespread enmity of the lower classes is pect the leaders who were relatively less powerful to be indeed mythical. more often convinced of the hostility of the people of Another dimension of the leaders' scale of activity in West Kingston than those more powerful leaders. This relation to West Kingston is their relative power in the expectation is fulfilled by the data presented in Table 5 councils of decision atfecting the area. Those leaders ca- where the percentage of leaders who perceived hostility is pable of exerting greater social pressure in policy formula- shown by their relative power. Sixty-eight per cent of those tion and implementation directed at the solution of the leaders who were less powerful accepted the stereotype problems of the urban lower classes would also have some- of the masses as hostile toward the more privileged classes. what greater range and intensity of involvement with the Among the more powerful leaders, 56 per cent expressed area and the problems of its people. Consequently, we the belief that the West Kingston people were hostile to should expect the relatively more powerful leaden to less those who had received more of the benefits of Jamaica's often express belief in the hostility of the people of the growth and development. area. In order to determine the relative power of each leader a two-factor index of power was constructed on the basis of responses to the following question: PERCENTAGE OF JAMAICAN LEADERS WHO PERCEIVE THE URBAN LOWER CLASSES TO Now, I'd like you to tell me the names of the people you BE HOSIZLE BY THE INDEX OF POWER think are most important in determining and carrying Percentage No. of Cases on out policy in relation to the problems of West Kingston. Index of Power Who Perceive Which the Per Hostility Cent is Based The first factor in the Index of Power is a reputational influence score for each individual based on the number Most powerful 56 (25) Least powerful 68 (25) of nominations he received in response to the above ques- tion. The second factor is a score representing the ac- 28 This use of the knowledge of the power of others is not curacy and completeness of the leaders' awareness of the unlike that of Foskett and Hohle in their community power influence of other leaden. Thus, the measure of relative research. See John M. Foskett and Raymond Hohle, 'The Measurement of Influence in Community Affairs," Proceedings power includes both the leaders' reputation for effective of the Pacific Sociological Society, Research Studies of the action, and their degree of integration into, or awareness State College of Washington, Vol. XXV (June, 1957). pp. of the system of power relations relevant to the issue-area 148-154. 74 The Threatening Masses James A. Mau 75 We have seen that each of three variables, egalitarianism, typical urban lower-class sentiment toward Jamaica's mid- the leaders' knowledge of the problems of the West Kings- dle and upper classes ton people, and their relative power in public &airs of the In general, the findings reported here indicate that the area was correlated with the differential perception of sentiments of hostility believed by the majority of these lowerclass attitudes. We should now simultaneously exam- Jamaican leaders to he typical of the urban lower classes ine the effect of all three of these variables upon the per- toward the privileged classes of Jamaica are not borne ception of lowerclass hostility. Unfortunately, the number out by the attitudes actually expressed by a sample of of cases on which the analysis is based prohibits the pres- lowerclass persons in West Kingston Whereas 61 per cent entation of the four variable table. Therefore, a composite of the leaders reported the majority of the urban lower- index of the three variables was constructed which would class pemns to be hostile, far less than a majority of the allow the simultaneous elaboration of the relationship be- lowerclass persons sampled indicated such hostile atti- tween these variables and the perception of lower-class tudes. Further, it was found that those leaders who by ho~tility.~'Scores of zero or one were given to the leaders their attitudes toward equality indicated preference for on each of the three variables. Zeros were assigned to a leaders with inegalitarian attitudes, little knowledge, and maximizing the breadth and intensity of social relations, less power. The categories given a one point value were and were also more knowledgeable and capable of exert- conversely, egalitarian attitudes, and relatively high knowl- ing greater social pressure in public affair8 of West Kings- edge and power. The sum of these three assigned values is ton, were most likely to reject the myth of the hostile the total score on the composite index. These scores range masses as an unrealistic view of the relations between from zero to three. TABLE6 Having constructed the index, we may now examine PERCENTAGE OF JAMAICAN LEADERS WHO the cumulative effect of this composite indicator of the PERCEIVE THE URBAN LOWER CLASSES TO leaders' scale of activity in relation to West Kingston upon BE HOSIlLE BY THE COMPOSITB INDEX OF their perception of hostility. The percentage of leaders who EGALlTARJANISM, POWER AND KNOWLEDGE perceived hostility as typical of the urban lower classes is presented by this composite index in Table 6. Thirty Percentage No. of Cases on Commsite Index Who Perceive Which the Per per cent of the leaders who were egalitarian, most howl- Scores Hostility Cent is Based edgeable, and most powerful (score 3) expressed the be- lief that the people of West Kingston were hostile to the 3 (Highest) 30 (10) 2 62 (21) privileged classes. At the other extreme, 100 per cent of 1 73 (11) those leaden who were assigned scores of zero on tbe com- o (~owcst) 100 (6) posite index perceived the lower classes to be hostile. That is, all of the leaders who were inegalitarian, less classes in Jamaica. Those leaden, who by preference or knowledgeable, and less powerful, viewed hostility as the circumstances were limited in their involvement with West Kingston were most likely to perceive inaccurately the 24 !ke Herbert Hyman's discussion of the deliberate creation sentiments of the urban lower classes toward the p&- of a wnliguration, which though synthetic, allows more com- plex and rebed analysis; Survey Design and Analysis leged classes. (Glencoe, Ill.: The Free Press, 1955). pp. 271-272. The implications of this inaccuracy and the wnse- 76 The Threatening Masser, James A. Mau 77 quences of the behavior it might engender are fearsome. myth of the hostile masses. If these leaders do not deny Some of the implications of the belief that the masses rep their ideology and their responsibility, "the tragic circle resent a threat were suggested by the disproportionately of fear, social disaster, and rMorced fear can be strong reaction to the Coral Gardens "uprising" in April, broken."m 1963. Another hint of this tendency to resort to repressive 27 Zbid., p. 436. action was given only a few days prior to the Coral Oar- dens incident. The Unemployed Workers' Council had planned a march and demonstration in Kingston on March 31, 1963. The Government's immediate action was a dis- play of force with the intention of intimidating the dis- senters. The march was banned and "armored cats rum- bled through the streets of Kingston," in Jamaica's version of what used to be called "gunboat diplomacy."26 The simcance of such action in the face of any opposition demonstration lies in the threat to democratic processes. and in the kind of behavior it may generate in return. In these few instances the stage has been set for the vicious circle of the self-fuWhg prophecy in which ill-founded fears give rise to the'u own spurious The belief that the lower classes in Jamaica are hostile may be conducive to a style of behavior on the part of the govern- ment and the middle and upper-class people which could give truth to (heir initially false definition of the situation. We have ahom that the majority of these Jamaican leaden had accepted a false definition of the sentiments of the urban lowerclass people, a definition which could clearly mume the character of a self-fdlllkg prophecy. However, our hdings also suggest that the fatalistic prophecy might not, and certainly need not be fulfilled. Obviously there is discontent among the people of West Kingston, but it need not result in hostility and overt ag- gression unless these are provoked by unenlishtened leader- ship. The prophecy might not be ful6lled because. the knowledgeable and powerful leaders, guided by their wm- mitment to the ideology of equality have rejected the ZsSpotlight, Vol. 24 (March, 1963). p. 10. 26 Merton, op. cit. 80 The Middle Classes C. L. R. James 81 historically caused and therefore can be historically cor- fully in everything they do and everything they do not do. rected. Otherwise we are left with the demoralizing result: Mr. Nehru talks about India's new steel mills, President '%at is the way West Indians are," and closely allied to Nasser talked about his dam which caused a war, Preai- this: ''The man or men who have brought us into this dent Nknumh talked and preached about his Volta Dam mess are bad men. Let us search for some good men" As for ten years before he got it. A West Indian politician long as you remain on that level, you understand nothing talks about how much money he will get from the British and your apparently "goodn men turn rapidly into men Oovernment or from the United States. It is because the who are no good Thai is why I shall keep as far away class from which he comes had and has no experience from individuals as I can and stick to the class. I am not whatever in matters of production. It is the same in agricul- fighting to win an election. ture. They have never had anything to do with the big For something like twenty years we have been establish- sugar estates. Banking is out of their hands and always ing the premises of a modem democratic society: parlia- has been. There is no prospect that by social intermixing, mentary government, democratic rights, party politics, etc. intermarriage, etc., they will ever get into those circles. The mere existence of these is totally inadequate-the %y have been out, are out and from all appearances will smash-up of the Federation has proved that. We now remain out. That is a dteadful position fiom which to have have to move on to a more advanced stage. To think that to govern a country. In Britain, France, Australia, you what I say is the last word in political wisdom is to make have capitalist parties, men who represent and are closely me into just another West Indian politician. I am posing associated with big capital, big agriculture, finance. You certain profound, certai~~fundamental questious. Their have also labour parties. In Britain a hundred members in urgency lies in the fact that our political pundits and those the House of Cornmoos are placed there by the union who circulate around them, consistently ignore them, try movement The Labour Party members are the heads or to pretend that they do not exist connected with the beads of the union movement, of the Who and what are our middle classes? What passes my Labour Party, of the Cooperative Movement; thus, apart comprehension is that their situation is never analysed in from Parliament, they have a social base. In the We-st Writing, or even mentioned in public discussion. That type Indies some of the politicians have or have had posts in of ignorance, abstinmce, shame or fear, simply does not the labour or union movement But as a class they have no take pbin a country like Britain. There must be some base anywhere.. They are pmfessional men, clerical assist- reason for this stolid 8ilenw about themselves, some deep. ants, here and there a small busiiess man, and of late years underlying compulsion We shall see. administrators, civil servants and professional politidans Our West Indian middle classes are for the most part and, as usual, a few adventurers. Most of the political coloured people of some education in a formerly ~VO types who come from this class live by politics. AU pemnal society. 'Ihat means that for racial and historical reaS0W distinction and even in some cases the actual means of they are today excluded from those circles which are in life and the means of improving the material circumstances control of big industry, commerce and finance. They are of life, spring from participation, direct or indiit, in the almost as much excluded from large-scale agriculture, government, or cirdes sympathetic to or willing to play sugar for example. That is point number one. Thus they ball with the government. Thus the politicians carry into as a class of people have no knowledge or experience of politics all the weaknesses of the class from which they the productive forces of the country. That stands out pain- come. 84 The Middle Classes C. L. R. James 85 absolutely certain. Independence was not an integral part what they are. Nobody except our novelists is telling them. of their politics. The evidence for this is ovenvhelmiig We live in a world in the throes of a vast reorganization and at the slightest provocation I shall make it public. The of itself. The religious question is back on the order of drive for independence now is to cover up the failure of discussion. Two world wars and a third in the ofhg, Na- the Federation. zism, Stalinism, have made people ask: where is humanity If you watch the social connections of the politicians going? Some say that we are now reaching the climax of and the life they live, you will see why their politics is that preoccupation with science and democracy which well what it is. I do not know any social class which lives so over a hundred and iifty years ago substituted itself for completely without ideas of any kind. They live entirely religion as the guiding phcipk of mankind Some believe on the material plane. In a published address Sir Robert we have to go back to religion. Others that mankind has Kirkwood quotes Vidia Naipaul who has said of them that never made genuine democracy the guiding light for they seem to aim at nothing more than being second-rate society. Freud and lung have opened depths of uncertainty American citizens. It is much more than that. They aim at and doubt of the rationality of human intelligence. W' nothing. Government jobs and the opportunities which the West Indian middle class (with all its degrees) stand association with the government gives, allows them the on this, who is for, who is againsf who even thinks of possibility of accumulating material goods. That is all. such matters, nobody knows. They think they can live and Read their speeches about the society in which they avoid such questions. You can live, but in 1962 you cannot live. They have nothing to say. Not one of them. They govern that way. promise more jobs an$ tell the population that everybody Are they capitalists, i.e. do they believe in capitalism, will have a chance to get a better job. They could not say socialism, communism, anarchism, anything? Nobody what federation meant. They are unable to say what in- knows. They keep as far as they can from committing dependence means. Apart from the constitution and the theme1vea to anything. This is a vitally practical matter. fact that now they will govern without Colonial Office Are you going to plan your economy? To what degree is intervention, they have nothing to say. They are dying to that posible, and compatible with democracy? To West find some Communists against whom they can thunder Indian politicians a development programme is the last and so make an easier road to American pockets. What word in economic development. They never &CUSP the kind of society they hope to build they do not say because plan, what it means, what it can be. If they feel any pres- they do not know. sure they forthwith baptise their development programme Their own struggle for posts and pay, their ceaselas as "plaming". promising of jobs, their sole idea of a national develop Where does personality, litemture, art, the drama stand ment as one where everybody can aim at getting some- today in relation to a national development? What is the thing more, the gross and vulgar materialism, the absence relation between the claims of individuality and the claims of any ideas or elementary originality of thought; the tire- of the state? What does education aim at? To make citi- some repetition of commonplaces aimed chiefly at impress- zens capable of raising the productivity of labour, or to ing the British, this is the outstanding characteristic of give them a conception of life? West Indian intellectuals the West Indian middle class. The politicians they produce who are interested in or move around politics avoid these only reproduce politically the thin substance of the class. questions as if they were the plague. Let us stay here for a while. These people have to know Some readers may eme ember seeing the movie of the 82 The Middle Classes C. L. R. James 83 They have no trace of political tradition. Until twenty business. When they did get into the charmed government years ago they had no experience of political parties or of circles or government itself, they either did their best to government. Their last foray in that sphere was a hundred show that they could he as good servants of the Colonial and thirty years ago, when they threatened the planters Office as any, or when they rose to become elected mem- with rebellion of themselves and the shes if they were bers in the legislahue, some of them maintained a loud not permitted to exercise the rights of citizens. Since then (but safe) attack on the government. They actually did they have been quiet as mice. On rare occasions they little. They were not responsible for anything, so they would make a protest and, the ultimate pitch of rebellion, achieved a cheap popularity without any danger to them- go to the Colonial Office. They did not do any more be- selves. cause all they aimed at was being admitted to the ding Thus the class has been and is excluded from the centres circle of expatriates and local whites. More than that they of economic life, they have no actual political experience. did not aspire to. It is most significant that the father of they have no political tradition. The democracy and West the anti-imperialist democratic movement Q a white man, IndhWion was won by mass revolt. Even this revolt was A. A. Cipriani, and the. biggest names are Alexander led by men who were not typically middle dass. When, Bustamante who spent a lot of his life in Spain, Cuba and after 1937-38, the democratic movement started, it was a the United States, and Uriah Butler, a working man: not labour movement. Gradually, however, the British Govern- one of them is a member of the ordinary middle class. Si ment, felt itself compelled to make the Civil Service West Grantley Adams may appear to be one. He most certainly Indian, i.e. middle class. By degrees the middle class took is not. After being educated abroad, he came back to over the political parties. The Colonial Office carefully, Barbados, which alone of the West Indian islands had an what it called, educated them to govern, with rhe result that elected House of Representatives. He neglected what would the Federation is broken up and every territory is in a have been a brilliant and lucrative profession at the bar to political mess. plunge himself into politics. Middle class West Indians do Let us stick to the class, the class from which most of not do that. our politicians come, and from which they get most of Knowledge of production, of political struggles, of the their views on life and soaety. democratic tradition, they have had none. Theii ignorance AU this politicians' excitement about independence Q and disregard of economic development is profound and not to he trusted. In recent years the middle classes have deeply rooted in their past and present situation. They do not been concerned about independence. They were quite not even seem to be aware of it. For several generations saMed with the lives they lived. I never saw or heard one they have been confined to getting salaries or fees, money of them around the politicians who was actively for for services rendered. That is still their outlook. independence. Their political representation faithfully re- For generations their sole aim in life was to be admitted produced this attitude. I can say and dare not be chal- to the positions to which their talents and education en- lenged that in 1959 one man and one only was for inde titled them, and from which they were unjustly excluded. pendence, Dr. Williams. I do not know one single West On rare occasions an unexpected and di5icult situation Indian politician who supported him except with some opened a way for an exceptional individual, hut for the noncommittal phrases. You cannot speak with too much most part they developed political skill only in crawling or certainty of a class unless you have made or have at your worming their way into recognition by government or big disposal a careful examination. But of the politicians I am 86 The Middle Classes C. L. R. lames 87 night of the independence of Ghana, and hearing Nh- fry, today they deal directly with the British Colonial mah choose at that time to talk about the African Personal- Secretary and British Cabiiet Ministers, with foreign busi- ity. This was to be the aim of the Ghanaian people with ness interests themselves instead of only their representa- independence. Is there a Wmt Indian personality? Is there tives abroad. The strenuous need and desire to BcU)mmo- a West Indian nation? What is it? What does it lack7 date, the acceptance of a British wde of manners, morals What must it have? The West Indian middle classes keep and economic and political procedures, that is what they far from these questions. The job, the car, the fridge, the have always done, especially the upper Civil Servants. They trip abroad, preferably under government auspices and at have had to live that way because it was the only way government expense, these seem to be the beginning and they wuld live. That new combination of a West Indianised end of their preoccupations. What foreign forces, social Civil Service and a West Indianised political grouping are classes, ideas, do they feel themselves allied with or at- a little further along the road, but it is the same road on tached to? Nothing. What in their own history do they which they have always travelled. The man who has look back to as a beginning of which they are the continu- worked out something usually 6nds the aptest illustration ation? I listen to them, I read their speeches and their writ- of it In conversation with me the author of this really ings. "Massa day done" seems to be the extreme limit of superb piece of insight and analysis has said: "If they had their imaginative concepts of West Indian nationalism. had to deal with, for instance, Japanese or even German Today nationalism is under fire and every people has to businessmen they would act differently. They would have consider to what extent its nationalism has to be. mitigated been conscious of a sharp change. With the British they by international considerations. Of this as of so much else are not conscious of any break with the past. Accustomed the West Indian middle class is innocent What happens for generations to hang around the British and search dili- after independence? For all you can hear from them, in- gently for ways and means to gain an advantage, they now dependence is a dead end. Apart from the extended op do of their own free will what they formerly had to do." portunities of jobs with government, independence is as Having lived, as a class, by receiving money for services great an abstraction as was federation We achieve inde- rendered, they transfer their age-old habits to government pendence and they continue to govern. But as this recent analysis shows, the very objective cir- It has been pointed out to me, in a solid and very bril- cumstances of their new political positions in 05s have liant manuscript, that the accommodation of the middle merely fortiIied their experiences out of oh. class to what is in reality an impossible position is primarily It is such a class of people which has the government of due to the fact that, contrary to the general belief, it is in the West Indies in its hands. In all essential matters they essence a position they have been in for many years. They are, as far as the public is concerned, devoid of any ideas or their most distinguished representatives have always been whatever. This enormous statement I can make with the in the situation where the first necessity of advance or new greatest confidence, for no one can show any speech, status was to curry favour with the British authorities. The any document, any report on which any of these matten easiest way to continued acceptance was to train yourself -and the list is long-are treated with any serious applica- to be able to make an impact as British and as submissive tion to the West Indian situation. These are the people from as possible. Now they have political power their attitude whom come the political leaders of the West Indies. The is the same only more so. Where formerly they had to ac- politicians are what they are not by chance. commodate themselves to the Governor and all such small What is the cause of this? A list of causes will be pure 88 The Middle Classes C. L. R. lames 89 empiricism allowing for an infinite amount of "on the one hand and less strenuous atmosphere than this. But political hand" and "on the other hand". The cause is not in any independence and social aspirations cannot run between individual and not in any inherent national weakness. The the same shafts; sycophancy soon learns to call itself mod- cause is in their half-and-half position between the eco- eration; and invitations to dinner or visions of a knigbt- nomic masters of the country and the black masses. They hood form the strongest barriers to the wishes of the are not an ordinary middle class with strong personal ties people. with the upper class and mobility to rise among them and "All this is and has been common knowledge in Trini- form social ties with them. From that they are cut off com- dad for many years. The situation shows little signs of pletely. And (this is hard for the outsiders to grasp, but it changing. The constitution is calculated to encourage is a commonplace in the West Indies) for centuries they rather than to suppress the tendency."= have had it as an unshakeable principle that they are in That has been overcome. A black man of ability and status, education, morals and manners, separate and dis- iduence can make his way. In personal relations, in tinct from the masses of the people. The role of education strictly personal relations, the political types meet the white in the West Indies has had a powerful influence here. The economic masters with a confidence and certainty far re- children of an aristocracy or of a big bourgeoisie take moved from the strange quirks of thirty years ago. But education in their stride. Their status is not derived from their ancestry (as described above) is bad They are politi- it. But where your grandfather or even your father had cal nouveuux-riches. And all such lack assurance (or are some uncertain job or was even an agricultural labourer, very rude in unimportant matters). This middle class with a good education is a form of social differentiation. It puts political power minus any economic power are still poli- you in a different class. Twenty years is too short a time tically paralysed before their former masters, who are still to overcome the colonial structure which they inherit, the masters. The only way of changing the structure of the still powerful influence of the local whites, stiU backed by economy and setting it on to new paths is by mobiig the Colonial Office. The Civil Service open to them fortifies the mass against all who will stand in the way. Not one of this sentiment. It is not that no progress bas been made. them, even the professed Communist Jagan, dares to take Writing in 1932 and analysing the political representatives any such step. They tinker with the economy, they wear of the coloured people, I bad this to say: themselves out seeking grants, loans and foreign invest- "Despising black men, these intermediates, in the Legis- ments which they encourage by granting fabulous advan- lative Council and out of it, are forever climbing up the tages dignified by the name of pioneer status. (It is impos- climbing wave, governed by one dominating motive-ac- sible to conceive any people more unlike the pioneers ceptance by wbite society. It would be unseemly to lower who extended the American nation than these investors the tone of this book by detailing with whom, when and of little money with large possibilities.) Here is the hurdle how Colonial Secretaries and Attorneys-General distribute against which the Federation broke its back. Sitting un- the nod distant, the bow cordial, the shake-hand friendly, easily on the fence between these two classes, so changed or the cut direct as may seem fitting to their exalted high- now from their former status, the middle classes and the nesses; the transports of joy into which men, rich, power- middle class politicians they produce saw federation as

I ful and able, are thrown by a few words from the Colonial everything else but a definitive cbange in the economic Secretary's wife or a smile from the Chief Justice's 1C. L. R James, The Life of Captain Cipriani (Nelson, daughter. These are legitimate game, yet suit a lighter Lancaphire, England: Coulton, 1932). I 90 The Middle Classes C. L. R. James 91 life and the social relations which rested upon it. The daily growing more restless and dissatisfied. The middle economy lives for the most part on a sugar quota granted classes point to parliamentary democracy, trade unions, by the British Government. In a society where new politi- party politics and all the elements of democracy. But these cal relations are clamped upon old economic relations, are not things in themselves. They must serve a social pur- the acceptance of the quota system appears to give an im- pose and here the middle classes are near the end of their pregnable position to the old sugar plantation owners. This tether. Some of them are preparing for troubles, trouble reinforces the age-old position of the classes and fortifies with the masses. Come what may, they are going to keep the timidity of the middle classes. They therefore are fran- them in order. Some are hoping for help from the Ameri- tic in building more roads, more schools, a hospital; ex- cans, from the Organisation of American States. cept where, as in Jamaica, it cannot be hidden, they turn Without a kirm social base; they are not a stable group a blind eye to the spectres of unemployment and under- ing. Some are playing with the idea of dictatorship, a employment, in fact do everything to maintain things benevolent dictatorship. But different groupings are ap essentially as they were. It is no wonder, therefore, that pearing among them. Those educated abroad are the most they discuss nothing, express no opinions (except to the reactionary, convinced as they are of their own superiority. Americans that they are antiCommunist), keep themselves The lower middle class locally educated are to a large de- removed from all the problems of the day, take no steps gree ready for political advances-they are socially very to see that the population is made aware of the real prob close to the mass. There are also groupings according to lems which face it, and indeed show energy and determina- age. Those over fifty have grown up with an innate tespect tion only to keep away or discredit any attempts to have for British ideals. They welcome in the new regime posi- the population informed on any of the great problems tions of status from which they were formerly excluded, which are now disturbing mankind. They know very well but they accommodate themselves easily to authority. But what they are doing. Any such discussion can upset the the younger generation has grown up with no respect for precarious balance which they maintain. Any topic which any authority whatever; even some-from abroad who have may enlarge the conception of democracy is particularly gone into good government jobs bring with them from dangerous because it may affect the attitude of the mass of Europe and the New World the scepticism prevailing then the population. How deeply ingrained is this sentiment is of any particular doctrine or social morality. Independence proved by the fact that nowhere in the islands has the will compel the posing of some definite social discipline. middle class found it necessary to establish a daily paper The old order is gone. No new order has appeared. The devoted to the national interest. In fact in Trinidad when middle classes have their work cut out for them. Their it became obvious that this was not only possible but every- brief period of merely enjoying new privileges after three one expected it, the political leadership was inmerent hundred years of being excluded is about over. when it was not actively hostile. After twenty years no- The West Indian middle classes have a high standard of where have they felt it necessary to have a daily paper of formal education. They are uneducated and will have to their own. The obvious reason for that is that they have educate themselves in the stern realities of West Indian nothing to say. They want to win the election and touch economic and social life. Independence will place them nothing fundamental. face to face with the immense messes the imperalists are It is obvious to all observers that this situation cannot leaving behind. The economic mess is the greatest mess of continue indefinitely. The populations of the islands are all, and the other messes draw sustenance from it. It is not 92 The Middle Classes 1 insoluble. Far from it Economic development on the grand scale is first of all people, and history has endowed us with the potentially most powerful and receptive masses in all the underdeveloped countries. The effects of slavery and colonialism are like a miasma all around choking us. One hundred and fifty years ago, when the Non- conformists told the slawowners, 'You cannot continue to keep human beimp in this condition," all the slave- owners could reply was, "You will ruin the economy, and further what can you expect from people like these?" When you try to tell the middle classes of today, "Why not place responsibiity for the economy on the people?" their reply is the same as that of the old slavwwners: "Yon will ruin the economy, and further what can you expect from people like these?" The ordinary people of the West Indies who have borne the burden for centuries are very tired of it They do not want to substitute new masters for old. They want no masters at all. Unfortunately they 1 do not know much. Under imperialism they had had little opportunity to learn anything. History will take its conrse, only too often a bloody one. Honours and Paquotille Adrian Espinet

Prestigious rewards doled out by imperial and local gov- ' One of the results of the post-war growth of nationalist ernments are vital in assuring West Indian acceptance of movements among former colonies all over the world has I metropolitan standards and patterns of local stratification. been a broadening and deepening of our understanding of Here a Trinidadian casts a bleak eye on his fellow country- colonialism. men who continue to preach that British is best and to The lead in this understanding has not always come peddle or accept imperial titles. In several independent from nationalist leaders themselves. For one thing, they are more or less forced to spend a great deal of time and West Indian states, local honors now replace imperial onea; energy in simply keeping politically-sometimes even physi- whether this promotes the sense of nationhood and local cally-alive; and for another, they tend to form a breed purpose more than it perpetuates the old social structure notoriously prone to simple and uncomprehending drives and standards of prestige remains to be seen. to personal glory-which too often limits their radicalism to a shifting of personnel within the inherited structure of ADRUN ESPINET is a Trinidad-born journalist and politi- authority. cal activist. He served as the kteditor of Moko, the of- Hence the existence today of ex-colonies where national- ficial organ of Trinidad's United National Independence ist movements have petered into the thin trickle of sickly Party, and later as editor of the political journal Tnpia new but essentially colonial concoctions-Pakistan, Ja- maica, Nigeria and so on. Hence too, the supreme importance of those non- political figures-the social scientists, historians, creative writers and artists of every kind-to the new societies striv- ing for independence and identity. For it is these cool ob- servers, standing outside the dusty bullring of personal political ambition, on whom we have more and more to New World Quarterly, Vol. 2, No. 1, Dead Season, 1965, pp. 19-22. Reprinted with permission of the author and the New World Quarterly, University of the West Indies, Jamaica 98 Honours and Paquotille Adrian Espim 99 I by which metropolitan imperialism has managed to main- ouslyW-though it is in fact a rather serious matter, like tain fifth columns withh the colonial societies, ensuring the House of Lords-and in most cases the Honours are "st.ity"-that is, a clash of local interests profitable to cynically reserved for their therapeutic value in treating the meWpolitan ruler. It is those imperial powers which tired Tory OEce oBcials, pass6 politicians and powerful made fullest use of these systems of bribery--of which "ed- Canadian businessmen with inferiority complexes about ucation" has been a major factor-that have generally ( not being British. succeeded best in their colonial enterprises. To understand this is further to understand the nature And it should be obvious that of all the paquotille tra- of such awards to "good" West Indiaos--yes, Sir Uncle ditionally employed by the British for taming the colonial Tom. It is true that in places like Trinidad and Jamaica natives the most intrinsically worthless is that of the Hon- I the awards are no longer nowadays made on the rewm- ours award system-an idea that is in itself puerile and , mendation of the British Governor. But the new system, public schoolish anyway. whereby we ourselves administer the handouts, looks rather It is true that if Iack of actual value were all that wuld I worse, if anything, for it implies full acceptance of the be charged against the system there might actually be argu- I asaibed role. ments in favour of retaining our adherence to it-political I But there is an even more socially evil aspect of this arguments, mainly, such as the expediency of humouring affair, and that is where real merit is involved. Why should the whims of economically useful associates, the undesir- Mr. Frank Worrell-who everybody agrees is, or has been, abiity of risking diplomatic offences (in much the same a superb cricketer--wish (or for that matter agree) to be way as we agree to take off our shoes on entering a henceforth known as Sir Prank? The answer is that the mosque) and so on. title coders a certain formal status and privilege in the But there are positive destructive, and peculiarly odious, society. And it is harmful precisely because it has trans- effects of the system which outweigh such arguments. lated a real achievement into a formal privilege--which is In Trinidad it causes middle-aged "social workers" with a debasement Since the formal title is inbinsically irrele- big bosoms and M.B.E.'s to say "~cececeinstead of vant to merit as a cricketer it can hardly be expected to do "twelve cents". It has put me in a terrible personal predica- anything but detract attention from the true nature of that ment about how to address my friend's mother-after call- merit, thereby detracting from the total social value of ing her Mrs. X from childhod-now that her b-t the achievement Worrell-who is really a far more impor- husband has been knighted. tant and valuable person-has been sold up to Sir Frank. These may seem trivial, but are they? The fad is that, One only has to listen to the public utterances, in London in essence and intention, the system is one founded upon and Trinidad, of another famous KnightCricketer to get a a concept of social inequality-a Tory idea. Any serious stark illustration of the p~ciple. socialist government in England with a real understand- It is a maddenhg-but not surprisii~factthat, lashed ing of the practical benefits of egalitarianism would abolish and flooded as we are by the huge breakers of American it in that country tomorrow. In Trinidad or Nigeria or Ja- culture, the West Indies and the Caribbean in general maica it is no more nor less than the unintempted con- seem to be receptive only to the worst--the pinball and tinuation of the colonial principle-atratory, divisive, chewing gum and jukebox-aspects of that culture. Instead socially and psychologically cormpting. of Tom Paine we get only Dr. Kildare. One would suppose In England nowadays nobody takes this System "mi- that an ex-colonial society might have some of the emo- 100 Honours and Paquotille tional repugnance for formal ascriptions of privilege that is one of the few redeeming features of the American character. But it was no doubt too much to expect from a society thick with the sort of people that Trollope and Fibank and Miss Tracy, in their different ways, have described. What we have certainly done consistently is to select the worst of two worlds--British snobbery and American vul- sari@. So what we can expect-any minute now-is that they will make him 'mightier yet!' Hail, Sir Sparrow, and good- bye to our best calypsonianl Realism and Race A Young Jamaican Nationalist

The controversy on race that is currently disturbing not A YOUNG JAMAICAN NATIONALIST here ascribes racial in- merely the minds and hearts of all thinking people on a equality in West Indian society to government favoritism world-wide scale but also, and nearer home, the soul of toward expatriate interests and to the failure of blacks to the Jamaican society, has now been raging on the local articulate their own rights. Like Gamey before him, the scene for dose on a year. It is directly connected in spirit anonymous author finds multiracial equality a myth in Ja- with the ferment which has gripped Africa and its out- maica of 1960, where the black four fifths of the popula- come in the field of practical politics must to some extent tion occupied only a handful of high positions. Though run a parallel course with what happens on that great exhorted to advance, blacks in general found few avenues continent It appears that the time may have arrived when of advancement open to them and were held back even there should be an attempt at an interim assessment of from these because they themselves had been brainwashed the situation. By tying together the loose ends of thought to accept failure as their lot. To redress the balance, the. and expression and relating them to the realities of social, author urges the government to require expatriate firms political and economic structure and development, it may and investors to place black West Indians in managerial be possible to point the way to a solution of the dilemma positions. of race which now besets this island in particular and the West Indies in general.

It may have been quite coincidental that the events which put the spark to the Jamaican powder keg, now somewhat dampened, were connected with the Ras Tafari movement and were almost simultaneous with the coming of inde- War Indian Economist, Vol. 3, No. 10, April 1961, pp. 612. A Young Jm'cm Nationalist 104 Realism and Race 105 they are from the United Kingdom is considered oracular, pendence in the Congo. The spirit let loose in both cases while identical comments from a member of the local created an unrest, the end of which is not yet in sight community without obvious European connections are either on the local scene or in the wider field of world treated with scant regard. Since this argument has win- alTairs; and in both cases the situation has been abused the for political ends by those opposing forces whose main cided with stir of social unrest it is easy to hold, as the functionaries of the establishment have contended, that it object is to foster or perpetuate their own self interest. In Jamaica the myth of social and racial integration has is the racialists who are stirring up the people. been pretty nearly exploded and we are beiig treated to Some of us may prefer to think that this in common the spectacle of the myth-makers and myth-users running with most demonstrations of social ferment is an organic around, attempting patching operations with solutions of growth end that it is necessary for those who desire to lead a society htto understand it. In the confusion that weak paste. Where those measures fail, a hammer is some- the times raised threateningly, as it were, to knock some awk- has followed first spasm of discontent, the Government of Jamaica has been alarmed to discover the truth in the ward corners back into place. elementary axiom of practical politics, that it is necessary What emerges from all this is the fact that there is an alignment of forces on either side, each resolute in its in order to retain leadership to go in the same direction as the mass of their followers. Having found itself with only determinations to repel by arguments, relevant or irrele- an apathetic following despite its impressive Development vant, the contentions of the other side. And as in all con- troversies which question the structure of a society, one of Programme, the Government has milTed the political air and concluded that the Development Programme is not the protagonists is in almost complete support of the Es- going fast enough, is not benefiting enough people, is not tablishment. 'There is nothing wrong with it', say the en- reaching deep enough into the economic needs of the peo- trenched interests, with the approval of government. The ple. The cry goes out 'Everyone get share leading spokesmen for this view represent the most in- will his in time'. The solution to all needs therefore, is an economic one. fluential groups in industry and politics in the country. They point with emotion to the development of the country It is upon this premise that the Jamaican Govern- ment now proposes to embark upon a new drive in labour as an economic and political unit over the past ten years, intensive development, to be financed, presumably, by in- though with less assurance than formerly, and ask if we creased rates of taxation. Thia new tax rise will inevitably would threaten or destroy all that has been built up so be borne by those who in the past have borne most of the laboriously. Of course no one on the other side has so tax impositions. This must be regarded as a great pity, since much as threatened to destroy anything except what they it is the considered opinion of many that the Jamaican regard as an iniquitous social and racial structure. Government is wrong in its assessment. Though there is The other side, who have been labelled racialists, say need for continued economic development, there is a graver that there is nothing sacrosanct about an establishment need, and this merits closer enquiry. in which the accepted passport to preferment seems to be Much of the reasoning which has been used by de- a physical appearance as near to that of the average Euro- fenders of the status quo to bolster their case turns on the pean as possible; that there must be something vitally proposition that it is not to be wondered at that while the wrong with a society which is disposed to accept a situa- majority of the members of other races in the society, tion where almost every comment and observation on with the exception perhaps of East Indians, are fairly well public matters made by visitors from abroad particularly if 106 Realism and Race A Young ImicM Naiionalist 107 mass established economically, the majority of those of African tration of the of the people the Government's educa- descent are not. The explanation, they say, is simply that tion and other policies have merely created a new social over ninety per cent of the population are of predomi- awareness of limitations. Nor are those same social nantly African origin. And since in any country the major- policies geared to promote an appreciation of any cultural chaos ity of the people are poor, it must follow that the majority values. The result is a in moral disciplioe, an abnega- tion of the fundamental loyalties which are needed to hold in Jamaica who are of African descent should not expect will to have it otherwise. However, a more honest answer any society together. There be very little difference would seek to explain why members of other races do not therefore within the general social context in the impulses appear to be poor in equal proportions. The reasons for which inspire wild-cat strikes among the regular employees this do not always reflect on others so much as on those of in industry and the government services, and the vocifer- African descent, as will be shown later. ous ranting8 of the inarticulate Ras Tafari: workers organ- Before the troubles of the past year began, it was custom- ized in trade unions will inevitably express their frustra- ary in iduential circles to dismiss the Ras Tafari brethren tions in economic terms. The institutional pattern of their This merely as the lunatic fringe of the Jamaican society. But organisation leaves them little choice. may explain then, this society has hitherto been singularly lacking in why no amount of appeals to economic reason will placate social conscience, a direct result of the fact that its leaders them, since they express not economic, hut social disaf- were previously drawn from an environment totally out fection. The result which is being currently witnessed in of sympathy with the deeper aspirations of the broad mass Jamaica despite the feeble and unconvincing protests of of the population. They have looked to other societies for the government spokesmen, is galloping inflation driven on their models and sought only to impose these models on by relentless wage demands. The. Ras Tafari are not an to the local social structure. The result to a large extent economic force and, less wen organised for pressure, ex- was predictable and has had its extreme demonstration in press their social protest in spasmodic demonstrations of the total rejection of the values of an alien culture by the violence. cult of the Ras Tafari. It should not for a single mo- For a realistic appraisal of the situation some reference. ment be considered odd that the more rational of the should be made to limitations, real or imagined, which Ras Tafari creeds has the support of many of the more induce these exhibitions of frustration It should always weU educated among the young people of the country. be remembered that, as with individuals so with groups, This merely indicates that they too have rejected the basic there is seldom ever an objective assessment of the capacity premises of the present social structure, since they contab in the party concerned to play the part or do the job sought nothing which offers them deliverance from their present It is therefore a rather pointless and facile argument to declare as some leaders of the establishment have done. status. that certain executive and managerial jobs are available in industry and commerce, but there is a grave shortage of local people qded to 6U the posts. Obviously the AMBITION AND LOW CEILINGS training of managerial and executive staE cannot in any The pages of history are fiUed with examples which should industry or in any wuntry depend alone on the accident of personal ambition. This must be the effect of weU laid provide a guide to those perplexed by the present situation. plans, resulting from conscious policy on the part of both By lifting the lid which previously confined the bleak frus- A Y0un8 ~amnicanNatio~list 108 Realism and Raw 109 reflecting social prejudice, and that from these limited industry and government. If therefore a particular state circles are drawn the persons who are to fill the vacancies exists, in which local personnel or people of a particular as they arise. In social institutions as in commerce and pigmentation are not found in certain categories of st& industry there is no such thing as the career open to talent in industry, commerce or government controlled enterprise, In most cases each organisation, each firm, each industry it will be obvious to the most stupid person that it is so as a knows precisely from which social and racial category it result of conscious and calculated policy on the part of proposes to recruit staff for each particular level of its those in control. Nor will the motive be far to seek. Con- operations. Presumably, the existence of Ulis state of affairs trary to the suggestion that the s@ng of these categories is will not be denied by those who support the establish- the result of the failure of personal capacity and ambition ment since it is they who hold out the awesome if unrealis- in local persons, the fact is that these people do not pursue tic prospect to this effect, that claims for equal or propor- ambitions to qualify themselves for such posts because tional representation of all races in business enterprise these posts are regarded as closed to them. It would be may lead those business leaders and capitalists who belong manifest folly on the part of native Jamaicans to go to to races other than African to take their business enter- great expense to train themselves or otherwise develop prise elsewhere. And then what would the poor, unenter- capacities when they are likely to be excluded from posts prising wloured population do? Those arguing in support for reasons unco~ectedwith their abiities to do a good this is of this assertion apparently do not merely admit that such job. Those who contend that not the case in a wide a situation of exclusion as described above exists, but en- range of executive, managerial and secretarial posts, clearly done it. And if they do, no more need be said on tbe point. underestimate the intelligence of their audience. Apart However it is important to note the fallacy in their argu- from the Civil Service and its Local Government counter- ment The history of economic development since the part there is hardly an avenue of business enterprise which this Industrial Revolution in England is a record of massive does not at moment apply these exclusions, completely flows of capital over long periods from one country or or with subtle momcations. This is the world which our continent to another for the purpose of development. In young people freshly out of school after a perfunctory most instances these capital flows coincided with periods education have to face. This is the world that the greater in which immigration into the developing countries took part of modem Jamaica appears clearly to have rejected. place on a comparatively large scale. Immigration occurred It provides their ambitions with the prospect of low ceil- durhg the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries ings in personal achievement, and that they will not have. principally from Europe into the American continents, Australia and Africa as part of what the history books euphemistically describe as the expansion of Europe. In those days of rampant European nationalism it was an implicit condition of capital financing that a represent- One of the arguments levelled against the socalled racial- ative if not preponderant section of the new country should ists seeks to ridicule their proposition that more obviously belong to the same national stock as that from which the coloured persons should be placed in positions of leader- capital came. There were, of course, exceptions, such as ship in industry and commerce. Of course the original several South American nations whose railways and other proposal ignores the fact that economic and sometimes engineering industries were often linauced and built by the social organisation is usually sewed by exclusive enclaves 110 Realism and Race ' A Young Jamaican Nationalist 111 British. One of the more powerful inducements to the of common loyalties to a national ideal that must supersede provision of capital for the development of the United aU the pretence which has spawned the illusion of our States by British interests, was the fact that during the much-touted racial tolerance. nineteenth century the population of the United States was almost entirely British in descent; that is, excluding Negroes who have never been allowed more than a minor TRADITIONAL VALUES role in the economic development of that great country. It is clear then that the proponents of the arguments as It may reasonably be asked who are those who would seek to the inclinations of those capital-owners among the mi- to perpetuate a myth when the evidence of its truth and nority races in Jamaica are contemplating these facts out- validity is so slight and supeficial, and why do they try lined as inexorable truths, and would say that they argue to do this. To answer this question one should first enquire from the economic facts of life. It is of no significance ap- into the traditions of the society under observation and parently that it makes nonsense of their myth of racial 6nd a measure for the social values held dear. In a country tolerance and integration existing in the Jamaican and in which the views of outsiders, visitors and plain tourists West Indian society. They ignore, moreover, a new and are courted and cherished, it can be the source of little important development in the trend and character of in- wonder that aU that is considered necessary is, that these ternational finance which has taken form since the end of charming folk should be impressed. Any traveller knows the Second World War. The pattern of economic devel- that among the first things that strike one about a country opment for example, in India, Pakistan, Ghana and cer- visited for the first time, or even infrequently, are the tain South American countries such as Venezuela is clearly points at which it contrasts with one's native land. And not along the previously established lines. Many new coun- this is more or less what happens when casual visitors from tries today are drawing much of their capital for develop- the American, African and European continents comment ment from a pool of international capital. This frees them on the West Indian society. They remark on the degree of from the need to submit to the influence and coercion of racial integration obse~ed,simply because it has achieved any single nation or power block, or to their representa- a higher level than in most places abroad In contrast with tives withim their borders. The spirit that inspires this trend 1 the southern states of the United States of America, South is an open opposition to the devious and reactionary views Africa and indeed all the countries of Africa still subject to of those who hold to the proposition that Jamaicans should European control, the degree of racial tolerance is un- watch their words lest they drive away foreign capital. usual. There is however no reason why the West Indies Finally, it would be interesting to hear from those who should congratulate itself and be smug, merely because argue it, just what they suggest is the rational basis for the by comparison with the very low standards of racial tol- proposition that the capital provided by the members of a erance in European led societies, they are not doing badly. particular racial group has to be administered by persons While they were an obviously European controlled society drawn from that group. This is lo all appearances an ir- they were in no better case. rational if not altogether anti-social view and operates in The views of many West Indians about their society and practice in denial of all the best instincts which the leaders their attitudes towards that society are thus still oriented of any country should seek to promote in laying the foun- outside of the West Indies. This state of mind effectively dations for common loyalties. For it is the establishment puts a brake on any thinking which might promote a more 112 Realism and Race A Young lamaican Nationalist 113 liberal and progressive approach to social policy even among otherwise enlightened political leaders. Unless they can escape from the trammels of this mental condition A NEW APPROACH the society will be restricted to a place dictated by the de- velopment of racial tolerance in other countries. From This then is the social heritage of the West Indies, the this it becomes apparent that in a society such as exists in reality of which is still present, and no amount of sweet the West Indies in which the tradition of uncritical recep words or wishful expressions will chann the consciousness tion of external social values persists, there will be a tend- of it out of the mind of West Indians. Those leaders of ency to absorb good as well as worthless standards with- opinion who desire to show goodwill would be well out question. Not the slightest attempt will be made to see advised to try another approach. The first step towards whether the demands of the new society preclude the adop this should be to promote an identification of true West tion of certain values which contain no particular merit Indians with their native land. The question to be asked or efiicacy. To a large extent this is true in respect of the here is, 'Who are West Indiansl' There are some persons adoption of the entire body of values regarding, and atti- who may be irritated by an insistence on this. They may tudes towards, race by the West Indies. An entire com- argue that there should be local support for a growing munity has hitherto been persuaded by means of all the tendency away from definitions the purposes of which are devices in the power of a ruling racial group that to be to promote a narrow nationalism. It may be said that as a born of a dark complexion is to incur exclusion from all new state it serves the interest of the West Indies to take that is hest and best in life and to be relegated to a state advantage of this trend and so obtain the benefit of the of perpetual tutelage. This ascendancy is not easily lost experience gained in older countries. There are several nor should it be expected to be abandoned without a strug- answers to this line of argument One of the more impor- gle. The main difference between the situation today and tant of these is the danger now present of having persons the former position is that the determination to retain in positions of iduence whose real loyalties are outside ascendancy has been compromised. It has been relinquished of the West Indies but who pretend to instruct and advise in the political sphere but retained in a more impercepti- on public matters and critical decisions. This situation is ble form in the social and economic fields. In this form I bound to create, at best, an unhappy ambivalence which it is likely to hold many people enthralled for several years cannot be in the interest of the West Indies. Whatever may to come. Thia will be so, since much of their private and be said for the contrary view, a country needs leaders. undeclared motivations, designs, and calculations towards whether on the cricket field or around the conference fulfilling personal ambitions will have been based upon table, who will use every faculty and skill at their com- an assumption of the permanence of the status quo. mand to promote its interests. And for the attainment of Within this social context it was inevitable that every child the necessary attitude of mind, identification is indiipen- of every race growing into adulthood should have re- sable. Once this state is achieved there will be less need for ceived and applied in his own environment these accepted the ambiguous and confusing distinctions between the postdates of preferment West Indian and the West Indian-born so much beloved by social columnists. If the strength of a country's national- ism is to be judged by the length of time required to be- come a national of that country there is very little national-

I I 114 Realism and Race ; A Young Jamaican Nationalist 115 ism in the West Indies. There is a commonplace that it is tion of racial bias but an importation of racial bias with- almost impossible for a foreigner to become an English- out the attendant importation of any special or scarce man. It takes three or more generations to achieve this skills. No real attempt has been made to examine whether state of acceptance in the case of Europea~~~.For the the imported managerial and executive atafl which is cur- coloured races, on the other band, it is a total impossibity. rently beii used in a high proportion by many firms in Even in the cosmopolitan United States of America at industry and commerce possess any particular skills not least five years must elapse before strangers are accepted. available among local personnel. It must be concluded One becomes accepted as a Trinidadian or a Jamaican that West Indian governments either have no express merely by claiming to be one. Tbis gives rise to the acro- policy for finding jobs for the well trained citizens of the batic feat whereby some persons find it feasible to be, for countries or they deliberately subscribe to the view that example, Englishmen when in England and Jamaicans where there is no discernible diflerence in skills, it is pref- when in Jamaica. Such a facility unfortunately is denied erable to placate owners of capital by allowing them to the poor West Indian migrants to Britain. However long choose freely whether they will employ foreign or local they remain in the United Kingdom and however much personnel. Hardly anyone is convinced that most claims to they try to contribute they will always be, as West Indians, special skiUs can be justified on enquiry. Certainly no strangers. scheme has yet been announced outside of British Guiana As a concession to those who advocate a wider national- and perhaps the Federal Government, whereby West ism for the West Indies it might be admitted that this Indians are to be trained for pmitions currently being could be, and often is, turned to the advantage of the com- Wed by Europeans in increasing numbera Where then munity. There should however be one proviso. It should do the Jamaican and other West Indian governments be far less easy than it is now for a person whose loyalties propose to place the products of their educational pro- belong to another society to attain to a position of iduence grammes? Planning for useful citizenship, it would appear, in this country. There are individuals who acquire by is over when the period of schooling comes to an end. merit in every field of endeavour an international prestige. ' After this the young people must be left to flounder around To thh unusual group of persons the West Indies has made and finally to discover that the doors of opportunity are some notable contributions. But as it is one of the condi- closed to them. This is amply illustrated by the advice tions precedent to the acquisition of such distinction that given to a young Jamaican scholar, highly trained in a the more blatant social prejudices should be abandoned, field of science at one of the leading universities in the there is little cause for fear that, as in most other instances, United Kingdom. On his recent return to Jamaica he in- an importation of &Us involves an importation of racial timated to his mentor, a European in a position of author- bias. This class of persons should therefore be excluded ity, long resident in Jamaica, his desires to enter a particu- from such a proviso. lar field of industry. He was advised in all sincerity, and in the light of obvious knowledge, that such aspirations were pointless, since %ere were no opportunities for na- RULES AN0 EXCEPTIONS tives in industry'. Needless to remark, whenever such a suggestion is made public, there will be the usual dissem- The development which is now most to be feared is not brig protests. There might be, in addition, a clumsy at- merely the importation of skills which involves an importa- tempt to prove the contrary by making a temporary pro- 116 Realism and Race ; A Young Jamaican Nationalist 117 vision for the placing of the particular person afIected poses and relationships, is punishable as a crime. 'Zbi In such a case the party would be well advised to decline state of affairs was achieved in a less rigid form in certain the offer. Most exceptions merely serve to emphasize rules. I states in the American South, until quite recently. It is customary in support of assertions that there is The second and less virulent type is currently being ap little or no racial discrimination practised in wmmerce plied in varying forms and degrees in the Southern United and industry to point to persons of rare ability who have States of America. It involves a more or less well defined achieved eminence in the Civil Service. Obviously this is policy of social exclusion. It limits the contact and associa- not meant to be taken as a contribution to serious discus- ! tion of races on the social plane, in public places such as don. It was stated earlier that the Civil Service, in Jamaica restaurants, beaches, public transport and theatres, and is at least, is perhap the only place in which talent receives ' often not inscribed in any law or regulation, but based on a fair recognition, and even this body still has pockets of an understanding between the groups involved. Any in- prejudice well established in some technical departments. fringement by a member of the subservient group is likely It is remarkable that after the hackneyed examples ' to be met by a resort to group violence, such as lynching within the Civil Service and a few other peculiar excep by members of the ruling race. Though the action of the tions have been named, the list comes to an abrupt end. members of the ruling race will be illegal in terms of the Is this really good enough; that in a country in which ad- state laws, it may often go unpunished because of some mittedly over ninety per cent of the population is of alleged technicality. discernible African descent only about half a dozen per- The third form of discrimination is the most difficult sons representing this section can be found in positions of to deal with because it can seldom be identified in each leadership, outside of politics and the Civil Service? Can it case with precision. It operates on a more personal level honestly be contended that the reason for this is lack of than the first two, and cuts across the more obvious class ability? Such an inference has long been discredited. lines. It is nonetheless real and is probably practised and felt by most people who have grown up in a Western society. Certainly it is very active in the West Indies, and PUBLIC MLERANCB AND PRIVATE PREJUDlCB many sociologists, West Indian and other, would be star- tled to hear that what they have accepted as a basic datum It should not be presumed, because the situation in the of West Indian social structure has been airily wished West Indies does not assume the proportions of the racial away by politicians and others, to serve the purposes of a problems of South Africa, Rhodesia, or even the Southern public argument. While this form of discrimination is al- States of the United States of America, that it can be dis- most intangible in its operation in most public places, it missed as trilling. Those who do this stmd accused of applies in each individual's choice of social friends, and of deliberately missing the point behind the current unrest. course, at present, in each employer's choice of em- There are tbree diict levels of the application of social ployees. This disposition in turn works itself out in a per- and racial prejudice. The first and most extreme exhibi- son's association in public places. Among persons of some tion is that which has the sanction of law and is built into pretensions to culture it is all very sophisticated and well the legal system of the country. This type is well demon- understood though never discussed in public, and seldom strated in South Africa, where the association of persons even in private. Among the mass of the people, their of diflerent races, except for certain well prescribed pur- casual speech is interlarded with references, often deroga- 118 Realism and Race A Young Jamaican Nationalist 119 tory, to other people's wlour. This latter preoccupation and on the race excluded from positions of influence is to appears to be entirely restrictive, and employed for social be observed mostly at the level of individual personality. controt In the case of the ruling racial groups there is an amused contempt, bred from an assurance in the possession of the realities of power. On the other hand there is every indica- APPLICATION AND EPPW tion that as a partial result perhaps of social and racial impositions, the coloured Jamaican of every educational AU free societies make allowances for the disposition on and cultural level despises himself, his ancestry and con- the part of persons of similar racial type to associate for nections. At times this self-contempt on the part of the limited purposes to the exclusion of other persons. To a coloured Jamaican assumes alarming proportions and an lesser extent freedom of association on the purely social almost pathological character, as demonstrated in private level is also considered the normal and inalienable right of and public actions, particularly regarding persons of his each citizen. The general exercise of tbis right however own racial type. It is shown, for instance, in many deci- must be considered as limited by the peculiar circumstances sions on the part of legislators involving what appears to of each society and the superior demands of the interests be an unreasoning insistence on employing imported Euro- of the state. In a society where minority groups or race% peans in posts which could well be filled by West Indians control preponderant economic or social influence it is possible that such a right may be abused. A minority race either at home or abroad. This would induce the reflec- with economic power is likely to organise itself to retain tion that there must be a deep-felt need on the part of the benefits of such power to serve its exclusive interests. some, to ful6l a secret desire to give orders to Europeans. The same may be said of its exercise of social iduence. On a lower level there is the often heard sneering famil- Where, on the other hand, a minority race is dispersed in iarity thrown in public places at any person of wlour who ten- of economic organisation and has no monopoly of appears to have achieved a measure of material success in social iduence, its social inclinations, if confined within hi chosen field, or diplays any of the dignity and self the bounds of the law, are generally of no particular in- respect which should be common in any society. This is terest in the eyes of the state. not quite of the same character as the defiant threats which The interests of the community in a good society appear are Iikely to give Europeans so much cause for alarm, to require that there should be no one minor racial group but rather it would seem to indicate that concessions to in control of vital pockets of economic power. Though dignity and respect which would he allowed to Europeans individuals from any race may posses or control large or near Europeans are withheld from persons of colour. capital assets, any system which seeks to ensure the reten- Such a disposition is a good illustration of the way in which tion of power by a small group, merely in order to ex- wid attitudes, held in common throughout a wide range clude others is of doubtful merit. Yet such is the case in of cultural levels, are most clearly demonstrated at the many aspects of West Indian life. Individual success de- lowest level, uncomplicated by subterfuge and pretension. pends largely on establishing contact and identity with It reflects, in addition, the urge to control and restrict per- social and racial groups, rather than on demonstrating sons of similar race withi the same general cultural cate- ability. gory, into which they have been relegated by European The effect of this on both the holders of economic power opinioa Here again is seen the subtle &ect upon one I Realism and Race A Young Jamaican Nationalist 121 racial group, engendered by its acceptance of the views ing its own best interests if it continues to assume a defen- and standards of another concerning itself. sive attitude. It cannot be considered either fair or good politics to group those forces seeking a wider representa- tion of coloured persons in the economic and social life THE ROLB OF GOVERNMENT of the country, with dangerous, evil or Communist in- spired influences. The issues of race which now divide the It must be presumed that political leaden who now form country will have to be solved by more realistic and positive Jamaica's Government are sincere in their desire to ad- policies, not by pretending that there is no problem to be vance the interests of their people. It is they who led the solved. But 6rst Jamaica's leaders will have to get rid of their struggle for universal adult sufTrage. They now stand per- I plexed and alarmed to find that discontent has followed self-induced incapacity to read political signals. For in- their impressive programme undertaken on behalf of the stance, wntnuy to their worst fears and inhibitions, it is people. They must now become aware that the saying not necessary to have a representative who looks and be 'Man shall not live by bread alone' is not merely directory haves as much as possible like a European in dealing with but more significantly the result of observation of man's foreign governments and organizations, whether European true nature. It is not enough that they have given and are or any other. An argument or inference to the contrary giving to the majority of the people the shadow of responsi- is an argument from inferiority. If the fiction of racial biity and a growing relief from the threat of grinding tolerance is to become a reality the racial origin of a per- poverty and want. It is just as necessary that they should son chosen for any position in the sphere of industry, wm- ensure to them in substance the self-respect without which merce or the government services must be a matter of all the bounties of economic progress will be just a hollow complete indifference. The country's reputation abroad in mockery. To achieve this the government may have to this respect will then be unassailable. When this state is abandon certain unspoken and long cherished premises. I achieved it will be unnecessary for any leader to tell the The government of any country with a tradition of wlo- people so. They will have observed it. nial rule, whatever its complexion, is likely to assume that many rules are unalterable and part of the business of good government. Some of these will have been learnt by observing the behaviour of former rulers or are other- wise so engrained in the social organisation as to remain unquestioned. It is also possible that a way to the solution of a problem such as the present one may have occurred to our leaders, only to be dismissed as impracticable. But they must consider that they themselves may be affected by inbred inhibitions which wiU affect their judgment wn- cerning what is possible. A policy of gradual liberalization of social attitudes must. to be successful, be instituted or firmly endorsed by the Jamaican Government. The Government will not be serv- Reality and Race: A Reply to 'Realism and Race' H. P. Jacobs

Black West Indians who believed that advancement was It is useless to deny that the writer of 'Realism and Race' closed to them were merely self-deluded, according to an has presented a reasonable criticism of current attitudes eminent English-born Jamaican's rebuttal to the previous on the part of the conservative elements in Jamaica-what selection. Admitting the persistence of bias and general are facetiously called the responsible elements. But he has assumptions of racial inequality, the author contends that not, I think, produced a sufIiciently objective analysis of great advances had been made, that most existing frus- the present situation. trations were not specifically racial in character, and that It seems to me that he must belong to a younger genera- progress was retarded mainly by lack of self-confidence tion than mine. Those of us who remember the Dreary among the masses and by lack of enterprise among their 'Thirties are inclined, I fear, to be too complacent. We leaders in the labor movement and their mentors in the have swept away one barrier to progress after another, university. The decade since these two pieces appeared and we are apt to watch with contemptuous astonishment has witnessed graver racial hostilities than either author a younger generation sitting on the ruins of privilege and anticipated, without substantially altering the structure of prejudice and saying they cannot get anywhere. TXey for Jamaican society or providing the ordinary black man with their part have difEculties which we did not feel or foresee. a larger share of goods and resources. Accordingly, there must be important ditIerences in out- look between us. H. P. JACOBS has been a Jamaican for half a century. As I am not attempting to establish an easy cornpro&. an educator and journalist he has made substantial con- ta say that the writer of 'Realism and Race' is sometimes tributions in almost every realm of Jamaican life-the right and sometimes wrong; that he exaggerates here and schools, the press, the trade unions, and culture and the overstresses there; that if he would water down a phrase arts. He is presently General Secretary of the Farquharson or qualify a generalisation, I could reconcile him with calls Institute of Public AfEairs in Kingston, Jamaica what he the Establishment. I wish to show that, ob- West Indian Economist, Vol. 3, No. 10, April 1961, pp. 13- 18. Reprinted with permission of the author. H. P. Reality and Race Jacobs jectively, he is wrong; therefore I ought to explain the erroneous, had done this country more good than anyone else: circumstances which detract from my own objectivity. he concluded that the social values inherent in their Christianity bore a striking resemblance to his own. In My age has been mentioned. I should add that I am an I fact, the. notion that the terms 'Greek', 'Jew', 'Scythian', did Englishman. I have never fallen into the easy habit (which I not dehe the relationships of men to God, was much the the writer of 'Realism and Race' justly finds irritating in the immigrant) of claiming to be a Jamaican: though if same, on the social plane, as the concept of secular liberal- ism that all races of men were entitled to equal rights. Jamaicans claim me as such, I am grateful to them and ! I The People's National Party saw the national idea as the do not feel at all they do so from worship of everything solvent in 1938-the concept of a common devotion to that is not Jamaican. My fist duty is to the people amongst country. In 1940 it saw the solvent as Socialism-a refusal whom I live, however, and if I had not preferred to live to accept class as a barrier between men, any more than amongst Jamaicans I should not be here. 1 beii Greeks, Jews, Scythians. There was, indeed, in the The author of 'Realism and Race' has constructed in ! Dreary Thirties a tendency for some people to say that his mind's eye a picture of the Jamaican people. I cannot 'The problems of this country are economic and not po- accept the picture. He fails altogether to distinguish the litical'. But I never regarded these gentlemen as very diierent sections of society. He believes that in some way forward-looking. the Lumpenproletariat or depressed masses, the trade For a century and a half, therefore, there was a grow- unionists or regularly employed persons, and the intelli- ing feeling that race and colour ought not to separate men, gentsia are all in revolt against the same thing-and that and the vital elements in Jamaican society acted on the what they are in revolt against is the domination of the assumption that man was a spiritual and intellectual being white man, as not only the owner of capital, hut the di- and not merely a down-graded monkey. It was not until rector of its use on the spot and the manipulator of political the last decade or so that its leaders coiled prehensile tails life. about the branches of the Tree of Knowledge, dangled head downwards, and insisted that for the first time the goal was in new.

Of course he is aware of these different elements and he HUMBUG AND PACT .iustly . condemns the present Government for believing that the solvent for them, which will make them one people, Now obviously, in the 'twenties and 'Mes there was a is economic progress. No forward-looking group in the good deal of humbug in the talk about racial equality. I last century and a half has made such an astonishing as- say 'obviously' because it was obvious, if you moved around sumption. The early missionaries saw Christianity as the in those days, that there was much lip-~e~ceto equality. bond of society. The great administrators of the Crown I can remember a time when the churches provided al- colony period saw the solvent as the acceptance by the most the only career for a black man of intellectual tastes: whole society of the values of liberal West European cul- though a few, even then, crept into the civil service, and ture. One of the greatest of them, an atheist or an agnos- a considerable number achieved higher status by becoming tic, pondering on Jamaican history, was struck by the elementary school teachers. There was supposed to be an fact that the missionaries, with creeds which he felt to be 126 Reality and Race 'educational ladder': you could win a scholarship from an and was told they were the casuarinas that Claude Bell elementary school, and there win a scholarship to Ox- and his relief workem planted on the land that they re- ford, Cambridge, or London. Since there were only two claimed. The trees appeared a wonhy memorial to a hard- or three University scholarship available annually, your handed and unsentimental man who thought there was ultimate cbance of passing from a wattle-aaddaub cot- something in the Lumpenproletariat: who made surplus his tage to Balliol was in practice somewhat restricted. labour into a creative force, and helped some of fellow- But the existence of humbug proves that moral pres- men to win back their self-respect. sures also exist People talked about the absence of race and colour distinction because the values of liberal West European society had been imposed on the West Indian TXB DEPRESSED CLASS master-aud-slave society. There were few set-backs: the When thousands of people are left to fester in misery, it social order came more and more to reject colour. When 1 , will sometimes happen that they take refuge in hate. But the colonial system began to toy with discriminatory ideas I in the public service, the colonial system itself cracked. why should the hate of the submerged tenth in Jamaica be see We have now been invited to believe that man lives by directed against white people? Tbey hardly any. Many bread alone, and that man's life consists in the abundance of them, who are in contact with white people, appear to of things that he hath. 'Ihus cupidity replaces selfdevotion , be perfectly well conducted. If hate of the white man is as the copy-book virtue of the society. Envy then replaces : increasing amongst them, it is Wig artiticially stimulated. emulation, and the way is open, in a society where differ- The particular economic sphere of Jamaican life which Race' ent classes tend to differ in appearance, for men to repudi- the writer of 'Realism and depicts as dominated by ate the concept of the brotherhood of man as transcend- white men, is precisely the sphere from which the are ing race. We are repudiating it now. Lumpenproletaria! excluded. It is worthwhile considering, in this connection, why One effect of this, however, is to diise us to argue I i large sections of the masses have been so interested in that in the economic rat-race the devil can be allowed to I take the hindmost. Tens of thousands of people live under the murder of Patrice Lumumba It seems absurd that I they should be interested in that while showing so little intolerable conditions: and I am assured that they do this ' from sheer reluctance to work and an absolute preference interest in Jamaican events aflecting their own lives. for dirt, disease, and ignorance. But who in Jamaica is interested in the things that aflect When some of us, in the Dreary *Ihirties thought that the lives of the men and women farthest down? To whom something ought to be done about the condition of Jamaica, , do their thoughts, their grievances, their aspirations, really it never occurred to us that myriads of our fellow-men matter? Is what happens to them news to the press? Is it could be written off like that. We found a certain diiposi- the subject of questions in the House of Representatives? tion in some quarters to take that view: but we argued Since they and their lives have no meaning to their own that even if people preferred to live in slums, it was best country and their own national leaders, they identify them- to try to change their outlook. selves with someone like themselves who is in the news. Lumumba was an African, but a world-figure: by lament- The other day, I looked down from the foothills above ing his death they project themselves into the world of Kingston and saw a line of tall trees near the Harbour, clearly visible against the water. I asked what they were, : other men. Moreover, since Lumumba was murdered, his i 128 Reality and Race / H. P. Jacob 129 I fate suggests to them the hopelessness of their own plight: Chinese are well off. Why? Because they work and save. he tried, they argue, to bring his people to freedom and You too can be well off if you work and save'. But the crowd may understand this to mean: 'You too could be was accordiigly killed. I Now since many people (including some who have no 1 well off but for the Chinese'. prejudices in the matter) think that Lumumba's death was For the time being, this may be enough to cover the procured by the Belgians, it is evident that if the thoughts race-hatred of the depressed masses. It is dillicult to be- of the masses turn, or are directed, towards Lumumba's lieve that it is anything specially serious for the white man. murder, any tendency to hate Europeans will be accen- i unless it is being artfully used or unintentionally fanned. tuated. I think, therefore, that when the writer of 'Realism ! Nor does the white man's dominance (if it really exists) and Race' says that 'no one has so much as threatened directly affect the condition of the masses in any objective to destroy anything except what they regard as an iniqui- / sense. It is precisely because they have slipped out of the tous social and racial stmcture'. he must expect that white I white man's world that they have developed singular be residents of Jamaica may regard his statement as rather liefs and lost all sense of direction. wide of the mark. It can hardly be taken seriously unless our author regards the black man fanhest down as no- body. UNIOMSM If in fact the depressed masses are full of rage against I I Belgians, white men in general, and the few white people I It is quite merent when we turn to the trade unionists they see, hut entertain feelings of racial amity towards the and regularly employed persons. In the case of the urban more numerous black and coloured persons with whom workers, their economic existence is to an astonishing ex- they have contact, it is one of the most remarkable facts tent bound up with the white man. Even in the rural areas. of history. My limited observation does not suggest they where white faces are few, bauxite and large-scale capital- have any fraternal affection for the police. I shall be told ist agriculture are obviously linked with the white man. that they dislike the police because they regard them as I The writer of 'Realism and Race' is curiously unsatis- agents of the white man. It would be more correct to say factory on trade unionists. He says with justice that the that they have begun to dislike white men because they 1 Government's educational policy has made people more think they are responsible for the police. aware of their difEculties in other directions. This he un- I have no prejudice against Garveyism. I have myself I derstands to be 'an awareness of social limitations', which spoken on a platform with Marcus Gamey and the im- I take to mean a realisation that the black man must not pression left on one in the Dreary Thirties was that Gar- I aspire to certain positions. People feel 'frustration'. vey was trying to put self-respect into the masses, not to How does this 'frustration' express itself? Ow writer set them against the better-off, or white people in particu- tells us that lar. I do not believe that any genuine Garveyite preaches I race-hatred. But it does seem to me that U.N.I.A. workers organised in trade unions will inevitably ex- speakers may sometimes miscalculate the effect of what press their frustrations in economic terms. The institu- they say. The thinking of the masses is very different from tional pattern of their organisation leaves them little theirs, and an audience can easily stand a Garveyite argu- choice. 'Ibis may explain why no amount of appeais ment on its head. You may tell a hungry crowd, The to economic reason will placate them, since they es- a 130 Reality and Race H. P. Jacobs 131 press not economic but social disatfection. The result event, inherent improbability is no obstacle to belief in which is being currently witnessed in Jamaica, despite our trade union circles. No proposition is more inherently the feeble and unconvincing protests of the government improbable than: spokesmen, is galloping idation driven on by relentless wage demands. 1. Two rival trade unions are good for building up working-class solidarity; Apart from the fact that injudicious credit is the cause 2. Working

Many radicals among the West Indian black masses, aware 1. Who are the J.L.P. and the P.N.P. helping? of the disparity between nominal independence and their Am. The white, chinese and mulatto capitalists. own continued dispossession, express increasing animus 2. Who finance the J.L.P. and P.N.P.? against favored elements of the population. In this anony- Am. The white, chinese and mulatto capitdists. mous tirade, published in a Guyanese black-power journal, 3. In 1938 the black man owned more of the land area the economic and social realities of Jamaican society are of Jamaica than in 1970. Who owns the land now? laid painfully bare. Blacks are told that both self-respect Am. The whites, chinese and the mulaitoes. and survival require them to take over the economic institu- 4. Who is a comrade? tions and resources of the country from whites, browns, Am. An African who has been taught to hate a labourite. Chinese, Syrians, and Jews who are said to control them. Who is a labourite? Am. An African who has been taught to hea comrade. 5. Who gave guns to the black youths in Western Kingston and elsewhere to kill their brothers? Ans. The comrades and Iabourites. 6. After 26 years of rule by the P.N.P. and the J.L.P. what answer can we give to the following questions: Do we have a good educational system? Do we have roads free of potholes? Do we have adequate water supplies throughout Ja- maica? Do we have a telephone system that works? * [Editors' title] "Songs of the Soil-A Third Party Nowl" Liberation, Vol. 1, NO. 3, November, 1970, pp. 56. Published by Panafrican Sec- retariat, Georgetown, Guyana. EN Williams I 147 I and Slavery, British Historians and the West Indies, The ! History of the People of Trinidad and Tobago, and From Columbus to Castro, Dr. Williams was until 1971 also Pro- Chancellor of the University of the West Jndies.

The nature and implications of a British colonial educa- tional system tied to metropolitan standards were cogently stated in 1945 by the present Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago. He depicted a system of schooling irrelevant to most local needs, with minimal primary instruction for the masses and a classical education unrelated to Caribbean realities for a small elite minority. Notwithstanding political independence, this system substantially endures through- out the Commonwealth Caribbean as well as in the French and Dutch West Indies.

DR. ERIC WILLIAMS is the epitome of the West Indian scholar-politician. After winning a prestigious Trinidad Government Scholarship, he took a Fit at Oxford md went on to teach at Howard University in Washing- ton, D.C. At the time he wrote the book from which this selection was taken, he was the senior West Indian staff member of the Caribbean Commission, an inter- metropolitan coordinating body. In 1956 Williams resigned from the Caribbean Commission to found and lead to vic- tory the People's National Movement, which has dominated Trinidad for the past decade and a half. The author of numerous books on the West Indies, including Capitalism Eric Williams 149 and a sharpening of general intelligence. For vocational Wigof a specialized kind they see no need . . . And for practically all other 'subjects' they have a profound mistrust as tending to superficiality and diverting attention to unessential, and sometimes unsuitable, objects."l Agricultural education, by thii touchstone, becomes an unessential, perhaps even an unsuitable, object Educational Education in the British West Indies authorities argue that agricultural techniques are no simple Eric Williams matter and are beyond the mental and physical capabilities of children of primary school age. They are reluctant to diminish "the not very large amount of 'cultural' education at present afforded" in primary schools, and aver that any The features of the educational system of the British West such tendency would be strenuously opposed by public Indies are only an exempli6cation of what is taking place opini~n.~School gardens, however, are a regular feature in the colonial areas generally. As can be expected, the of British West Indian schools; in Trinidad, aU rural schools system is designed to serve the needs of the British West are required to have a garden, and agricultural teaching is Indian intelligentsia. We shall consider it in detail under compulsory. the five heads discussed in a previous chapter [of Wil- liams' book]. (2) THE CURRICULUM

(I) RuaU EDUCATION The curriculum of the British West Indian school is not adapted to the needs of the community. The elementary curriculum has a predominantly literary The Education Commission of 1931 reported as follows: and mathematical tias, and makes little, if any, distinction The real weakness of the primary school at present con- between urban and rural needs. sists not in its neglect of garden or handwork, but in its In criticisiig the existing curriculum, an Education failure to concentrate on essentials, and in the lack of adap- Commission which visited the eastern group of the British tation of curriculum to the qualifications and capability of Caribbean colonies in 1931 gave prominence to the views the staff. The time-table of the average school is tittered of employers. "Whaf they rightly demand in addition to with subjects or fragmenb of subjects that bear no relation the training of will and character is the acquisition of a to the lives of the pupils or the qualifications and ability sound and practical knowledge of simple English, that Lr, 1 Report of a Commission Appointed to Consider Problem abilify to understad and use the language for the ordinary of Secondary and Primmy Education in Trinidad. Barbados, purposes of indusfrial or commercial life, a working knowl- Leeward Islands and Windward Islands. 1931-32, Colonial No. edge of the simple rules of arithmetic and mensuration, 79 (London: His Majesty's Stationery Oilice, 1933), p. 59. (Referred to hereafter as Colonial No. 79.) Education in the British West Indies, New York University *West India Royal Commission Report, Cmd. 6607 (Lon- Place Book Shop, 1968, pp. 29-41. Reprioted wrth peWmn don: H.M.S.O., 1945), p. 113. (Referred & hereafter as Cmd i of the author. 6607.) 150 Education in the British West Indies Eric Williams 151 of the teachers." The teaching of history and geography giving a particular sort of post-primary education. The included topics such as the Wars of the Roses and the capes emphasis is predominantly literary, as is to be expected of Europe and was based upon text books unsuitable for where the needs of the intelligentsia are paramount. As on British West Indian children.3 According to another report the primary level, the curriculum is divorced from the real seven years later, education is in the main external to the needs of the community and the activity and experience real life of the people, affecting it from without rather than of the pupils, with the qualification that it might be said from within; the best education provided tends to direct the that the secondary school virtually makes a fetish of this attention and .ambitions of its pupils away from their true unreality. Secondary education is so severely restricted to interests and those of their country.' The West India Royal the few that the English education that it provides becomes Commission of 1938 called for "an end of the illogical a sign of class distinction. It is so little an integral part of and wasteful system which permits the education of a cam- any national system of education, so little articulated with munity predominantly engaged in agriculture to be based the primary system, that the director of education in some upon a Literary curriculum fitting pupils only for white British West Indian colonies is responsible only for primary collar careers in which opportunities are comparatively education. limited . . . Curricula are on the whole ill-adapted to the The curriculum of the secondary school in the British needs of the large mass of the population and adhere far West Indies is largely academic. The British West Indies too closely to models which have became out of date in the have yet to appreciate the significance of the fact that it is British practice from which they have been blindly possible to develop types of post-primary education of high copied."S educational value on non-academic lines with a certain In line with this criticism, a completely revised cumcu- bearing, more or less direct, on industry, commerce and lum was introduced into the schools of Jamaica in 1939. agriculture. The secondary school in the British West Indies The aim of the curriculum is "to vitalise the teaching and serves two main functions-it provides training for those to make it a real thing, closely connected with the life of students who proceed to universities abroad, normally in the Jamaican child." Caribbean Readers are in general use the United Kingdom and Canada, and it trains those less in the British West Indies; so also are West Indian Geog- fortunate students who have to be content with government raphies and West Indian Histories. There are also plans in service at home. Jamaica to produce short monographs on Jamaican history The following subjects, decreed by law for the schools and natural history.6 of Jamaica, comprise the curriculum of the British West In the British West Indies a secondary school is a school Indian secondary school: Latin, English, history, literature, modern languages, mathematics, arithmetic, chemistry. 8 Colonial No. 79, pp. 59-60. 4Eduration in the Windward and Leeward Islands, Report physics, biology, geography, hygiene or other sciences, the of the Education Commissioners. 1938, Colonial No. 164 principles of agriculture, bookkeeping, shorthand, art, (London: H.M.S.O.,1939). pp. 3, 5. (Referred to hereafter as music, domestic science, manual occupations. Thus has Colonial No. 164.) Jamaica, in the words of a recent report, been "presented 5Cmd. 6607, pp. 92, 120. . . . with an b la carte menu, from which the schools select 0 West India Royal Commission, 1938-39, Statement of Ac- tion Taken on the Recommendations, Cmd. 6656 (London: those subjects to which they are limited by the competence H.M.S.O.,1945), p. 15. of their teachers or by the availability of equipment. From Eric Williams 152 Education in the British West Indies 153 British West Indian climate did not exist, it would have an educational point of view the nutritive value of the subjects is not considered."? been necessary to invent it. This curriculum calls for more extended examination. The artificiality of the British West Indian secondary The most obvious omission is the reference to anything school is due to a large extent to the British colonial prac- West Indian. West Indian history, geography, economics, tice of taking the external examinations of Oxford and community organisation and problems-West Indian cul- Cambridge. These examinations are set by examiners in ture, in a word-find no place. In the second place, the England, and their content determines automatically the phrase "modem languages" is meaningless. The average curricula of the British West Indian schools. In the words secondary school in the British West Indies teaches French of a recent official report in Barbados, "the whole focus only; Spanish, the language of the neighbouring Caribbean of teaching. . . appears to be directed towards the benefit republics, of Puerto Rico, of Central and South America, of the comparatively few children who are capable of receives serious recognition-and even that inadequate- reaching the standards prescribed by these Examinations."@ only in Trinidad. This is merely a reflection of the English- Another report adds that more than half the pupils leave me's notorious ignorance of foreign languages and the school having failed either to take or to pass these ex- traditional predominance of French in the English second- aminations.10 ary school. In the third place, the Jamaican cumculum ThLe external examinations reflect the interests, envi- listed above contains Latin only, and not Greek. This is ronment and knowledge of the examiners. On one occasion true of many secondary schools in the whole area. It is British West Indian students were asked to write a compo- almost as if, tom between the mounting criticism of dead sition on "a day in winter." The English examinations re- languages and the weight of tradition, the schools decided quire a knowledge of Roman history rather than West that half a loaf of classics was better than no classics at all Indian history, of the British monarchy rather than the or a whole loaf of classics. crown colony system, of empire geography rather than Furthermore, music, art and handwork, mentioned in West Indian geography. Furthermore, English examiners the law, do not achieve the prominence in secondary do not and cannot have a competent knowledge of West schools in Jamaica or in the British West Indies that they Indian conditions. British West Indian teachers, therefore, do in the schools of England, while the law makes no men- are not encouraged to study their environment, nor is there tion of physical training and organised games. An official report in Barbados pleads, in extenuation, that "this nar- any incentive to provide text books with materials suited rowing of the general curriculum . . . more than wm- to the West Indian environment. This is an illustration, to pensates for any disadvantages incurred by school children quote the Education Commissioners for the Leeward and working in less favourable climatic c~nditions."~If the Windward Islands, "of the strain imposed when European formal requirements (as distinct from European education TReport of the Committee Appointed to Enquire into the System of Secondary Education in Jamaica (Kingston, Jamaica: 0 The Evaluation of Education in Barbados, A First Experi- Government Printer, 1943), p. 11. (Referred to hereafter as the ment, Memorandum by the Director of Education (Bridgetown, Kandel Report.) Barbados: Dept. of Education, 1945), p. 12. 8The Provision for Secondary Education in Barbados, 10 The Provision for Secondary Educalion in Barbados, p. Memorandum by the Director of Education (Bridgetown, 5. Barbados: Dept of Education, 1945), p. 8. Eric Williams 155 154 Education in the British West Indies ideals) are brought to bear on the situation in the is- Then he leaves the British West Indies and goes to England lands."" to begin science and study medicine. Or, if he is unsuc- The system of secondary education in Jamaica has re- cessful, he joins the local civil service with much Latin, cently been investigated by an insular committee headed perhaps some Greek, and no science. by Professor I. L. Kandel of Teachers College, Columbia The second function of the secondary school system- University, one of the most distinguished of modern edu- the preparation of candidates for the local civil service- cators. The committee's condemnation of Jamaica is a involves a lower examination, the Cambridge School Cer- condemnation of the British West Indies. The report states: ti6cate. In Professor Kandel's words, these certificates ap- "Nowhere is there to be found any definition of the aims pear to be ready-made and heaven-sent instruments which and objectives of education except in terms of certain sub- relieve appointing agencies of the task of devising their jects to be studied in order to pass certain examinations. own appropriate vocational tests.18 Many a student in Education is conceived of as a tree of knowledge which the British West Indies, to get as many credits as possible boys and girls are to climb from the lower to the higher in this coveted examination, has been forced to study, on branches. The adolescent, to use another figure, is looked his own, subjects for which no provision is made in the upon as a vessel into which knowledge is to be poured in curriculum-for example, hygiene. That the British West doses varying with the requirements of external exarnina- Indian student who dislikes green vegetables, who lives in a tions . . . A secondary education which is organized to community where milk needs to be boiled before consump serve the purposes of an external system of examinations is tion, who is surrounded by people riddled with hookworm. likely to stress the acquisition, often the unintelligently malaria and tuberculosis-that such a student should have memorized acquisition, of certain subjects."l2 to study hygiene in his spare time, and then from a text The secondary school system, as we have said, pedonns book written for another environment and solely for credit the double bction of preparing students for universities in an examination, is tragic. It has been said that secondary abroad and the civil service at home. The former function education should be able to justify aid by the genuine and revolves around the island scholatships provided by the many-sided development of its pupils (not the pursuit of local governments on the basis of an external examination, examination successes), their ready absorption into adult generally the Oxford and Cambridge Higher .Certilicate. occupations, their woperation in the improvement of pro- Where only one scholarship is provided, students in the dudion and the exchange of goods and services, and their Merent fields compete against one another--classics. contribution as specially favoured persons to local life. By mathematics, science. But classics are popularly regarded these criteria, British West Indian secondary education, as in the British West Indies as more suited to cramming and at present organbed, deserves no aid whatsoever. more dependent on text books and the teacher's ability than science. The classical student is, therefore, considered to have the advantage. Thus a student, for the sake solely (3) VOCATIONAL. EDUCATION of the scholarship-which means afauence and prestige-, begins to specialise in classics from the age of fifteen for a The third feature of the British West Indian educational scholarship examination which he hopes to win at nineteen. system is that it lacks diversification. This is only another

11 Colonial No. 164, p. 12. 18 Ibid., p. 17. "Kadel Report, pp. 11, IS. 156 Education in the British West Indies Eric Williams 157 way of saying that it does not serve the needs of the ternative to Latin in the two highest forms. The Education masses. Commission of 1931 recommended that, side by side with In Barbados, less than 7 per cent of the junior and the classical secondary school, there should be established senior girls in the elementary schools receive practical in- a number of modern schools, with an agricultural and struction in housecraft, and two-thirds are taught needle industrial bias for boys, and emphasis on domestic science work.].' The new Jamaican curriculum includes instruc- for girls.17 Proposals for the establishment of four such tion in hygiene, domestic science, manual and agricultural schools in Trinidad are at present under consideration.18 training for all schools. Trinidad has established twelve Only in one colony, Jamaica, has agricultural training be- woodwork and sixteen domestic science centres; instruction yond the primary stage made great headway. The Hope in hygiene is taught in all schools, and mothercraft is Agricultural School occupies such a position in the Brit- taught to senior girls. Instruction in commercial subjects ish West Indian educational system that the West India and dressmaking is provided by the Board of Industrial Royal Commission recommended that, with its transfer to Training, while voluntary agencies provide limited instmc- an appropriate rural site, it should serve as a centre for tion in homemaking and cookery. In the rest of the agricultural training below the university level for the entire colonies, vocational instruction is given "where pos- area. sible."l6 How encrusted with tradition is the educational The legislation of Jamaica makes provision, as indi- system of the British West Indies is suggested by the success cated above, for commercial courses and manual occupa- of an entirely new school in British Guiana, the Carnegie tions in the secondary school. But the secondary school Trade School for Girls. With a capacity of 100, there is an curriculum, in fact, does not include commercial subjects, enrollment of 131 and a long waiting list.le except for some perfunctory attention to bookkeeping and The British West Indian intelligentsia, as we have seen, typewriting. Here, again, the explanation is to be found in equate post-primary education with academic subjects. Vo- the environment. British West Indian commerce and bank- cational training in post-primary schools has, therefore, had ing are in the hands of big business from Europe and little place. The British West Indian secondary school ig- Canada. The big firms import their staff in the higher nores the chief source of employment and livelihood in the brackets, and on the lower levels deliberately select em- Caribbean, agriculture. Where agriculture figures in the ployees on the basis not of merit but skin colour and social curriculum, this is no more than a paper concession to status. Racial discrimination is rampant in private employ- modem sentiment. Thus in the grammar school in Domin- ment, banks,1° airlines, shipping companies, importing and ica a course in agriculture is offered as an optiod al- exporting firms, even department stores. Only the very fairest-skinned British West Indian has a chance of getting l*A Policy for Education, Memorandum by the Director of any employment for which he is qualified. Short of legisla- Education (Bridnetown,. - Barbados: Dept. of Education, 19451, pp. 24-25. tion on the Latin American pattern compelling foreign 15 S. A. Hammond, "Education in the British West Indiea," 89. Journal of Negro Education, Vol. 15, No. 3 (Summer, 1946), 17Colonial No. 79, pp. 8C87, p. 441. 1sEducational Policy and Development Programme, Mni- 16Memoranda on Educational Adviser lo the Comptroller dad and Tobago Council Paper No. 27 of 1946, p. 7. for Development and Welfare in the West Indies (Georw IOThis is true of the British West Indies and Puerto Rico town, British Guiana: Government Printer, 1942), Britisb only. It is not true of the French Islands. Cura~ao,and the Virgin Guiana Legislative Council Paper No. 11, p. 55. Islands of the United States. 158 Education in the British West Indies Eric Willim 159 business to employ a certain percentage of British West pupil teachers,zz or one pupil teacher to every four Indians at all levels, discrimination of this kind will con- teachers. In Trinidad, pupil teachers represented in 1943 tinue to determine the content of secondary education. nearly one-third of the teaching staff, while over 15 per cent of the pupils who completed the highest grade in the elementary school in 1938 became pupil teachers. In the (4) THE TRAINING OF TEACHERS Windward Islands there are more pupil teachers than regu- lar teachen.2s In British Guiana, one-sixth of the teachers When the education is so divorced from the needs of the in 1941 were pupil teachers, while nearly two-fifths were community, it is very dil%cult to give the correct training uncertificated.2' Pupil teachers are used because they are to teachers. This represents another outstanding feature of cheap. The West India Royal Commission of 1938 con- the educational system of the British West Indies. demned the system root and bra~cb.~6The Comptroller According to the Education Commission, there is no for Development and Welfare in the West Indies has. realisation of the fact that "the vital and organic connexion however, pointed out that the cost of abolishing the pupil between the school and the community should be con- teacher system would be excessive, and that, instead, it stantly before the minds of those who are responsible for should be expanded and made into a sound working in- the training and supervision of primary school tea~hers."~ strument and a means of continued education to the young Community problems and West Indian culture form M, people engaged in ita@ part of the training course. Whilst attention is given to It has been readily assumed up to the present time that agriculture and domestic science, there is, in some areas, the mere study of an honours course at Oxford, Cambridge undue emphasis on formal mathematics, the chronological or London, or private study for the external examinations development of world history, and academic literature for of London University, equipped the successful bachelor of which there is little justification in terms of the children arts for teaching on the secondary level. Abiity to teach with whom the future teachers will come in contact. Much has been equated with ability to learn. Here, again, the of the training is of an academic nature more suited to British West Indies are behind the times. In the absence the secondary school, and is given, not infrequently, by of a British West Indian University, there could have teachers who have not the necessary equipment for im- been no local institution capable of training secondary parting it. school teachers. But the responsible authorities made little The Education Commission estimated that not more 22 Cmd 66W, p. 97. than 16 per cent of the teachers had any sort of t~aining.~ fa lbid. 24 Report of the Director of Education for the Year 1941, Many teachers in British West Indian elementary schools Annual Statistics (Georgetown, British Guiana: Government are pupil teachers, young students who are theoreticany Printer, 1942), p. 5. doing practice teaching under supervision, hut who in fact aCmd. 6607, pp. 99, 123. do the work and have the responsibiities of regular teach- l@TheCost of Education ("Development and Welfare in the West Indies," Bulktin No. IS; Bridgetown, Barbados: ers. There were in the British West Indies (excluding the Advocato Co., 19451, p. 4. See also Hammond, op. cit., p. 447. Bahamas) in 1937 a total of 5,811 teachers and 1,506 MY own comments on Mr. Hammond's position are to be found in "Education in Dependent Territories in America," Iourd 20 79, 65. Colonial No. p. of Negro History, Vol. IS, No. 3 (Summer, 1946), p. 549. 21 Ibid., p. 67. 160 Education in the British West Indies Eric Williams &ort to demand of any British West Indian student edu- an enrollment in the primary schools of 57 per cent of the cated abroad the professional preparation provided by a children between five and fourteen, and an attendance for diploma in education over and above the bachelor's de- all sessions of 56 per cent of enrollment, or 33 per cent gree. of the population of the island's school age, five to fow- teen.m There are two explanations of this situation. The first is (5) ILLITERACY, SCHOOL ENROLLMENT AND ATTENDANCE that education is not compulsory, except on paper, at- tendance is not enforced, and there are insufficient schools. The inadequacies of the British West Indian educational The second lies in the poverty of parents, who are forced system must now be statistically demonstrated. In the ab- to send children to work at an early age or to keep them sence of reliable census figures for all territories except away from school on washing days. Child labow is, in Jamaica,27 Jamaica will be taken as representative. fact, one of the fundamental causes of juvenile illiteracy Illiteracy is not only an educational problem, it is also and absenteeism from school. The Education Commission a racial problem. Of every 100 illiterate pemns, 86 are considered the evils and extent of child labour in the West Negro, 9 mulatto, 4 East Indian. Of the total Negm popu- Indies exaggerated, but recommended the lowering of the lation 28 out of every 100 are illiterate; of the mulattoes school age from 14 to 12" Educate only the bright 14 out of every 100, of the East Indians 49 out of 10% children, advised a planter in Trinidad in 1926; for the of "British Isles races" 1 out of 100; of European races others leave them in the fields: "of what use would educa- 8 out of 100.28 tion be to them if they had it?"82 The Jamaica census The resmmibility of the schools for this state of affairs shows that from every point of view, whether it be that of is even mire direct. In the age bracket 7 to 9, 41 out of literacy, attendance, or the duration of study, the figures every 100 children are illiterate. One-fifth of the chiidren for females are higher than those for males. The boys are aged 7 to 14 yem are not enrolled in school. In the case of working in the fields. children seven yeam of age, 44 out of every 100 are not in Today there are in all secondary schools in the British school; in the case of those of fourteen, 35 out of every West Indies approximately 12,000 students. In Jamaica, 100 are not in achool. With respect to the population that is according to the recent census, only 2 out of every 100 in school, the number of Negroes and East Indians who persons have had a secondary education. The separate reach the upper level of the elementary school is less than figures for the various racial group are as follows: Ne- the average for the entire islandm groes, less than 1 in 100; East Indians, 1 in 100, mulattoes, The situation in Jamaica is typical of the situation in the 7 in 100; European races, 29 in 100, "British Isles races," British West Indies generally. Statistic8 for 1944-45 gave 53 in 100. Furthermore, where only one Negro or East 27A comprehensive census was taken in the other British Indian out of three reaches the upper level of secondary West Indian territories in 1946, but the returns have not yet been published, exapt for a few preliminary bulletins. 80 Education Statistics, Central Bureau of Statistics (Kings- 2sCen.u~of JMlaica, 1943 (Kingston: Government Printer, ton, Jamaica, 1946), Bulletin No. 4, Table 3. 1945). p. 108, Table 54. 8lColonial No. 79, pp. 51, 54. Zelbid., p. 125, Table 69; p. 132, Table 72; p. 133, Table 8zRepon of Select Committee of the Legislative Council on 73; pp. 109 and 113, Table 57. Restriction of How8 of Lobour (Trinidad. 1926). pp. 30-31. 162 Education in the British West Indies Eric Williams education, the proportion is two out of three for the British scholarships and for a more careful entrance examination Isles races.33 Secondary education in the West Indies is for feepaying thus British not only in curriculum and in orientation but Educational statistics and reports do not record the pa- also in enrollment. thetic efforts made by parents to afford the high fees and This situation is due partly to the high illiteracy rate and so pronde the secondary education that is the avenue to the low level of primary education among the Negroes, whitecolh jobs. Rather, one would have to consult the mulattoes and East Indians. But a more important factor records of people's cooperative banks and local money- is the fact that secondary education is not free. Fees aver- lenders. In 1935 Barbados had 1,182 pupils enrolled in age about $48 (£10) per annum over the British West secondary schooh; by October, 1945 the enrollment had Indian area, and in many cases ate higher. In addition, increased to 2,5O5PT The enrollment in the secondary there are more expensive and numerous text books, while school for boys in Grenada doubled between 1941 and the prestige conferred by a secondary education in the 1945.88 In Trinidad existing schools have had to be en- West Indies demands a higher standard of clothing. In larged and new schools built OWpolicy, however, Jamaica, in 1944, fees amounted to nearly three times the espouses the principle of ciselective" mdary education. government grant;a4 in one of Jamaica's most famous sec- One of the. most recent reports reads: if a small counw ondary schools fees were doubled between 1934 and "wishes to raise the quality of its secondary education and 1944. to keep it at a high level, it is bound to limit the number Scholarships are invariably provided in secondary of teachen and hence the number of pupils . . .To have schools, but there is no stipulation that they must be a good home (though not necessarily parents who are well awarded to pupils from the elementary schools. In Barba- off) is . . . an important factor in the abiity of a pupil to profit by education."8e Barbados carries the snobbery of dos, where official circles consider fees remarkably low, secondary education to the extreme. Secondary schools are only one-eighth of the boys and one thirty-third of the divided into Grade A schools and Grade B schools. The girls enrolled are receiving a free education.36 The British fees h Grade A schools are approximately double the fees West Indian tendency to regard parental income as synony- in Grade B schools.- mous with scholastic ability received a rude shock when certain tests, academic in nature, were given to a selected **** number of boys and girls between ten and twelve years of It has been objected that the general criticisms of the age in the elementary and secondary schools of Barbados. content of education in the British West India have, until The tests revealed that 114 boys and 75 girls in the ele- comparatively recent times, been true of the systems of mentary schools would have been likely to derive more education in England, Europe and the United States, and benefit from secondary education than 69 of the 210 boys that the failure to provide an education fully suited to the and 58 of the 171 girls actually receiving it. The report, needs of British West Indian society is also characteristic however, was content with the mild conclusion, that the 86 The Evaluation of Education in Barbados, pp. 26-27. results undoubtedly called only for a wider provision of 3' The Bovision for Secondary Education in Barbados, p. 3. 38 The Development of Secondary Education in Grenada 83 Census of Jamaica, p. 108, Table 54. (Barbados, 1946). p. I. 34 Education Statislics (Jamaica), Table 6. 80 Zbid., pp. 1-2. 36 The Provision for Secondary Education in Barbados, p. 7. 'O The Provision for Secondary Education in Barbados, p. 6. 164 Education in the British West Indies Eric Williams 165 of Great Britain. Therefore, runs the argument, the divorce In addition to these general features, the educational of British West Indian education from the realities of system of the British West Indies has certain characterktics British West Indian lie, and its predominantly literary con- which need special treatment. tent, cannot be ascribed to the colonial status of the area The British West Indian community is a religious com- The objection is not wholly accurate, and the conclusion munity, and all proposals for educational reform have is wholly invalid. Although drastic criticisms have been to take note of the fact that large numbers of schools are made in Britain, yet the system, with all its defects, was a church owned. The educational system, however, must system evolved by the British and, therefore, related to the safeguard the superior right of the community as a whole economic and social conditions in that country. When such to control the general trend of education 'Ibis does not in a system was transplanted to the British West Indies, it any way mean that the religious sentiments of the people had most of the disadvantages and very few of the virtues. should not be mpulously respected. This is not a question What had been an evil in Britain became a catastrophe in of religion but an elementary democratic right the British West Indies. To say that the European system St. Lucia has 47 primary schools; all are church owned was transferred to the British West Indies is, in fact, to say There are 287 primary schools in Trinidad; 244 are de- all that is necessary. nominational. In the eastern group of the British West Another argument sometimes adduced is that the po- Indies, 70 per cent of the pupils are in denominational litically independent countries in the Caribbean do not schools. Of 668 primary schools in Jamaica, 464 are de- enjoy higher educational standards than the British West nominational; of 186 in British Guiana, all but 9 are Indies. One has to consider here, however, the conditions denominational.41 These schools are subsidised by the gov- in the British West Indies as they are, and the possibility ernments with respect to salaries, buildings, books and of correcting them. To say that in Jamaica today, in 1946, equipment. In return the governments have some voice in with the level of education of the people, their aspirations, appointments and dismissals, curricula, management, and their desire for self-government and selfdevelopment, to inspection. In the view of the West India Royal Commis- say that education should not be put into the hands of sion of 1938, this "financial sanction against gross inef- the people, because Cuba or Haiti or the Dominican Re- ficiency . . . does not render impossible the existence of public, which have been independent for generations, does many schools where the standard of accommodation and not enjoy a higher level of education than the people of teaching leaves mnch to be desired." The Commission en- Jamaica, is to open the road to the most reactionary argu- countered mnch criticism, especially among the teachers, ments and to deny progress altogether. When one criticises "That schools are housed in buildings primarily adapted the British West Indian system, it is not for the sake of for religious exercises . . . , that the denominational man- apportioning historical praise or blame. It is a question agers paid undue attention in matters of appointment to rather of seeking the roots of evils in order to correct such educationally irrelevant considerations as the appli- them. There are many points that can be raised in this cants' religious alWations and their willingness to under- type of comparison between the British West Indies and take church duties at the weekends or during the week."'l Haiti-or, for that matter, Mexico. They will not help the In addition, denominational rivalry, the possible subjection British West Indian people advance one inch in the ~01~- 41 Cmd. 6607, pp. 93, 116; Repon of Director of Education tion of their problems. for the Year 1941, British Guiana, p. 3. .I** Cmd. 6607, pp. 93-94. 166 Education in the British West Indies Eric William 167 of parents to threats of eternal damnation for sending their embraces six months of preliminary study in the use of children to any but a school of their own faith, and the tools and simple building techniques. The same organisa- religious prejudices against w-education, have resulted in tion has, in its adult education programme, organized a the injudicious multiplication of several weak, inefficient mass education project in nutrition. schools where the public interest demands consolidation. The organisation of Jamaica Welfare, Cited, a few **** years ago is a landmark in contemporary British West One of the most promising developments in recent years Indian development. Of this organisation Professor in the British West Indies is the increase of voluntary ac- T. S. Simey, until lately Social Welfare Adviser to the tivities for informal education outside of the classroom. Comptroller of Development and Welfare, has written as This deserves all the more emphasis in that it is a spon- follows: 'The main object in view was to try to lessen the taneous development of the British West Indian people unfortunate tendency of the people of Jamaica to depend themselves. on Government or other outside agencies to overcome di- The lint aspect of this movement is the 4-H Clubs, bor- ficulties . . . Emphasis was therefore laid from the first rowed from the United States. The movement started in on the people and their own efforts . . . The chief strength Jamaica in 1940 and has since spread slowly to the other of Jamaica Welfare Limited lies in the remarkable inven- territories. It has now received official support, and a Di- tiveness which has been displayed in attempting to solve rector of 4-H Clubs has been appointed to guide and fur- the social and economic problems of the colony . . . The ther the work in tbe British West Indies. The main educa- most encouraging feature of the organisation is the fact tional objectives of these clubs, which deal with young that all the Directors except the one most recently ap- rural people of primary school age and up to eighteen, pointed are Jamaicans . . . Jamaica Welfare Limited af- may be stated briefly as follows: the development of de- fords convincing proof of the vitality of the people of sirable ideals, technical instruction, "learning by doing," Jamaica, and of the fact that both the wmmon people and the fostering of scientific attitudes, training in cooperative their leaders are capable of finding solutions for their dif- action, the development of habits of healthful living, the ficulties if they are provided with the bare essentials to make encouragement of improved practices. The scope of the this a practical possibility."4' The Comptroller for De- clubs is the farm and the home, and the emphasis is on velopment and Welfare added his own tribute: 'The fact purposive activity, self-help, and character-building. For that so much has been learnt in so short a time, that the girls stress is placed on the home, nutrition, and dressmak- organisation is a spontaneous growth and that it is the ing; for boys on handicrafts, agriculture and animal bus- resalt of the initiative, t&e uudnmtauding, and skill of Ja- bandry. maican people, atTords a large measure of hope for the For young people over eighteen, pioneer clubs have future of the West Indies."" been developed in Jamaica, leading up to the cooperative movement. In the latter the emphasis is placed not on con- 48T. S. Simey, Social Welfare Organization in Jamaica, October 25, 1941, pp. 5, 7. sumers' cooperatives or on marketing, but rather on in- 44% Frank Stockdale, Development and Welfare in the creasing productive efficiency. As one example of the con- West Indies. 194042, Colonial No. 184 (London: H.M.S.O.. centration on the realities of local life may be mentioned a 19431, p. 53. cooperative housebuilding plan initiated by Jamaica Wel- fare, Limited, calling for use of local materials. The plan Parent-Teacher Relationships in a Jamaican Village Edward P. G. Seaga

The effects of the type of schooling described in the previous selection are graphically portrayed for a Jamai- INTRODUCTION can rural community by a Jamaican sociologist-turned- statesman. As the author shows, the expectations of par- The material on parent-teacher relationships on which this paper is based was gathered in the process of a study on ents themselves help to maintain the traditional educational "Psycho-social Aspects of Development in the Chid" car- system, including such elements as rote learning, corporal ried out by the writer during a residential survey in a Ja- punishment, and a curriculum rigidly tied to standards long maican village. The survey extended from March to outdated in the metropolis. October, 1953. This village, or 'district' as it is locally termed, is located EDWARD SEAGA, of Jamaican-Syrian ancestry, took a in the foothills which border a sugar plantation less than Bachelor of Aas degree in social science at Harvard Uni- 30 miles from Kingston, the capital of the island. The vil- versity. At the time he made this study, he was associated lage will be denoted hereafter by the pseudonym "Rural with the Institute of Social and Economic Research, Uni- Ridge". versity College of the West Indies, Jamaica. Seaga's con- Houses are situated along the gravel road which winds cern with Jamaican life and welfare was given more prac- from the plantation up into the hills, as well as along the tical expression after he entered Jamaican politics, won a four foot-paths that branch from this road at right angles. resounding electoral victory in an urban slum district, and In most cases, neighbouring homes are less than fifty yards became a leader in the then-ruling Jamaica Labour Party apart. The 327 inhabitants share the 84 houses of this com- munity. Homes are constructed from concrete, cut-stone, and a member of the Cabinet, most recently as Minister boards, coconut branches, twigs. The Iast mentioned type of Fiance and Development. of building is often daubed with clay. In exactly 50 per Social and Economic Studies, Vol. 4, No. 3, September 1955, pp. 289-302. Reprinted with permission of the author and the Institute of Social and Economic Research, University of the West Indies. 170 Parent-Teacher Relationships Edward P. 0. Seaga 171 cent of the households in which there was a co-habiting Classes are held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. from Monday couple in residence, concubinage was found to be pres- to Thursday, and until midday on Fridays. Most of the ent. Twenty-two per cent of the residents over 15 years of teachers also hold private classes for examination candi- age are unable to read or write. dates from 4-6 p.a The school prepares candidates for The primary occupation of the residents is agricultural the Jamaica Local Examinations which are held annually. cultivation on small holdings, supplemented by field labour These examinations are offered on basic, intermediary, on the sugar cane estate during the crop season. There are and advanced levels. Papers are prepared by the Depart- also a few craftsmen, such as carpenters, sawyers, and ment of Education. dressmakers, as well as three grocers. This article will discuss only the relationships between Trucks provide transportation between Kingston and parents of Rural Ridge and teachers of the public elemen- Rural Ridge twice weekly. Two residents possess radios tary school, which excludes, therefore, the teacher of the and two others subscribe to the island's daily newspaper. private inEant school of the village, as well as the parents No magazines are available. Two nearby townships, how- of neighbouring villages whose children attend the former ever, provide such facilities as dry goods and drug stores, school. cinemas, postal service, railroad and bus service, dental and medical clinics, a hospital, and so on. The question of parent-teacher relationships must also The three religious groups in Rural Ridge are Baptist involve the wider issue of parental attitudes towards the (Nominal), Shilo Apostolic Church of God, and Zion educational system, in which the teachers are. merely tutors. Revival. The last named group keep a Balmyard which The necessity of an education is generally endorsed in practises faith healing. Rural Ridge, but with certain qurncations. Fitly, it is Scbool is held in the Baptist Church but the Jamaican not considered necessary for every child to receive full Government is responsible to the extent of 50 per cent scholastic training. The selection of those who are to re- for building and furniture expenses and for the full sala- ceive full training involves a consideration of the cbid's ries of the teachers. The building is of concrete construc- mental capabilities and the particular occupation for which tion measuring 48 x 28 feet. It contains no subdivision he is training. Those who complete the programme, that into rooms. is, pass the third (advanced) Jamaica Local Examination, are expected to seek further training in the professions of Of the five teachers of this school, two are classed as teaching, riming, or postal clerkship. These three are con- Al, two as A3, and one is a probationer.1 The school is sidered the most socially acceptable and financially suc- classified as Grade C, which means that its triennial range cessful of all the occupations generally available to the of attendance is 80-150 students, with an average attend- children of the village. Others who are not successful in ance of 136. Enrolment totals 222 students, of which ap- reaching this point will seek training in, or the facilities proximately 25 per cent are residents of Rural Ridge, the necessary for practising shopkeeping, crafts, farming, hig- others coming from neighbouring villages. glering, domestic work, or unskilled field labour. Secondly, 1 Al: completed three years of training college or equiv- apart from the occupational opportunities offered, the alent. standard of one's education is instrumental in defining class A3: completed one year of training college or equivalent. status. The prestige of education in this community is sec- Probationer: one who has not yet completed one year Of training college or equivalent but performs teaching duties. ond only to the prestige of wealth. Consequently, in Rural Edward P. G. Seaga 173 172 Parent-Teacher Relationships hearted character they inevitably acquire through these Ridge, education is primarily endorsed as an acceptable associations, convinces the villagers that they are unsuit- means for occupational training and upward social mo- able for the scholastic atmosphere. As one woman said: bility. "Is only black people tek dem kind of story serious and is In contrast to this general endorsement, however, there why we so idiot" are a number of specific criticisms of various aspects of Again, both "Anancy" and "Mongoose" are figures im- the educational system as well as of its teachers. mortalized for their cunning, which more often than not The curriculum of the school is a target for some minor was of a dishonest nature. Hence, the moral of the stories criticisms. Hence, although the subjects of the curriculum is considered improper for the child. It is said: "It only are generally endorsed as instructive and useful, the in- teach dem to lie and t'ief." clusion of relaxation periods such as playtimes, holidays, or vacations, is often criticized unless they are on a most Finally, these. stories are one of the last reminders of limited scale. This criticism is always in a semi-serious the African past of the people-a past which is termed manner, however, and cannot be regarded as one of more 'bungo', that is, uncivilized and regressive. Among friends than minor consequence. The following extract from the then, or the family, the stories can be revived despite their writer's note-book illustrates the point: associations, in the same way that other personal embar- rassments might be discussed freely on these occasions. Teacher gave five weeks instead of the customary But it is not expected that they should be revealed publicly, month for midsummer holidays. The result was that a just as private embarrassments must be excluded from number of parents remarked to me, conversationally: public hearings. "Ah don' know why teacher give dem so much holiday; Quoting from the note-book again: better dem stay at school and learn something; all dem do now is romp and tear up dem clothes". Some even Miss E. is reputed to be the most belligerent and out- complained duectly to the teacher, but not in an of- spoken woman in the district. On the Erst instance that fensive manner. I met her she told me that Government had no interest in educating the black people. They wanted to keep In comparison, criticisms of the school syllabus are more them stupid so that they could trick them. That is why extensive. The foremost complaint is a dissatisfaction with they won't provide anything better than Anancy stories the reading texts used in this school. These texts, Caribbean for them to read. Readers, replaced the older West Indian Readers to some extent, which themselves replaced the Royal Crown series. Miss P. was commenting that her son, aged thirteen With each new series there has been a greater concentra- years, was in fourth class and could hardly sign his tion on material from West Indian culture in order to pre- name. The boy is actually one of the dullest in the school. sent more familiar topics to the young readers; the criticism One of the reasons for this is the fact that-"dem chil- dren nowadays learning stupidness Look what dem give is that the material on West Indian culture included in dem to read-Anancy stories!" these texts devotes substantial space to the exploits of "Anancy" (Spider King in folk-lore of the Ashanti peo- These criticisms, unfortunately, are generalized to a con- ple), "Brer Mongoose", etc. The role of these tales in demnation of the entire text of the Caribbean series, rather local custom limits their use to festive occasions, formal than restricted to the folk-lore sections. Similarly, certain or informal, or utilizes them as bed-time stories. The light- 174 Parent-Teacher Relationships Edward P. G. Seaga 175 criticisms are made of the recent inclusion of 'digging' But although these opinions are extensive it would be songs and calypsos in the music syllabus. 'Ihe former songs inaccurate to state that they are intensively rooted. They are used only at a 'digging sport', which is cooperative ef- attain the degree of an overt manifestation of prejudice fort by friends to prepare one man's Eeld for planting. In only in a small minority. Apart from this, they exist only return, he provides a feast and a plentiful supply of nun as passive criticisms which are not voiced unless specifically during the labour, and the songs, which are sung in activated by enquiry or an occasional event which acts as rhythm to m-ordinated digging strokes, provide an atmos- a trigger. phere of impulsive merriment. Calypsos, on the other hand, Turning from the syllabus and curriculum to the meth- are associated only with the dance hall, and although the ods and responsibilities of teaching, there are more serious specific songs included in the repertoire are carefully criticisms which limit the endorsement of educational chosen, it is diicult to avoid lyrics that will not in some policy, and the degree of confidence in the teachers. The way offend the puritanical mind by reference to sexual most prevalent of these criticisms is the opinion that suf- or other natural impulses. ficient discipline is not enforced in school. Discipline refers In Rural Ridge there is no definite opinion on the ques- almost exclusively to corporal punishment as this is recog- tion of whether foreign or local material should be em- nized by parents and teachers as the only effective means phasized in the studies. It is felt that both are necessary, of punishment, whether used directly or implied by as long as the studies of local culture avoid culturally and threats. Further, by corporal discipline parents refer spe- morally regressive material. On the other hand, there are cifically to 'llogging'. Other varieties exist, such as forcing certain items which have been excluded from the modem the child to kneel or stand for a long period of time, but syllabus that Rural Ridgers feel should be reinstituted. Par- these are considered ineffective and seldom used. A short ents speak with pride of their own school days when clean bamboo cane, a leather belt, or a switch, are the popular hger nails, tidiness, honesty, 'manners', etc. were em- instruments used in floggings (or whippings), and an of- phasized. fender usually receives from one to a dozen hits on the palms, buttocks, or shoulders. C, aged twenty-four, was talking to me when her Parents readily offer gruesome stories of their own eleven-year old brother came in from school for lunch. school days when corporal discipline was both extensive He passed behind me un-noticed but did not greet me. and intensiye. The teacher would 'stretch out' a student She immediately reprimanded him by saying: "What and apply the strap severely, usually until welts and bruises kind of teacher yu have dat him can't teach yu to say were raised on the skin. howdedo." Although corporal punishment is still extensively prac- tised in this school, teachers do not use the bruising vio- A woman from another district, on hearing that her lence of the past, both for fear of parental retaliation, son had been caught stealing pencils from the teacher's and because present-day educational policy is far less cupboard, remarked, "What kind of school dat where sympathetic to corporal punishment. The severity of the teacher allow de pickney dem to stealt' old parental attitude to flogging is reflected in the motto: It is felt that the supposed moral deficiency of the pres- "Lick dem teacher, only save de eye"; but today, floggings ent generation is due to the absence of this kind of instruc- are condoned by parents only if no bruises or disabling tion in the syllabus. pains result. The smallest welt or physical disability raises Edward P. G. Seaga 176 Parent-Teacher Relationships Generally, the teachers regard the need for extensive the treatment from the category of punishment to 'ill- discipline in school as a result of the fact that parents tend treatment', and brings a storm of parental protests that to neglect discipline at home, with the threat to the child: often ends in physical violence and/or judicial action "Wait till you go to school. Ah going mek teacher stretch you out and tear yu skin". The writer overheard this Mrs. B., an upper-middle class2 woman, related to threat, verbatim, on several occasions. me the case of her eight-year old grand-daugbter whom Actually, not all children are judged capable of 'taking one of the teachers forced to kneel on the ground until pop she learned to add certain numbers. Periodically, while learning'. There are two categories, according to the kneeling, the child was 'flogged' lightly on the hands ular belief, for "some have a quick head, and some of dem with a switch as she failed to produce the right answers head slow". Those who are categorised as 'slow' are not on being questioned. She cried, but the teacher was de- expected to learn much, and consequently it is not expected termined that she should stay in that position until the that the teacher will flog them seriously except in matters correct answers were given. Most of the pain was a re- of deportment, for, as a middle-aged woman who raised sult of kneeling on a knee swollen by wasp stings re a dozen children told the writer "Flogging don't help if ceived the day before. Whether the teacher was aware de brain slow". of these stings or not she did not know, but the fact On the other band, those who have a 'quick brain' are that the child experienced pain for some horn after expected to progress rapidly providiig "teacher pay atten- the incident convinced her that she was 'ill-treated'. tion to dem and keep flogging dem to make dem learn". go or She planned to to the school the next morning Hence, if a child in this category fails to fulfil expecta- send the child's mother to "tear the teacher apart, for she is only a young gal, and not even a big somebody tions, it is not so much a fault of the child as it is a reflec- must handle my child dat way". She further quoted tion on the teacher's ability. that her money helped to build the school, not the Another teaching technique which is popular with par- teacher's. On this occasion, she did not fulfil her threat% ents is the chorus method. Here, the teacher instructs the but on a previous occasion involving her young pupils to repeat the lesson in a loud chorus. The popularity daughter she assaulted the teacher with insults and ac- of this method with parents is based on the fact that the cusations covering all facets of the unfortunate teacher's chorus can be heard in the home or field as far as two character. miles away. Not only is this vocal feat impressive to them but it brings an assurance that the children are really Wig Because of parental objections, therefore, the teachers tutored conscientiously, a matter which is not taken for are afraid to apply severe punishments, while, paradoxi- granted. One of the residents once remarked to the head cally, parents complain that "teacher don' flog dem hard teacher that he always considered Mr. C. (a previous enough". head teacher) to be excellent-"for me could stay down at de coffee piece" (about one mile away) "and hear him M.'s father came to see the head teacber on one of drill de pickney in dem A.B.C." The chorus method, as a his infrequent visits to Rural Ridge. He requested the result of contemporary educational training, is not too teacher to "give de boy more floggings for 'im too rude and don' interested enough in school work". M. stays popular among the present teachers, although it is still with his grandmother since his father is a non-resident. practised, but with less stress on volume. In addition to this prescribed teaching method favoured *See pp. 183-84 for a discussion of class Sti3hls. 178 Parent-Teacher Relationships Edward P. G. Seaga 179 by parents, there are also prescribed ideas on the amount centage of passes in the school. A small percentage of and type of achievement required before a pupil is wn- passes in tum limits parental confidence in the capabilities sidered to have made progress. of the teachers. or more specacally, the head teacher. 'IEe result of the Jamaica Local Examination is the. im- Where a teacher inspires confidence he is given great portant criterion of the pupil'a scholastic progress, and latitude with the child, for it is expected that studying un- hence the teacher's capabilities. If sufEcient students are der him guarantees success to a great degree. Hence, one successful, it is to the glory of the teacher. If, on the other woman sent her beloved eight-year old daughter to stay hand, too many fail, it reinforces the argument that with distant relatives so that she could attend the school at "teacher not forcing de pickney dem to learn enough, for which her old head-teacher now presided. She had great 80 much of dem couldn't fail". respect for his disciplinarian approach, despite the fact Naturally, every attempt ia made to select only those that his moral attitude towards his pupils was somewhat candidates who have a good chance of su- in order to suspect. It was under his regime that the village achieved assure a large percentage of passes, but here the teacher its few noteworthy graduates. is faced with two problems. On the one hand, some of On the other hand, if the teacher's reputation for pro- those selected cannot convince their parents to risk the ducing successful candidates is weak, most of the parents examination fee (5/-) while on the other hand, there are will resign themselves to the situation and expect little prog- usually two or three who are convinced that they can be ress from the student. The very few who find it possible, rmcessful despite the teacher's advice. How the first case wiU transfer their children to other schools. This attitude is handled will be discussed later when the finanad of resignation naturally produces little parental confidence inter-relationship of parents and teachers is dealt with. Ia or co-operation, and as a result daily attendance is con- the second case, however, the teacher usually gives way, sidered unnecessary, if not wasteful. In such cases, the if he fails to convince the parent of the improbability of argument is proposed: "Better de pickney dem stay home the child's success The alternative to this would be to risk sometime and learn to do something useful; no sense dem the parents' disfavm and possibly the transfer of the child go every day and dem not learning nothin'". to another school and with this pupil would go a potential In 1952 when the school had only two successful passes success for some future examination. out of ten candidates, one parent bluntly attributed his A further problem results from the fact that there are daughter's failure to the head teacher and transferred the usually one or two candidates each year who cannot be child. Others echoed this attitude but were more passive convinced to repeat examinations which they -11~ in their reaction. In 1953, five of the eleven candidates failed rather than attempt a more advanced course agaiost were successful and much confidence restored. The pres- the teacher's advice. (In meritorious cases, the teacher will ent teachers of this school are all recent trainees in the pennit the candidate to attempt the more advanced profession. course.) Here again it is considered wiser to submit to the The general responsibilities of the teacher do not cease request rather than risk the loss of a potentially successful with the matter of scholastic progress. It is popularly ac- candidate. cepted that a good teacher is one who shows a keen interest The result of all these demands is to saddle the list of in his students. This means that interest must be invested candidates with a number of entrants who have only 8 beyond the limits of academic studies and the class room. small chance of success and who thereby limit the per- It is expected for instance, that on school outings the 180 Parent-Teacher Relationships Edward P. G. Seam 181 teachers will devote constant attention to the pupils to (urn at conducting Sunday service or Sunday school at guard them from any of the physical dangers which par- the Baptist Church. ents fear might befall the child. These dangers vary from In matters of tutoring, there is little criticism of the pres- falls or getting lost, to serious accidents such as electrocu- ent teachers in Rural Ridge, with the exception of one as- tion or automobile collisions. Hence, if a teacher faih to sistant who openly expresses her dislike for this voluntary provide complete security for the child, which necessarily service. But with regards to service in village committees involves abandoning personal interests, he or she inevitably much criticism is directed at their inertia and Lack of initia- earns a reputation of selfishness and is accused of not hav- tive. The head teacher is, to some extent, an exception ing sufficient interest in the child In one case, Miss L. was to this, since he is semi-active on more than one committee. overheard remarking to her young bmther, "All like A teacher's resentment for these extra duties is rarely yu couldn't go to Litand Power House, for yu can't openly expdin Rural Ridge, for it is recognized that stand steady and if you touch anything dere it would shock these outlets are the quickest means of winning the co- yon dead". The reference is, of course, to an outing to operation and commendation of the residents, and achiev- the Power Station in the capital city, one which commands ing the suwesful examination passes, on which future little cooperation from parents. progress in their careers will rest. On this matter of outings, the teachers are not only The hmcial inter-relationship of parent and teacher expected personally to supervise the events. but also to presents still another problem. Due to a misconception organize them regularly. Sometimes, these events are a of the salary of the school st&, the villagem suspect them personal financial loss to the teacher since the amount of of being relatively wealthy, and while no one knows the patronage is uncertain and insutlicient seats are sold in exact incomes involved, most guesses put them as much as the trucks which have to be ordered beforehand. 50 per cent above the red figure. This impression of In the sphere of scholastic work the same extra demands wealth is largely derived from the neat dreas of the teach- on the teacher's time and interests are made. He is ex- em and relatively comfortable fumidhgs and accommoda- pected to cqnduct private classes for the Jamaica Local tiom of their homes. The villagers maintain-"dem live Examination students every evening after school until 6.00 like white people"; hence, it is not unreasonable to expect p.m. from October to June. Purther, in the find few that they should also possess some of the wealth of the months before the June examination, tutoring is expected white people. at nights for some of the studenta Some parents, in dis- As a result the teacher is almost always the giver or cussing services expected of the teacher, even quoted past knder (rather than the receiver or borrower) in this re- cases of those who devoted Saturday mornings to pupils lationship. It is not unusual to hda teacher purchasing in need of special tutoring. text books for a promising examination student or even Again, the teachers are expected to be leaders and or- some essential article of clothing, either directly, or by ganizers in the varioua village committea. They fill the lending the funds to the parent In such instances, they posts of President or Secretary of all these groups, especially entertain little hope of reimbursement. Further, the child the Church committee, and it is expected that they will does not always benefit, as in the case of a man who bor- bear the greater burden of the duties. One or two nights rowed 16/- from the head teacher to help purchase a pair weekly and an occasional mid-afternoon session are re- of shoes for his son, an examination candidate. The boy quired in this way. In addition, they must take a regular had not been attending classes because at his age and sta- 182 Parent-Teacher Relationships Edward P. 0. Seaga 183 tus it would have been undignified to do so without shoes. Several boys were rolling on the grass of Mrs. G.'s The teacher realized that as a potential examination suc- home. Mrs. P. from next door called to ask what they cess, he was worth an investment of 16/-, but months later were doing. One boy replied that the head teacher had the boy was still without shoes and the teacher without sent them for some dry grass for mulching in the garden. reimbursement. She replied: "Don' bother go for is only teacher belly yu fatteningl" Borrowing is not extensive since it is counteracted by the average villager's sense of pride. It occurs primarily in The writer did not enwunter any criticism by parents of instances where a pupil is involved. 'Ilia child must be of membership of the school's Saving Club, of which the sulXcient scholastic promise to invoke the parent to take head teacher was trustee. this humiliating step, and also to wnvince the teacher that A teacher is very rarely the recipient of gifts (which will there is a possibility of reimbursement in the form of an- usually be fruits or food kind) from a parent unless he is other successful candidate. a personal friend, or has taken a special interest in the There are other financial obligations, in which the child's welfare and progress which the parent considers teacher is again the creditor. In this category, non-payment additional to his expected duties, or has tutored the child of the small fees charged for tutoring candidates in private for an examination. sessions is foremost; almost without exception, this obliga- In a different sphere of inter-personal relationships, it is tion is neglected. Since the major part of the syllabus can noteworthy that neither teachers nor parents ever address only be covered in these private sessions, the teacher has each other by their Christian names. In fact, the teacher no alternative but to conduct them without payment, if is usually addressed as "Sir" or "Ma'am" when involved he expects to gain the successful candidates by which his in wnversation with a parent, unless the latter is a particu- abiity wiU be judged. What is more usual in this matter Isr friend. is that a grateN parent will occasionally send gifts of The ideal teacher is the individual who not only renders fruits or provisions to a teacher as acknowledgement of extensive services to the community, but one who does services. so willingly. However, the amicable teacher who 'mix-up' In soliciting subscriptions for welfare or Church func- with villagers socially, especially the opposite sex, is not tions, it is expected that the teachers will be among the respected. A teachefs social companions are expected to foremost contributors. Actual begging, however, is absent be drawn from the elite of the district, hut casual conver- in parent-teacher relationships, although it is present to a sation and most of all, courteous greetings are expected small extent in the village as a whole. by every villager. Fdy, a teacher is expected to live ac- As trustees of public property, the teachers are liable to cording to the villager's conception of the highest moral further criticism. For instance, it is popularly assumed code, which excludes concubinage, flirtatiousness, drunk- that some of the notebook granted by Government are enness, obscenity, political partisanship, and religious ir- sold elsewhere by the teachers rather than issued free of reverence.. charge as intended. Further, the products of the school It has been mentioned that the head of the school is garden are again assumed to be eaten privately by the the focus for parental attitudes towards the teachers. teachers. (Actually, these are used in the school's l~~hWhile, however, there is little signilicant differentiation canteen.) among the teachers in their attitudes towards parents, there 184 Parent-Teacher Relationships Edward P. 0.Seaga 185 is a distinct differentiation among parents in their attitudes chance or the demands of some critical situation. The par- towards the teachers. The latter are considered to be mem- ent, generally, learns of the child's &airs in school indi- bers of the small upper class (or 'opposite sect' as it is redly, that is, by overhearing the child reciting Anancy termed) of Rural Ridge, or in the case of two junior as- stories or singing Calypsos at home, etc. This leads to sistants, members of the upper-middle class.8 They are aU questioning which eventually brings out the fact that these. expected to choose theii social companions from the upper studies are now in the syllabus. It is only in the few pro- and upper-middle class residents. But beyond the usual gressive homes that details of the syllabus or curriculum cordial greetings or very occasional formal visits, fraterni- are discussed by parents with children. On several occa- zation with residents was (in the case under review) limited sions, parents did not even seem to know in what class to five homes, two from the upper and three from the their child was graded and had to ask some other member upper-middle class. Naturally, the members of these homes of the family: "What book8 'im reading now?" Further exhibited more sympathetic attitudes towards the teachers questions on the child's progress, such as his arithmetical than did other residents. Other members of the upper ability, would often bring the reply, 'Teacher say 'im and the middle classes who were not close friends of the doing all right". The emphasis is usually on what 'Teacher teachers, usually displayed less critical attitudes in these say". relationships than lowerclass residents, who were largely This ignorance further extends to a misconception of antipathetic to any deviations from the educational sys- the mechanics of education. It is popularly believed that a tem of their school days, and suspicious of the teacher's child need not attend classes daily in order to receive a positions of trust. The teachers in this case, were considered substantial quota of education. Two or three days per as agents of Government, and as a result, received much week are considered sacient for all except the most prom- of the criticism repeatedly directed at Government. King students or those who are examination candidates. One of the primary reasons for these attitudes in the This belief arises out of a lack of understanding of the various parent-teacher relationships is the surprising ignor- arrangement of the syllabus, for on many occasions when ance of parents on matters concerning the school. There it was remarked that the absentee child might miss an im- is little discussion between parent and child on these mat- portant lesson at school, the reply was: "Him can still ters. Home work, which auld provide material for such learn it tomorrow, or some other day". This attitude that discussion, is not favoured under present policy, because two or three days per week is sufficient for attendance, is it is felt that it would provide unlimited opportunities for one of the basic deterrents to daily attendance and con- copying. Again, no terminal reports on the pupil's prog- sequently one of the primary bamen to scholastic progress. ress are issued, and finally, the Parent-Teacher Associa- Hence, ignorance on those two points, the mntent and tion' of the village is defunct. A direct exchange of infor- arrangement of the syllabus, restricts parental knowledge mation between parent and teacher or parent and child of the educational programme to matters which are less on matters of education, is consequently largely left to concerned with the actual business of teaching, such as The class membership of each individual was decided dur- the enthusiasm of the teachers in community &airs, and ing the survey by many residents independently, at the writer% the results of the Jamaica Local Examinations. Once teach- request They were classified voluntarily into four groups: ers have proven their ability in these ways, parents are upper, upper-middle, lower-middle and lower. 4 See pp. 187-88 for discussion of Parent-Teacher Associa- 6The first book of series of Readers used by the school is tion. read in first class, the second book in second class, etc. 186 Parent-Teacher Relationships Edward P. 0. Sea 187 likely to feel assured that their children are progressing, in point of free discussion with those of similar sympathies. spite of the fact that they can give very little reliable in- The infrequent discwions between residents with oppos- formation on these pupils' actual scholastic achievements. ing attitudes towards the teachers are usually heard only A second reason for the existence of these particular among intimate friends, where the risk of information parent-teacher relationships, is the fact that both parties reaching the teachers is at a minimum. Finally, it is an assess each other on the basis of contlicting criteria. Par- even rarer incident when a parent directly confronts a ents consider the previous system of education, in which teacher with criticism. they were tutored, as the ideal. The prototype of this sys- The same approach is less true in the case of the teach- tem was the authoritarian task-master with an extensive ers. For, although most of their criticisms of parents are and unselfish devotion to a wide range of public services discussed in the presence of sympathetic company, there in the community. The contemporary system, however, are more instances to be found here where a teacher will features among other things, a non-emphasis on corporal criticize or challenge a resident's criticisms directly. punishmenf which system, according to the teachers, is The most general reaction of parents to conflicts in %tially tried by all new staff members but is eventually these relationships is one of resignation. This resignation discarded, for more than one reason, in favour of a com- has an important effect on the scholastic progress of the promise with the older disciplinarian approach. Similarly, child through its influence on attendance at classes. For the newer recruits in the profession are not interested in parents argue: ''No sense sending de pickney dem to the extensive programme of community service since it school regular for him not learnin' anything; de now-a- leaves little time for personal activities. But here again, the days teacher dern don' know how fe handle de pickney demands of the community produce a compromise. dem and don' how wha' to teach dem". This approach The teachers of this school are all new recruits, and there- is as popular as the complementary attitude that two or fore products of the contemporary training system with three days per week is sutlicient for an education, and its merent ideals. Their resolving of these ideals with together they help to produce a very irregular pattern of community demands which are based on an obsolete sys- attendance among the pupils of this school. tem produces compromises which are not assessed by the The most usual response of teachers to conflim in these community as a product of contemporary policy, of which relationship with parents, is one of compromise, combined they know little, but rather condemned as a dilution of the with a resigned dissatisfaction. They are aware that wm- older system, of which they know much. pliance with community ideals of education incresses pa- The present teachers of the Rural Ridge school have rental confidence, which in turn increaw Wince on fallen heir to these condemnations by virtue of the un- more regular attendance. The latter is ohsewed as one of popular contemporary educational system in which they the major pre-requkiteu for successful candidacy in the have been tutored. To offset this, they have not yet pro- examination, md this is, apparently, the final objective duced the quantity of Local Examination results which of the teaching programme, and to the community, the is the best advertisement for their system. primary signal of success in the careers of the teacher or It would not be accurate to imply that the antipathetic the child. attitudes in these relationships are generally overt. Critical Apparently, in Rural Ridge, some attempt was usually opinions are most openly expressed among lower-class made in the Parent-Teacher Association meetings to rectify members, but even here they rarely progress beyond a conflicting attitudes between parents and teachers, on a 188 Parent-Teacher Relationships Edward P. G. Seaga 189 general rather than personal level. However, this Associa- system, representatives of the Government, and members tion is now defunct primarily because its meetings were, of a specific social class. Consequently, parental attitudes according to parents, too intellectual to be attractive, and towards the teachers will be influenced by parents' atti- further, there was little genuine conviction that the kp- tudes in general towards these social institutions and others sociation would be helpful in producing the concrete im- with which the latter are associated. This was observed in provements by which parents identify scholastic progress, many instances throughout this paper, for example: such as better Local Examination results. The teachers, 1. The influence of parental attitudes towards the syllabus on the other hand, took it for granted that the importance reflecting on the abilities of the teacher as a tutor; of the Association was understood by parents, and count- 2. The over-estimation by residents of the teacher's salary, ered the claim of dullness in the meetings as a rationaliza- resulting primarily from the latter's attitudes towards tion by parents to excuse themselves from the responsi- the expected wealth of upper-class members in general; bilities of attendance. 3. The suspiciousness, primarily by lower-class residents. The need for propaganda to reencourage attendance directed towards the teachers as trustees of public prop- in the P.T.A. of this village is obvious, but it would be of erty, which largely results from the suspiciousness of little value unless such efforts were directed primarily at these residents towards the Government as a whole. lower-class folk, since they are less co-operative in such No full treatment or resolution of the problems of matters than other residents. parent-teacher relationships, therefore, is possible without Members of this group are not likely to be attracted by a discussion of the wider field of attitudes held by parents the traditional methods of soliciting by letters, Church an- and teachers towards the various social institutions of the nouncements, or notices posted in the shops. These are community, as well as the attitudes they exhibit towards far less effective here than the method of issuing public each other directly in their inter-personal relationships. invitatiom to entertainments, such as school concern, or This paper has been concerned only with the latter, al- film shows, which are combined with the more serious though in many instances examples of the former relation- meetings This alternative method, known as 'marrying', ships were implicitly treated. is occasionally used in Rural Ridge to ensure attendance at agricultural meetings. In addition to encouraging attendance in the P.T.A. for discussion of parent-teacher relationships, other methods, such as the institution of reports on the pupil's progress would serve to extend the area of parent-teacher contacts which is necessary if each is to understand the other's at- titudes. It would be inaccurate to imply that increased associa- tion of parents and teachers would be suiEcient to elimi- nate coacts in their relationships, even if such meetin@ were primarily devoted to discussions of codicting at- titudes. For one thing, it must be remembered that the teachers are considered tutors in a particular educational 1 M. G. Smith This selection shows what happens to many rural school- children who manage to stay in school long enough to In this essay I seek to describe the patterns of occupational articulate their ambitions. The extraordinary gulf be- preference in rural Jamaica. To do so I draw on two in- dependent surveys for my data. One of these inquiries was tween what they and their parents have been taught to a study of elementary education made by Mr. P. C. C. hope for and the jobs they can possibly get, given Jamaica's Evans in 1957.' The other was a survey of conditions af- economic conditions and social structure, lead inevitably fecting rural labor supply which I made in 1955. Occupa- to frustration and despair. tional choice was investigated in both studies, and by collating their data on this topic, we can explore the M. o. s~n'xi,a mial anthropologist born in Jamaica, correspondence of career choices amongst peasant adults was the recipient of an Island Scholarship; he took an and children, and relate these aspirations to local pros- undergraduate degree at McGi University and received pects. The comparison depends for its value on the validity his doctorate at University College, London. He has done of this procedure. Various objections are possible, and I extensive field research in Jamaica, Grenada, and Car- shall discuss these before analyzing the data. nacou and also in Nigeria. Smith has been Research **** Fellow and Acting Director of the Institute of Social and The facts presented reveal a formidable gap between Economic Research at the University of the West Indies, reality and desire. Apparently the conditions of rural life Jamaica, and Professor of Anthropology at the University are so depressing that peasants greatly desire that their of California, Los Angeles. He is currently Professor of Anthropology at University College, London Social and Economic Studies, Vol. 9, No. 3, 1960, pp. 332, 350-54. Reprinted with permission of the author and the In- stitute of Social and Economic Research, University of the West Indies. Also in The Plural Sociery in the Wesl Indies, Berkeley, University of California Press, 1965. 'I very much appreciate the generosity of Mr. P. C. C. Evans of the Institute of Education, London University, for per- mission to use these survey findings. 192 Education and Occupational Choice M. G.Smith 193 children should escape them and hope that this will be as my own inquiries into the occupational preferences of achieved by occupational means. The parents' ambitions Hausa school children in Northern Nigeria indicate. More- on behalf of their children are reinforced in some ways over, in no case do these Jamaican schoolboys wish to be and modified in others by the children's years at school. cowboys, engine-drivers, sailors, or airmen; nor do the The most unrealistic aspirations are thus partly corrected, girls wish to become air-hostesses, models, or to go on the but the basis on which occupations are chosen remains stage. There is nothing unusual about nursing, dressmak- untouched. The elementary schools can merely modify ing, teaching, or mechanic's work. Even so, the important details but cannot challenge this occupational preference point is surely that when an English or American boy wants scale or its basis, because both are cast in the image of the to be a mechanic or a doctor, or when an Australian or school. German girl wants to nurse or teach, they usually have The school presents peasants with the idea and prospect good opportunities for doing so, simply because they par- of alternative occupations. Traditionally it has been the ticipate in an educational system that provides these op principal avenue of social mobility open to them in Ja- portunities, and belong to an industrial society that values maica, and in some periods perhaps the sole important such skills. one. In addition the school presents a curriculum based It may be argued that the children do not fully under- on others designed for urban populations in industrial stand the occupations which they select, and that in any countries. This disvalues the peasant way of life, inexplic- case their preferences change as a normal part of the pro- itly but profoundly. In the content of the education it of- cess of growing up. These arguments should be discussed fers, the school directs the children's attention away from separately. If the school children of 14 or 15 do not under- their peasant community to the preindustrial towns with stand the nature of medicine or machinery, dressmaking, their wide range of prestigious occupations and seemingly nursing, or teaching, the schools must accept responsi- endless opportunities. bility. However, as we have seen, there is a fair correspond- We have seen that the young folk who leave school in ence between the children's own choices and those which these districts seem to need several years in which to read- just realisticaUy to their environment In one sphere at they report their parents to have on their behalf. Even if least they never do adjust fully, since they heap their own the child does not know what he chooses, the parent should; frustrated ambitions on their children, to briog further and the correspondence of parental and children's choices frustration. The school, by virtue of its curriculum and its is only matched by the divergence in the choices of adults role as the primary instrument and channel of a social for themselves and for their children. mobility which is occupational in means, may modify the It is quite true that children often change their occupa- particulars of this ambition, but can neither challenge nor tional preferences as part of the process of growing up. alter its direction. The occupational values that parents But the shifts that take place in the preferences of these and children hold in wmmon are those that the school children are shifts within a limited framework of implic- represents. itly urban character. When professional aspirations are Before proceeding, I wish to consider certain objections too clearly wealistic to be retained, nursing or mechanic's that may be raised to this interpretation. Fit, it can be work takes the lead. Only after the child has left school argued that children in any country have high aspirations is there a shift toward available rural occupations. To say and prefer unusual occupations. Thii is not quite correct, that the changing career preferences which accompany M. G. Smith 195 194 Education and Occupational Choice contradictory to foster an educational system that permits maturation normally involve careers that are not available or encourages such pronounced urban orientations among would be to stretch this objection too far; but unless it is stretched that far, it does not apply in this case, since it is rural folk at the same time that one subsidizes farm precisely this choice of the unavailable that is so sttiking programs which presuppose that the peasants' heart is in in our sample. his land. Yet another argument might be that a certain volume of Sice the preceding data were collected, the government occupational frustration is inevitable, and indeed desirable, of Jamaica has initiated a program of scholarships to sec- in societies that value mobility and change. Without dip- ondary schools, which is designed to raise the secondary puting this general proposition, it is clear that the volume school population from 10,000 in 1957 to 26,000 ten years of frustration we have been measuring here is both exces- later. By 1967 the population of Jamaica may be about sive and self-perpetuating. To compare these conditions 1.8 million, and the school-age population about 500,000. with occupational frustration among the Hausa, British, Thus even when this scholarship program is fulfilled, only or Americans is absurd. one child in every twenty may expect a secondary educa- Our data show that rural school children nourish bright tion. Despite its generous intention, this scheme will do aspirations in school and face a gtim period of disappoint- little to alleviate occupational frustration among rural Ja- ment when they leave.. The educational system which per- maicans. mits or encourages these aspirations cannot avoid some Pially, it has been argued that the integration of a so- responsibility for the disorientation and disillusion which is ciety is not affected by the fact that many people within it their result. Dr. Madeline Kerr, in her study of Jamaican have high levels of aspiration but low expectation^.^ With- country folk, has attributed some of the cultural confusion out careful documentation and qualification this proposi- which she observed among rural people to their experience tion is unacceptable. Its chief novelty is to assume social of elementary education.a The gap between occupational integration under any conditions whatever their measure, choice and prospects discussed in this paper represents cause or form. one aspect of the confusion Kerr described Our data reveal a considerable merence between oc- Our data have implications for the program of social and cupational choices among rural adults and children. Sice economic development which Jamaica is now pursuing. this difference is matched by others between the choices of In so far as a program of agricultural development de- adults for themselves and for their children, we are clearly pends on peasant support for success or seeks to improve dealing with divergent aspirations and expectations. The their economic conditions, it is useful to know what their children's preferences and those of their parents for them occupational orientations may be. Programs which, for express aspirations. Those of adults for themselves express their success, presuppose the farmers' interest also presup- expectations, in the sense that they represent accommoda- pose that the farmer wishes to remain a farmer, and typi- Our tions to local realities. The gap between these scales is the cally wishes his children to do likewise. data have merence between aspirations and expectations. It pro- shown an impressive preference for urban-type occupa- tions among rural folk, together with an underlying desire 8Lloyd Braithwaite. "Social Stratification and Culhlral to escape from the peasant environment. It seems self- Pluralism," in Vera Rubin, ed., Social and Cultural Pluralism in the Caribbean (Annals of The New York Academy of Sci- 2 Madeline Kerr, PersonaUty and Conflict in Jamaica (Liver- ences, Vol. 83, Art. 5, 1960), p. 829. pool: Liverpml University Press, 1952). 196 Education and Occupational Choice integrated. When the volume of this frustration reaches the vides a useful measure of the inconsistency of the social system which promotes them in its adaptive phases. levels with which we have been dealing, it is pertinent to Recent studies in America have shown that "anomia ask in what sense is the society integrated at all. This ques-, results when individuals lack access to means for the tion suggests that we may have isolated an index of social achievement of life goals."4 Anomie, the "polar oppo- integration by comparing occupational aspirations and prospects. Such an index would have obvious comparative site" of full social integration,K is that condition of the social system in which the individual disorganization called values, and could also be used to measure certain aspects of structural change which accompany programs of eco- anomia is widespread. The data just presented indicate a sufTicientIy high incidence of anomia among Jamaican nomic development. peasants for anomie to be more probable than social in- tegration. There is little symbolism about the occupational pref- erences parents hold for their children. In rural Jamaica these choices express the parents' frustration and desire for their children's success by means of escape from the peasant environment. To the parents, occupational ad- vancement alone offers social mobity. The measure of the adults' disappointment with their own lives is their aspiration on behalf of their children. The low level of expectation and high level of aspiration are two sides of the same coin, in this case bound together by the frustra- tion which ensure their perpetuation from parent to child. The element of motivation is missing from the argument of the integrationists. Where aspiration and expectation correspond, motivation and performance may do likewise, and the integration of the system concerned consists in the mutually reinforcing relations of these four variables. Where aspiration and expectation differ sharply, so do motivation and performance as a rule, and the lack of coherence among these variables expresses the internal inconsistency of the system of which all are part Social systems that foster and then frustrate the chosen life-goals of their members are correspondiigly incoherent and ill- 4Dorothy L. Meier and Wendell Bell, "Anomia and Dif- ferential Access to the Achievement of Life Goals,'. American Sociological Review, Vol. 24, No. 2 (1959). p. 190. 6 Talcott Parsons, The Social System (London: Tavistock Publications, 1952). Language and Society in St. Lucial Mervin C. Alleynea

Language is a West Indian dilemma as fundamental as St Lucia is a amall island of 233 square miles belonging to the Lesser Antilles group of the West Indies. It is a unit formal education. Throughout the Caribbean, European member of the embryonic Federation of the West Indies languages-the normal modes of communication in gov- (formerly the British West Indies) and lies 25 miles south ernment and business and among the elite-coexist with of the French ddpurtement of Martinique and 26 miles more or less heavily creolized folk speech, related to but north of its sister federal unit St. Vincent. Because of its different from standard European vocabulary, grammar, particular political history and its geographical proximity and pronunciation. In St. Lucia, as Mbed here, the to Martinique, St. Lucia has had, and maintains, very close French folk dialect stems from a different European lan- ties with the French island in commerce and tourism. The guage than the official Eoglish tongue, as a consequence of almost complete identity of French creole as spoken in St Lucia's settlement and changes of sovereignty. Lan- St. Lucia and Maainique has preserved strong cultural guage Merences magnify social and status guIfs between links between the two islands which at one period in the the classes, especially when the folk themselves internalize 18th century fell under one single French administration. the The island is very mountainous. The main range runs the contempt in which the elite hold folk idiom. fairly fully down its length, while transversal ridges leave from the central range on both sides and dissect the island MERVIN ALLEYNE, born in Trinidad, received his under- into fertile valleys. The population, predominantly an graduate degree at the University College of fhe West In- agricultural one, inhabits these valleys and earns its live- dies and his doctorate at the Universit6 de Lyon. One of lihood on large sugar and banana estates, or from small- the foremost scholars of West Indian Creole languages, Caribbean Studies, Vol. 1, No. 1, April 1961, pp. 1-10. Re he is presently Senior Lecturer in Romance Philology at printed with permission of the Institute of Canibcan Studies, the University of the West Indies. University of Pucrto Ria, and the author. 'See the Research Note. Mervin AUeyne, "Caribbean Lan- guage Study,'. Caribbean Studies, Vol. 1, No. 1 (April, 1961), pp. 19-20. Mr. Alleyne spent the summer of 1960 in St. Lucia on a grant from the Institute of Caribbean Studies. 200 Language and Society in St. Lucia holdings in bananas, a recent feature of the agricultural of several Amerindian lexical items in the vocabulary of economy of the island. the average St Lucian.' Of a population of about 90,000, one third lives in three No attempt was made by any European power to settle towns (including the capital, Caslries: 17300) and 7 vil- in the island before 1639 when a small group of European lages, situated at the outlets of valleys on the sea, and very settlers landed. Within a year they were Wed or driven often built on the beach itself at the mouths of rivers. It off the island by the Caribs. In 1650, occupational rights is suggested that, due to the scarcity of arable land in St. to the island were sold to the shareholders of the French Lucia, only rather swampy or beach land could be spared West India Company and this led to the arrival of some for housing the black population. 40 French colonists in the following year. The physical nature of the island makes internal com- There followed 150 years of struggles for the possession munications very ditlicult. There is one main road which of the island by the English and French, during which follows the periphery of the island connecting the 10 time it changed hands 14 times. The settled Ewopean towns and villages. It frequently happens during the hur- population was quite predominantly French; the English ricane season that road bridges over rivers are destroyed seem to have been interested in St. Lucia for its strategic by rains and floods, leaving some towns or villages with- importance: its geographical position and its natural deep out any access by land The peripheral road itself is of water harbour at Castries. So that when finally the island only very recent completion. Seven years ago, that part of was captured by the English Navy and ceded definitively the road along the east coast between the capital and the to England by the Treaty of Paris in 1814, it was French village of Canaries-a distance of 10 miles-was not in 'language, manners and feeling.' aaphalted. There is no asphalted road leadim fmm the The bmad outlines of the development of North Amer- coastal road to the mountainous interior. llis has pr* ica and the West Indies in the 18th and 19th cenhuies are foundly influenced the linguistic situation in St. Lucia by too well known to need much recounting here. St. Lucia impeding the progress of English into the country. Them was not unlike any other West Indian island in that the is one village in particuliu-Aux Lyom-which one can need for a certain type of labour on the sugarme planta- see nestling in the hills as one drives along the west ooast tions was met by the importation of Africans as slaves. mad, where the inhabitants have preserved a fair degree The practice of miscegenation produced a segment of of internal autonomy and independence from the laws population usually described as 'coloured.' and administration obtaining in St. Lucia In the contact situation created by the presence of Afri- At the time of the discovery of St. Lucia at the turn of cans of Merent languages and origins and Europeans the 15th-16th centuries, the island was inhabited by the (French) a new language was also born as the need arose Caribs who seem to have defeated and rep- the Ara- for a vehicle of communication, not only between Africans waks there as well as in other islands of the Lesser AU~. md Europeans, but also between Africans themselves, be- There exists today in St Lucia no traceable descendant of tion); Qothenbnr~Museum, Sweden (Heye Collection); St these original Amerindian inhabitants; on the other hand. Mary's College, St Lucia, c/o St. Lncia Arrhwlogid and evidence of their former occupation is found in the preser- ESorical Society. vation of archeological artifacts8 and in the ~reservatim 4Cf. roucou 'plant from which red dye is extracted,' used by Cani as war paint; agouri, randoli, manicou (animals); On display in the Barbados Mwum (Archeological See CciCao, cuimite (trees); mapipird (snake). 202 Language and Society in St. Lucia cause slave traders and owners had systematically scat- the dominant culture would not be as socially harmful to tered their slaves so that Africans speaking the same them as today. language should not find themselves on the same planta- Moreover, Creole was, more than any other factor. tions. Scholars are divided as to the exact genesis of French the unifying symbol of the overseas unit vis-his the con- creole. This is really part of the much larger problem of tinental government. It is very probable that the creole linguistic creolization, and it is not intended here to at- language has even known moments of great prestige, es- tempt to deal with it. It seems, however, that whether pecially at the time of the Revolution and later at the time creole is a purely African slave invention, i.e. the vocab of the abolition of slavery and the emancipation of slaves, ulary of French subjected to the syntactical patterns of when it was one of the mast distinctive means of identi- African languages, or a pidgin used by Europeans to render fication for the colonist in his hostility towards the metro- their language more intelligible to the Africans, it soon politan. became, as a form of expression, very typical of the Afri- Evidence. of the wide use of Creole even after the hand- can slave and was ascribed the negative evaluation given over of St. Lucia to England is fomd in Breen's History to all items of slave culture. of St. Lucio, when he regrets that 'patois has superseded Up to 1803, French and French creole (or 'patois' as it the use of the beautihi French language even in the high- is called in St. Lucia) were exclusively spoken in St. Lucia est circles of French colonial society.' The situation may he described as follows: the entire pop The situation today is much diierent. French has al- ukdtion was able to speak French creole; the uneducated mast completely disappeared as a vehicle for communica- -including black slaves and the majority of coloured peo- tion. Only a very few old descendants of origiDal French ple-could express themselves only in Creole. The island families express themselves in French in particularly aristocracy of plantation owners and business men, to- nostalgic moods. The change in the structum of the society gether with their clerks, accountants, etc. of French origin is reflected in the new language situation. The advent of were, for the most part, bilingual. English-speaking people as a political elite and their later During the era of slavery, there seems to have been no development into a cultural and economic elite have been objection to the use of Creole by the French inhabitants. attended by the introduction of English as the language Children of French parents were allowed to speak Creole of social, cultural and economic prestige. The amicable in the colonies, but were sent to France for their educa- relations between French and French creole in a slave tion in French. In that type of society, visible marks of society gave way to extreme hastility between English and Creole in the newly free society. Creole has, of corn, social identification-such as language-are not held to be been the loser in this language codid. The present situa- as important as in seemingly free and democratic societies. tion may be described as follows: the vast majority of The demarcation lines between classes in a slave society people who were born and have grown up in St. Lucia can are not at all fluid; they are aexible and with a low de- speak French creole; the 1946 census show8 that less than gree of permeability. In a slave society with its fixity and 2.0% of the population spoke only English, while as high a rigidity, the cultivation of the speech habits of the ruling percentage as 43.4 spoke only Creole.= However, linguis- class does not bring the same social rewards as in present- day free societies. Similarly, in a slave society, the practice KThe percentage of people not speaking English was, in of 'sub-cultural' forms of speech by persons belonging to 1911, 61.7; in 1921, 60.1. Figures for the present time are not available. 204 Language and Society in St. Lucia tic practice does not coincide with linguistic ability and Schools in 1838. Until 1842 these were the only public only a rather small percentage of those who have ability schools in existence. They continued until 1891 when the in English and Creole do make use of the latter. The gen- schools were handed over to religious denominations eral attitude towards Creole may be summed up in one which, however, retained the majority of Mico-trained word: hostility. When one then considers that the percent- teachers. The interest for us is that Miw-trained educa- age of the population which cannot express itself in Eng- tionalists were Protestant English speakers. They were. lish and for whom Creole is the only means of self- trained in the Mico Training Colleges in Jamaica and An- expression ranged, in 1946, from 9% in the capital to 56.5% tigua where French creole was never spoken. Their com- in the North East districts, with an all-island average of plete ignorance of Creole made them reject it as an 43.4%, one immediately realises the problems which the unintelligible gibberish and associate it with backward- language situation creates. ness. English became the symbol of light and Creole of In trying to understand the general attitude to French darkness. The influence of these Mico teachers, and of creole in St. Lucia, we must situate the question in the others who came from Jamaica, Antigua and other wider context of the system of values which West Indian St. societies have inherited from the slave society. We have English-speaking islands (ie. Barbados and Vincent), afiected the language situation immensely. In 1904, of seen that the origins of Creole are intimately bound up the 43 Head Teachers throughout St. Lucia, 30 were born with slavery, that although it must have become an im- and had grown up in exclusively Engli~h-speakingislands; portant identiikation mark of the overseas tenitory, it bad 7 of the others were Irish. Their influence is still alive to- quite definitely close associations with the slave culture. day and St. Lucians relate that the Mico Head Teacher Creole feu into the general depreciation of all the cultural in the mage of Mon Repos would walk the village by items, and of all the ethnic characteristics identifiable with night and flog any child whom he heard speaking patois. the black African slave. Ascription became the basis of Today, people of Mon Repos take strong exception even the system of values. And so today in the West Indies, to being addressed in Creole. Notices were displayed prom- 'a good complexion' is said of one ranging from light brown inently in schools to the dect that school children were to fair; similarly 'good hair' describes a type of hair re- forbidden to speak Creole at school or in the playground. sembling the European type and differing from the wooly In St. Lucian society, educational ditferentiation rapidly texture of the Negro's. 'Flat nose' or 'thick lips' are both brought about the creation of a dierent scale of values very opprobrious and abusive terms. French creole was and the prevalence of a new set of attitudes imposed from also ascribed a very negative evaluation, and, with the outside. In a static society like St. Lucia's, there will al- general despiritualisation of the African Negro in the ways be some classes of blites, the standards of which Americas, expressed in inferiority complexes and self- will become representative and will be silently imposed debasements, Creole was despised even by people who upon and accepted even by groups which are essentially could speak no other language. That explains the discredit- subjugated by these evaluations. It is only when the society ing of creolized languages throughout the Caribbean. In is becoming dynamic, when quick changes in stratifica- the particular context of St. Lucia, attitudes to 'patois' tion take place, when the sudden rise and fall of individuals were considerably influenced by the course of the history in the social scale become a matter of course, that the prev- of education in the island. alence and prestige of 6lite groups will be challenged. Education in St. Lucia really starts with the Mico In St. Lucia, the scale of language values is arranged 206 Language and Society in St. Lucia Mervin C. Alleyne 207 in terms of a polar distinction between English and French tal. They can be grouped together with the base in that creole. The divisions and relations between the different Creole is their most fluent and successful means of self- linguistic group may be represented in form of a pyramid, expression. This group is developing a distinctive English at the base of which are situated the rural masses and the vernacular which is strongly influenced by Creole pho- poor uneducated people of the towns and villages. These netic, semantic and syntactical patterns. are for the most part of African or East Indian origin Language ditrerences, it is seen fiom the above, are and speak French creole. At the apex of the pyramid, social and cultural markers; the linguistic grouping coin- one finds a small minority of expatriate Englishmen, cides with a high degree of exactness with the grouping headed by the Governor, whose numbers are diminishing. based on other social and cultural criteria As one descends from the apex towards the base, one meets It is very di&ult and dangerous to try to speak of the the class of professional men-lawyers, doctors, engineers attitude of any one social group, taking it as a coherent and some high civil servants-who possess remarkable lin- whole, towards Creole. AS I have said before, the general guistic ab'ity. They can speak Standard English, some even attitude is dissociative; but language practice does not fall with an imitated or acquired Oxford (sic) intonation which into a precise pattern according to social grouping and it they use on occasions of great importance and gravity, is perhaps safer and more interesting to examine the dif- such as giving public lectures to audiences unfamiliar with ferent psychological or social situations in which a particu- Standard English or speaking with members of the group lar speech style depends on a psychological situation which at the apex. They can also speak St. Lucian English, as stimulates a subjective impulse in an individual. for example on occasions of great conviviality among Nevertheless, identification, real or imagined, with a par- themselves. Although many of this group will not be pre- ticular social group invites a particular fundamental at- pared to admit it, the vast majority can express itself in titude towards Creole and an examination of this is not French creole. The two important situatiom which cnn without interest. There are two important groups defined provoke utterance in Creole are 1) when addressing do- primarily by their group attitude towards Creole and mestics and other menial workers and 2) when it is de- which cut across social divisions based on traditional cri- sired to display very popular and democratic attitudes. teria: biiwealth, education. The first comprises descend- Further towards the base of the pyramid is a group com- ants of French creole families with consciousness of their prised of persons who have had a good primary or sec- French origins and traditions, who have not become fully ondary education and are now employed as civil servants, reconciled to English as the official langusge in the island. teachers, and in the offices of private firms and banks. These people may use French or Creole widely in the in- They speak St Lucian English, i.e. they make use of timacy of their families and close friends. The second characteristic intonation patterns, and certain gammatical group includes St. Lucians who themselves migrated or forms, a phonetic and semantic structure that dSer some- whose parents migrated from exclusively English-speaking what from Standard English, yet allowing people of this islands. These persons have retained the original shock they group to be easily intelligible to an Englishman. Between must have felt on hearing Creole for the first he; and this group and the base lies a large number of people with even in cases-the majority-where they have acquired only the mdiients of primary education. It includes do- a knowledge of Creole, their hostility to that form of ex- mestics, labourers, people of miscellaneous employment pression has remained most intense. and the unemployed, all belonging to the towns and capi- The attitude of the upper middle class group of profes- 208 Language and Society in St. Lucia Uewin C. Alleyne 209 sionals, etc., is rather homogeneous. As a,mle they re- )f this class have a very deep affection for Creole, an af- ject Creole as the crude, ungrammatical, corrupt speech ection which they are forced to suppress by the demands of men without culture and education. There are, however, )f the St. Lucian society, but which every so often impels cases of persons of this group who feel so socially secure hem to react against these demands. When I mentioned in every respect and whose identification with the group d an Adult Education Lecture in Castries that from a is so clearly established by other criteria that they can yurely linguistic point of view there is no reason why Cre- permit themselves to be heard using French creole. 11e could not become an o5icial literary language by the In the lower classes, in the linguistic group immediately ;ame right as French and English, whose beginnings were above the base, there exists a very ambiguous attitude to ust as humble as those of Creole, there was enthusiastic the use of Creole. Very formal, serious communication ~pplausefrom the significant section of the audience. On among themselves and with people of the groups above, mother occasion, the master of ceremonies at the wedding has demands the use of English. This policy disastrous re weption of a casual worker and his bride, after going sulk in the Law Court where very often the services of an bough the initial formalities in English, felt the convivial- English-Creole interpreter, always available, are refused ~tyand, I might say, the genuineness of the occasion and because the person testifying is afraid of revealing hi remarked that he was going to continue in langue mama ignorance of English. The same situation arises in banks, mwen 'the language of my mother.' where reluctance to take advantage of a Creole interpreter The language situation is illustrative of a very interest- has prevented persons of the group in question from un- hg form of social distantiation. Generally, the democratic derstanding the full implications of their transactions. What character of a society is evaluated according to the degree is interesting is that this class not only has repugnance to of intimacy which the members of one class are inclined speaking in Creole but considers itself gravely insulted and to sanction between themselves and members of another dishonoured if a person who normally expresses himself less fortunate class. In St. Lucia, people who have great in English condescends to address them in Creole. For the facility in speaking English pay considerable attention to members of this group, the image which each has of the preservation of this index of separation from the un- himself stimulates the psychological impulse which de- educated poorer masses. Some, we have seen, even dis- termines the linguistic style used in everyday, informal claim any linguistic abity in French creole. On the other conversation. And so there are conversations carried on hand, for the more democratic members, speaking Creole by members of this group in which some speak Creole is the primary means of shortening the social distance be- and others English. In a particular conversation group tween themselves and the members of the lower classes. which met at the street corner near to my hotel, the only Among the latter, there is, of course, the desire to remove persons whom I never overheard speaking Creole, al- any mark of separation from the upper classes; whereas though, as I afterwards found out, they had the ability to economic factors prevent them from identifying themselves do so, turned out to be a primary school teacher and a by dress, housing and general living conditions with the policeman-both having a higher status bracketing than the upper class, they attempt to achieve that identity in speech others: part-time chauffeurs, carwashers or unemployed. and in some cases also insist on being spoken to in English. In addition, the parents of the policeman had come to St. One observes therefore a movement towards the apex of Lucia from neighbouring St. Vincent, an English-speaking the linguistic pyramid; some natives whose linguistic ability island. The ambiguity is that, generally speaking, people places them very near the apex acquire an intonation, 210 Language and Society in St. Lucia Mervin C. Alleyne 21 1 popularly but erroneously called an 'Oxford accent,' to in the relations between servant and master or mistress preserve better the distance from people below them on of a house, Crwle is the vehicle normally used. In gen- the pyramid and to create a new separation from those at eral, people in servile and domestic employment are ad- their level. Here again, it is more a question of individual dressed in Creole. It must be admitted, however, that this psychology, of the image each individual has of himself, may be a preservation from the time when people in such because the acquisition of certain linguistic habits does not employment invariably wuld not speak or understand Eng- necessarily mean complete cultural assimilation with and lisb. social acceptance by the class of which these habits are The two languages which face each other in St Lucia characteristic. English is certainly a means of social mo- are clearly different in nature and function. Creole incor- bility and a cultural attainment such as learning to speak porates the entire history of the indigenous people of the this language in its 'uncor~pted'form as spoken by the island. Consciousness of this history is achieved through cultured whites is an important social index; but it is so to Creole, as this language is the depository of the folklore a relatively small degree in this small community of St of the people. Creole is the vehicle for proverbs; for hand- Lucia, where everyone is more or less classsed at birth ing down traditional popular customs, ceremonies, rituals. and the classification wen known to all other members of Traditional techniques, by which a large percentage of the community. the population still lives, are expressed in Creole. On the Let us examine the psychological situations which per- other hand, English is the vehicle for very formal and mit the use of French creole and also the patterns of verbal Prtificial occasions; it is the medium through which aU conduct characteristic of diierent forms of social inter- official, national and inherited institutions function. Creole course. Creole is principally the vehicle for expressing the is used to describe the non-official, private and fundamental more elemental and vulgar aspects of life. It is the lan- mores of the people; Creole is, therefore, expressive of guage of abuse and insult; it is used to relate jokes, par- what is usually called the 'soul' of the people, it is deeply ticularly smutty and obscene ones; to complain about the rwted to the life and the indigenous history of the people. harshness of life-there is a cartoon appearing in the lead- As one expects, Crwle is a more living, more creative ing weekly newspaper which always treats of this aspect and more spontaneous means of expression. English as of lie, and which has its caption in Creole-the only ex- spoken in St. Lucia is very conservative and particularly ample of Creole figuring in the press; in moments of great among people who have no opportunity of speakiig it emotion (exclamations, swearing, etc.). Creole is also a with Standard English speakers and whose contact with private language, one of intimacy, so that confessions are English has been exclusively through the school, it is very done largely in Creole and sermons delivered to the same literary. Among many people in St. Lucia, a conversational audience in English. Creole fulfills none of the functions of Standard English style has not developed. For example. a standard language. Attempts by the church and radio to there is no elision of the copulative verb is or the auxil- use Creole have met with opposition from people of an iaries do, can, to the negative particle, nor of the subject classes. pronoun to the copulative to be. Thus he is is never he's Whereas a member of the less privileged classes tends and he is not is never he isn't. Innovations in English tend to object to being addressed in Creole except by one of lo come from Trinidad. As a general rule, linguistic in- his very intimate circle, in a situation where he loses his novations are produced in greatest numbers and spread individuality and freedom before another person such as more quickly in areas and among groups in which there 212 Language and Society in St. Lucia is least conservative restriction. In St. Lucia, the class in which linguistic innovations are born does not possess English as a spontaneous means of self-expression; it has no facility in the familiar, colloquial use of English. There is besides little permeability in the St Lucian society. On the contrary, in Trinidad, linguistic innovations are born in the creative strata-amongst the lower classes-and pene trate easily and quickly to the upper classes. Some expres- sions reach St. Lucia and give to the everyday conversa- tional language of the English speakers its only living and dynamic features. In Trinidad, this phenomenon reflects the democratization of society and culture. In St. Lucia, this process of democratization is impeded by the diver- gence between the two languages, and besides, as we have seen, this divergence leads to more conspicuous social dis- tantiation. The result in St. Lucia is also that no expression of culture of the lower classes is accepted by higher soda1 groups. Dramatic productions in Creole have been discour- aged, there is no movement towards elevating any expres- sion of folklore to represent the natural culture. Again the contrast is with Trinidad wbere calypsos, steel bands, limbo dancing, etc. have now become fundamental items of the national culture. Tbe linguistic dependence of St. Lucia on Trinidad is further evidence that Trinidad is the political and cultural hub around wbich the Eastern Carib- bean gravitates. French and Creole Patois in Haiti Edith Efron

This obsessed Heart, which does not correspond The gulf between folk and elite speech can be as great To my language and my clothing, when the same language underlies both, as in Haiti. Here And upon which bite, like a clamp, a small French-speaking brown elite long kept their prerog- Borrowed emotions and customs From Europe-do you feel the suffering atives, denying the Creolwpaking majority access to And the despair, equal to none other, national institutions. Folklore studies and the growth of Of taming, with words from France, Haitian nationalism have instilled some appreciation of This heart which came to me from Senegal? Creolese, but the masses themselves still reject the fok -Uon Ueau idiom for purposes of formal education and development. Haiti is one of the many countries in the'world that has two languages, and a "language problem". The official ED~HBPRON received her undergraduate and master's language of Haiti is French, the tongue spoken formerly degrees in journalism from Columbia University. She has by her colonial masters; all of Haiti's official institutions been associated with the New York Times Magazine and use this language. Creole is Haiti's unofficial language, Lwk and was Central American correspondent for Time which has been inherited by modern Haitians from their and Life. This selection is a chapter from her forthcoming slave ancestors. Before describing the nature of the serious book Haiti: Myth and Redity, based on eight years of contlict engendered in this country by the existence of two residence there. She is presently a stae editor of TV Guide languages, it might be wise to indicate, at least briefly, the and is the author of The News Twisters. relationship of one to the other. Creole stands roughly in relation to French, as French once stood in relation to Latin, although it is no more correct today to call it a corrupt French than it would be to call French a corrupt Latin. It is an independent and Caribbean Quarterly, Vol. 3, No. 4, August 1954, pp. 199- 213. Reprmted with permission of the author and the editors, Department of Extra-Mural Studies, University of the West Indies, Kingston, Jamaica. 216 French and Creole Patois in Haiti Edith Efron well-integrated tongue, colorful and savory, prefening cally divided by two languages.1 In this emation, there poetic imagery to abstractions, rich in proverbs and say- is as little reality as in all others which visualize Haiti as ings, singing and musical in expression. Its basic vocabu- beimg composed of two culturally distinct groups. The two lary is French, composed of words which streamed into the languages actually complement each other in Haitian life, slave language from early French buccaneers, planters and serve a vital function in the split culture of the Haitian colonists who brought their local French dialects to His- people-French beiig the linguistic vehicle for the formal- paniola from Normandy, Picardy, Brittany and Anjou. publicdfficial European cover of all Haitian institutions, Indian words also enrich the language, often used to de- and the lively and popular Creole expressing in all its rich scribe local fruits, flowers, and animals. A large number nuances, the living mores of the country themselves. of African words, applying to religious beliefs and customs, The signi6cant fact that language strongly implies dasa to foods and cooking, to household objects, have remained status-a total absence of French decidedly placing the in the Creole tongue. Many characteristic Africanisms are Haitian in the unschooled lower classes-intensifies the prominent in Creole, notably a repetition of words for social snobbery toward the native tongue. The uneducated emphasis (He runs, runs, runs; it's sweet, sweet), and a Haitian feels an immense pride in his child who goes to strongly developed sense of onomatopoez'o (he fell down, school and becomes "educated", who can "really" write ban! He slapped her, v'lap, v'lapl). From neighbouring and speak the French language; and conversely, the Santo Domingo and from returning emigrants from Cuba, French-speaking Haitian who has emerged from the lower many Spanish words filtered into the language; and finally classes may feel real shame over his exclusively Creole- an American Occupation left behind it a series of English speaking family, keeping them out of sight of his more words. In general, however, the vocabulary is dominantly educated acquaintances. A Haitian folktale incorporates of French origin, many of the words and forma being both these prejudices into a curious story: archaic, and incomprehensible to the modern French- A man by his first marriage, had a daughter, Gia- Faced, on the one hand, by academic French, the lan- tone, who received a very elegant education in another guage of the civilised White world, spoken by few citizens, country. The man remarried, and had seven daughters. and Creole, a language of Black slave origin, spoken by to whom he preferred Ginatone. This excited their all citizens, Haiti has evolved a characteristic myth of lan- jealousy and the jealousy of their mother. They decided guage to deal with the situation. French has become the to kill her . . . oEitongue, the language of intellect, of social distinc- When the husband, who was often absent on busi- tion, the language of the elite; while Creole has been ness, returned from a trip (he found her missing). His pushed into the background, receives no formal status at wife, reproaching the conduct of his daughter, said there was nobody who could speak French to her. The all and is termed the language of the mars. The klite and father thought this explanation true, and forgot his the mass are thus not only declared to be separated by daughter, whom he believed to have returned to the religion, by culture, by social and political status, by sexual land of her childhood . . .2 mores, by color. &c., &c.. but by the very tongue they lFr6dtric Doret, "Les Deux Haiti," in Dan& Bellegarde, speak. This linguistic diierence is felt to create an abyse ed., Ecrivainr Eia?tierw (Port-au-Priocq Haiti: Editions H~M between them. Indeed, Frbd6ric Doret, a Haitian educator, Deschamps 1950). p. 186. once went so far as to speak of the "two Haitis", so tragi- 2 R6my Bastien in Dudley Fitb, ed., Anthology of Contempo- 218 French and Creole Patois in Haiti Edith Efron Where purely Creole-speaking people are not able to use coup6 gaules, poteaux el paille pou' batir certe moison French in those formal circumstances where it is felt to be de VOUS."~ desirable they attempt to have it spoken for them. Asd at As the classes rise, and the urban population is increas- the major religioaocial ceremonies of lower class life, ingly exposed to French, and as the children of the inter- there is often a peasant notable, or a bush priest (plef mediary classes spend longer years in the city schools, savanne), or simply a slightly more educated member of the preoccupation with speaking French becomes even rise, the community, who is requested to and say a few more serious and invades everyday life. On calls, when words in French-much as one might say grace before receiving visits, at parties, weddings, dances, and particu- dining. This, it is felt, lends dignity and prestige to the larly when meeting and conversing with people who are occasion. Where extreme formality and a note of genuine not intimates or family members, French is felt to be chic are desired--such as in demanding the hand of a girl obligatory, no matter how poorly it is spoken, no matter in plqage or marriage-a leftre de demunde, written in how richly Creolized it may be. Justin L'HBrisson in one of French for the lover by some French-speaking local citi- his novels describes the language of one such member of zen, is considered correct and elegant-in the past, it was the middle classes, who has become a bourgeoise upon the even compulsory-although neither the sender of the letter acquisition of wealth by her husband: nor the girl's parents who receive it are able to read a word of the document, and must have it translated for them. And the former reader of the cards, Madame Vel- Indeed. if the peasant or working-dm Haitian desires to leda PetiteCaille, did the honors of her salon admira- be truly ostentatious, he will even attempt to speak a sort bly. She spoke French "by routine", and apart from a of pigeon Prench, feeling that only this language can do few mistakes in pronunciation, one would have thought justice to a signikmt occasioa In a chdgpassage in that she had received the most excellent instruction. Gouvemeurs de h Rode, Jacques Roumain has one of She said, for example, "Mercir ie vous remercir" with his lower-class characters complain humody, but a bit the most perfect aplomb. Her witty guests pardoned everything in her except this Mercir, je vous remercir, boastfully, nevertheless, about the need for parler-fqob which she was unable to correct, despite the violent when couaiog a girl: remonstrances of her husband, who, because he had a great facility of elocution, thought himself a phoenix.' In my time, the whole business of girls was nothing but a peck of trouble and diiculty. You had to use Sensitive to each others' snobbery of language, urban special manoenvers, feints, pmler-frowds, oh, a whole Haitians are fond of making fun of each others' mistakes bunch of monkey&es. And 6nally you found your- in French; there is even a Haitian version of Sam Goldw, self ploce for good, and tied up like a crab, w to speak, with a house to build. furniture to buy, not to mention or a male Mrs. Malaprop-one well-known middle

For example, listen to this magni6cent Alexandrine verse While it has required more than a century to produce a which is going to make our dear Afro-Latin (I almost rebellious avant-garde "discovery" that the Haitian "soul" said Affreu-him) intellectuals go wild with anger- or personality could not be exclusively expressed by aca- those guys . . . whose lips more purple than the grape. demic French-this truth has long been known to the open only on the imperfect subjunctive1 Ta fesse est un Creole language itself1 While Haiti's official institutions are boumba charge de victwillesl (Your buttock is a describable, and can he expressed in the French language. boumba loaded with rictualsl) 'Ta fesse est': do you the unofficial or private mores of Haiti are almost invari- hear the hissing and boiig of the hot fat falling into ably described or expressed by Haitians in (Sreole. French the bowll; un boumba: oh, marvellousl that word makes is the carrier for the official, mythical or for the inherited you think of the explosion of a bomb, of an impetuous behind, of a voluminous and blackened casserole; covering of the national institutions; it is the carrier for charge' de: that's a preparatory stop; then, brusquely: the idealization of these institutions. But Creole is the car- rier for the living mores themselves, expressing not only the ;I I Z4Carlos St. Louis, ed., "Prtface" in Panorama de la ~oksie Haftienne (Port-au-Prince. Haiti: mtions H~M ZSJacques Roumain, La proie el Pombre (Port-a~-PrinCe, Deschamps, 1950). Haiti: Chassain& 1931). pp. 18-19. 236 French and Creole Patois in Haiti Edith Efron 237 implicit French-master ideal, but the conflict between the Pal6 Frqais (To speak French). This is a popular ideal and the reality. term, in use by all classes, to indicate the offering of money It can hardly come as a surprise, therefore, that the or a bribe to someone; the actual negotiations, while per- Crwle language should contain within itself as articulate haps being carried on in Creole, are called "Speaking a commentary on the Haitian's codlid between French French", for this is presumed to give them a more respect- and Crwle as upon all other such conflicts. Eight popular able allure. Here, the French language itself is used as the Creole sayings can be quickly listed, which illustrate the symbol of distinguished duplicity, and the glossing over Haitian's most intimate feeling about the relative functio~~s with respectability of dishonest thoughts or acts. of the Creole and French languages in his life-and which, L'ap mandd chit6 en Franfais: (He's asking for char- by extension, convey his feelings about the French com- ity in French). This expression will be used to describe ponent of the Haitian mores: that individual who is begging, grafting, extorting money, Fai' la France: (To make like France). This is a com- with a steady stream of explaoations, apologies, and prom- mon Creole expression, used in all classes to describe. ises intended to make hi act seem less reprehensible. nastily, a man who talks a lot and says nothing, who at- He may be talking fluent Creole, in the process--but, where tempts to sound important, but who is not to be taken an honest request for a gift of money without the pretense seriously; it indicates pretentiousness, snobbery, and hol- of paying it back is merely called "asking for charity", low verbiage. any effort to deceive the giver, to camouflage the real para- Crkole palk, Crdole comprenn' (Creole spoken is Creole sitical intention ia called "asking for charity in French". understood). This is an expression which can be used in In this saying, as in the one which precedes it, the French either language, French or Creole. When interpolated into a delicate, veiled, or diplomatic convemtion, it signifies a language is the symbol of a respectable or proper coating of dishonest thoughts or acts. great deal: "I don't have to say too clearly what I mean. You understand the implications. You perceive the real Finally, there are two Crwle sayings of enormous cul- sense of my words". Used freely, even in a French con- tural sigdicance, the first used to indicate loyalty in a versation, it implies that the real meaning or sense of lan- man: "Si Monsieur avbou, l'a v'al nans Guinde avk-OU" guage exists in Crwle, while it is masked, or even absent, -(If that man is with you, he'll go to Guinea with you!) in French. Creole, here, is the symbol of true communi- -and the second indicating a traitor: "Sais attention. oui! cation. Cest Franfais, ouiP' (Watch out for him1 He's a French- C'est Creole m'ap pal6 av6-o~.ouil (Listen, it's Creole man, he is?) I'm talking to you!) In Creole conversation, if a listener From these few sayings, in constant use in Haitian SO- does not seem to understand, or is pretending to misunder- ciety, one perceives very clearly that, for the "Creole- stand what is being told him, he may be brought up sharply thinking" Haitian, French is the language associated with with this comment. By implication, one may be permitted bluff, carnodage, indirection, duplicity. genuinely or deliberately to "misunderstand" in French, The insistence that French words are "hollow", that the but one has no right to "misunderstand" in Creole. Where French language has been emptied of its meaning, has Creole is, presumably, the language of comprehension and lost contact with reality, that evil motives lurk behind a of truth, French is, by implication, the language of bluff camouflage of French vacabulary, is to be heard and read and of mystification. constantly in Haiti. Indeed, when Haitians translate such French and Creole Patois in Haiti Edith Efron 239 ''Creole thoughts" about French into French, they invari- French, the large majority of the Haitian people are pre ably pen such paragraphs as: vented from participating in them; and in return, the very mistrust and incomprehension of them by the people, Unhappily, people adore, in our country, to gargle render them meaningless, hollow, empty and symbolic. words, sonorous words, with hollow resonances. These They are simulncres, specious imitations, as Hilbert said, are the strong points of those idiots with their petrified indirectly, in giving this title to his novel satirizing Hai- brains . . . who refuse to look reality in the face.26 tian life.20 And similarly, the French language, which ex- Political professionals who have been allowed by the citizens to run our political life, have finally emptied presses these symbolic institutions, assumes itself a symbolic those words of their content which once served to de- function in a society where it is largely unknown. As StCnio nounce the most cruel injusticeam Vincent has remarked, "French is, for us, a borrowed lan- guage, a language of a representation:' the word represen- These are, indeed, complex and profound observatioas. tation has no literal translation into English. It is defined They are made only by those Haitians who are highly edu- by Larousse as meaning: "exhibition; the action of putting cated. Ironically enough, most of them are unaware, ap something before the eyes". And, by the means of an of- parently, of the fact that their "primitive patois". Creole, ficial, incomprehensible language, the major official in- had made these very observations long ago! Indeed, how stitutions of Haiti are actually exhibited, put before the eyes much more subtle and appropriate is the malicious "C6 of the outer world, and put before the eyes of her people, Creole m'ap pale avec-ou, ouil" which defies the listener who can neither understand them, nor use them-and to pervert the thought, which defies him to falsiiy the idea, beneath whose envious adoration of them lies a profound than the quiet morality of Edmond Paul, Haiti's earliest distrust and hatred of them. sociologist, who wrote, in French, "To speak Creole in Only in the last few decades have those most sensitive, order to express a correct thought will always be worth advanced, and imaginative people-Haiti's intellectuals- more than to speak beautiful French in order to express a begun to penetrate through the oppressive wildernesses of Haiti's complex mythology of language and culture. Their false major discovery, in this epoch, remains, on the whole, the It is almost incredible that it should have taken more than discovery of the validity of the Creole language-the native a century for Haitian intellectuals to "discover" that language which, in its popular sayings, hap always re- than Hai- Creole, rather French, expressed most fully the vealed a penetrating understanding of those very myths tian "soul" or personality. Had they merely listened to of language and culture which have caused it to be re- themselves talking Creole, as Pressoir recommends, they jectedl might have discovered it in the earliest days of Independ- ence! Actually, as the Creole language itself suggests in the %Fernand Hilbert, LN simulocre~ (Paventure de M. Hel- strongest of terms, the official French institutions of Haiti, lknw Coton) (Port-au-Prince, Haiti: Imp. Ch61aquit. 1923). which form a cover and a camouflage for the local mores, are treacherous symbok By their utilization of 2eJean Grevy, Le nouvelliste, October 6, 1950. Norre Temps, September 4, 1950. 28 Edmond Paul, Oeuvres, p. 326. The Problem of Cultural Integration in Trinidad Lloyd Braithwaite Trinidadians, like other West Indians, have been tradi- tionally inclined to believe that metropolitan culture and Every social system possesses some symbolic means by institutions in general are superior to anything local or which the unity of the society is a5med. In those societb homegrown. The interplay between British-sponsored cul- which are highly stratified or in which there are several tural forms, local folklore, and West Indian class stereo- groups with sharply divergent cultures, there tend to be a types is examined in this selection by a Trinidadian so- variety of such means. In the case of Trinidad, we have a ciologist. He shows that local intellectual and cultural highly stratified society in which there is nonetheless a great deal of common cultural allegiance. It is to be ex- deficiencies are largely a consequence of symbolic affinna- pected therefore that many of the "national" ceremonies tions of Britihess among the elite and middle class, and he will reflect the stresses and tensions within the society. explores the impact of these attitudes on responses to such An analysis of the Carnival, one of the distinctive fea- homegrown innovations as the steel band. tures of Trinidad culture shows that it contrives to be a national festival while at the same time there exists a strug LLOYD BRUTHW~, a Trinidad-born sociologist trained gle for its control and reform waged by the upper classes. in England, has long been connected with the University This is only one aspect of the problem of cultural integra- of the West Indies, having served as Director of the In- tion, that is, the problem arising from the difIerent forms stitute of Social and Economic Research, Head of the Lk- of "exprespive" behaviour on the part of Merent sections partment of Sociology, and Dean of the Faculty of Social of the community. It is perhaps in this co~ectionthat Science in Jamaica He is currently Pro-ViceChanceUor F'rofessor Siey's saying that "the West Indian needs a of the University of the West Indies, Trinidad. culture in which he can find hhwlf at rest" has its most signilicant meaning. The island society faces the problem of integrating the Social ond Economic Studies, Vol. 3, No. 1, June 1954, PP. 82-96. Reprinted with permission of the author and the Insti- tute of Sodal and Economic Resea~ch,University of the Weat Indies. Problem of Cultural Integration in Trinidad Lloyd Braithwaite minority sub-cultures of the Hindus and the Muslims. But resentment which the educated radical groups felt towards this can be considered to be a special case. Even when those in authority. It was commonly believed in view of we neglect the Indian minority we find a lower-class sub- the unusual nature of his visit, that he was an intelligence culture which makes the problem of integration seem more officer, which in some sense at least he was. What was more dacult and interesting. We find in the society a field of surprising was that people became worried because they expressive behaviour ranging from the British Council to believed him to be a "spy". What exactly the term "spy" those who look backwards to Africa for cultural inspira- connoted in this co~ectionwas not clear. It seemed to tion. The dficulty in establishing a common norm is well reflect the somewhat paranoid attitude of the radical and illustrated in attitudes towards the British Council. Its ao served the function of labelling the unusual European tivities in the island have been greeted with great enthu- as "an enemy" in spite of whatever evidence of goodwill siasm by some, but have met with a great deal of reserva- he shewed.' tion from others. In view of the prestige which Great was Britain, as a metropolitan country, and Britishen resident Some idea of the suspicion with which he received in the island enjoy it is not surprising that there are people can he gathered by that prolific provider of written evi- who enthusiastically support the importation into the island dence of the radical view, Dr. Tito P. Achong. In his see of the "best of British culture". ond report as Mayor of the City of Port of Spain he devotes The British Council has been described by one of its a special chapter to Stannard headed "Peripatetic propa- representatives as the "projection of Britain" on the world gandist of British culture".s Here he describes how he met abroad.' It was originally formed for the purpose of Mr. Stannard in the Town Hall: 'The function of Mr. spreading knowledge of Britain to foreign nations. How- Stannard obviously was to push down his brand of British ever, with the war, it was decided to hlm the attention of culture into willing or unwilling throats of the people of the British Council towards colonial areas as well. Trini- this land." After some preliminary parrying. dad, like other colonial areas, became one of the scenes of operation. I then braced myself for direct action. We mapped brief stories on 'culture'. I told him in as clear a manner The activities of the British Council were at first rather as conhed. The giving of scholarships, supplying of books, I could that his notion of a cloistered British culture ; for the Trinidad community must be ruled out as a etc.-these were activities which appeared innocuous i paradox. The component parts of the community had enough to the bulk of the population, while positively had cultures of their own long before. William the Con- welcomed by those who benefited from them. Tbe fist queror had landed in England in 1066. It would be /I real impact that the British Council had on the general unwise for the Chinese and Indian sections of the people population was through the visit of Mr. Harold Stannard. of Trinidad, I said, to forsake the past glory of their Unlike previous visitors, Mr. Stannard showed an immense ancestral homelands and to be unmindful of their 11 curiosity in getting to know the country and in particular *This belief in Mr. Stannard as a "spy" and of the British the way people felt. He addressed meetings up and down Council as a spying orgaojzation was recently cxpresscd in : the country. Mr. Stannard had to bear the brunt of the conversation by one of the most prominent wlomd pemm in .I i the island wmmunity, and one, moreover, active in "pr~gr* 'Sir Angus Gillan, 'The Projection of Great Britain on the give'' work. , Colonial Empire," in Sir Hany Lindsay, ed., British Common- STito P. Achong, The Mayofs Amul Report, Trinidad, , wealth Objectives (London: Michael Joseph, 1946). 194243 (Boston: Meador, 1944). I 244 Problem of Cultural Integration in Trinidad Lloyd Braithwaite 245 future generations for British propagandist 'culture'. class current in the society. The upper classes and the mid- As for Afro-West Indians it was their solemn mission, dle dass of the island (including the nativeborn Trinidad- I emphasized, to gather as far as practicable, the learn- ing and cultwe of all lands and to synthesize them into h)have always aspired towards accepting the culture of an organic whole. This was too much for the British Western Ewope in general, and Oreat Britain in particu- Council's professional propagandist. He stood up, sa- lar. A visit to the United Kingdom, to the Continent of laamed in old-time Oriental fashion, and departed.' Europe, to the United States or Canada, necessarily brought about status. It indicated that one was, &st of all, This attitude on the part of Dr. Achong was shown at in a limncia1 position above the odhuy and secondly, a different period of time by Albert Gomes, who was at one it was symbolic of having been able to achieve a higher time the leading "literary" and "art" critic in Trinidad. sense of valuea There was an almost magi4 belief in the and also by Lemox Pierre, the Secretary of the Trinidad possibilities of a visit abroad which somehow transformed and Tobago Youth Council. In private it was shared by the individual into a new person. He was likely not only at least one other outstanding figure in the realm of "cul- to assume a new status but to have this new status thrust ture" who, nonetheless, gratefully accepted a British Coun- upon him. The native Trinidadian, now usually a profes- cil scholarship when it was offered for study in England. sional man, was suspected of wishing to cut his roots, to The section of the British Council's activities which free himself from any local acquaintances who had not aroused these objections was not its scholarship programme. found themselves in this privileged class. Casual acquaint- There was no objection to people being sent to Great Brit- ances or even friends waited for him to determine what ain for the purpose of absorbing British culture. In the their new relationship would be. They would often hesi- first place, the visit to England gave the recipients of the tate to greet the recent arrival for fear of being snubbed. scholmhip additional status. In the second place, their From this mose the spate of jokes which in white as well visits were likely to result in promotion within the civil as wloured society retkcted the anxieties and hostilities service and in the teaching profession, or to Government that arose from the ambiguous position that resulted from appointments if the recipients were not already employed the need to re-deline the status of the individual on hi in the Government service. Hence it was that a radical anti- return. For instance, there is the oft-repeated story of the ; imperialist Trade Unionist accepted the offer of a six-week young man who on returning from the United Kingdom visit to the United Kingdom in order to make a study of visited the market and affected not to recognize the crabs Trade Unionism there. for sale there. However, when one of these bit him he was I The hostility to the Council's activities developed, rather, pleased to recognize, in real creole speech, the creole over some of its activities within the island itself. It as- remedy "Squeeze he eyel" & this sumed the significance it did because of the symbolism of Even among the radicals straining towards accept- ( ance of British values existed. The Trinidad Labour Party 4 For Mr. Stannard's own evaluation of the situation in the was modelled on the British Labour Party, and its leader. 1 West Indies see his chapter in Rita Hinden, ed., Fabian Colo- Captain Cipriani, was fond of saying that what was good ! nial Essays (London: Men and Unwin, 1945). At a public 1 meeting Mr. Stannard declared that he knew how West Indians enough for the British Labour movement was good enough felt because he was Jewish and the Jews had been described for him. The demands of the Trade Unionist and the La- as the "niggers" of Europe; nonetheless, he felt that the British bour movement were for social services "as is done in Eng- 1 wewas "the grcatest farce for god in the world todayY'. land"; so that even when the British were being beaten 246 Problem of Cultural Integration in Trinidad Lloyd Braithwaite they were beaten with a British stick. This incorporation with the local scene started to appear in the 1930's- of a British and a European scale of values in matters of C. L. R. James' "Minty Alley", Alfred Mendes' "Black taste and aesthetics, personal and social, for long went un- Fauns" and "Pitch Lake'' were the first indication of questioned It was indeed very largely unconscious and this concern. The only previous novelist whom Trinidad unacknowledged. Thus it was that Trinidad and West had produced before this was the well-known author, Indian students in England wuld show appreciation of a W. J. Locke.8 Sithen there has appeared a spate of group (which had provided them with a Christmas dinner poems and short stories dealing with the local scene. The prepared in order to show them a typical English Christ- attitude of most of the educated groups was that of Wing mas) because, as they expressed it, their English hosts had lost in a void. There was the tearing away from the orien- gone out of their way to provide them with a Chistmas tation to European culture in the search for something dis- dinner such as they were accustomed to in the West Indiea. tinctive. but at the same time there was nothing that wuld Artistic societies-The Wdad Musical Society, La Pe- replace it. tite Musicale. The Trinidad Art Society, and the like- The problems and the attitudes of the Trinidad intel- existed and even flourished In many respecb the aesthetic lectual were well described by Willy Richardson in a poem and artistic inters& overcame some of the aocial barriera which took pride of place in a collection, "Best Poems of of claps and caste. At the same time the attitude towards Trinidad" : the popular culture of the social groups from which these individuals derived was one of tolerance mingled with con- Here is a land of flowers tempt If Carnival and the Calypso were indulged in, they Here is a land of showers. tended to be placed in a somewhat merent category from Tourists say it is a lovely land real art. Here is a laad of brilliant sunshine There was never at any time any effort on the part of But it is not yours and it is not mine. the "cultured" to create their own art. Listening to re Here is a land that men have conquered corded music, reproduction of plays written in and for a Here is a land that men have owned different culture whether they were appropriate or not; Here is a land for "Auld Lang Syne''. such were the activities that dominated the activity of these But it is not yours and it is not mine. groups. In painting them was little original work done. We are men without a wunW With the rise of a new selfco~uaousnessand a new We are men without a faith. 8e11se of belonging there developed a serious concern We are men without a future. for "creative" work, for things that would reflect the in- We are men who wait for death. dividuality of the author and the individuality of his origin. Meanwhile we giggle gaily To many it appeared, to use the categories of Sapir,= Meanwhile we hide our pain that the culture after which they had been striving was a Seeking a moment's adjournment spurious and not a genuine one. New writing that dealt From the court-martial of the brain. And tomorrow the hills will be looking be "d "d Sapir, "Cdtum: Genuine and Spurious," in David Mandeibaum, cd., Selected Writings in Language, CuIture and But they won't be yours and they won't be mine. Perso~liry(Berkeley. Calif.: University of California Press, 6Locke was a European who although of Trinidad bi 1949). never wrote of Trinidad life. 248 Problem of Cultural Integration in Trinidad Lloyd Braithwaite In their search for roots, for some sources of inspira- in the colony was, however, only partially consequent tion, several of the "artists" of the society turned towards upon this fact. The historical tradition in the West Indies the despised culture of the man in the street After all, was one of sending children abroad to be educated. Hence the only song or work of art of any kind that has expressed there has never been, until the situation was remedied anything of a patriotic sentiment was the Calypso com- recently, any provision for higher education in the area. posed after the Carnival riots of the 1880's: This has served not only to limit the numbers of people who receive higher education but also to prevent the de- III My Own, My Native Land velopment of any intellectual centre of learning. From this Can't beat me drum point of view it must be remembered that until the recent In my own, my native land establishment of the University College of the West Indies Can't have we Carnival thase who received higher education did so not as a group In my own, my native land but as separate and scattered individuals. Whatever group Can't have we bacchanal loyalty developed to any institution of higher learning was In my ommy native land a loyalty to something in a foreign country, to something In my own, native land far distant where sentimental ties of a tenuous nature could In my own, my native land replace any active organization. This was hardy likely to produce practical results. Moreover, the education which The problem for the anist in this society was the more was received in the higher centres abroad tended to be of difticult because in so far as he created anything worth- a mainly professional kind. Certainly there was very little while he had to look outside of himself for an audience experience of research. This was important because it is and for a market. The criticisms and appreciations which conceivable that the development of research in the social he valued were, perhaps wisely, not those of the local sciences (in history, psychology, sociology) or even in critic but that of the British and American world. Ap- social work might have helped to bridge the gap between preciation on the local level tended to develop into mutual the middle-class artist on the one hand and the social real- admiration societies in which unless there was some ques- ity that surrounded him. tion of personality or other extrinsic factor involved, one As it was, the world of thought and imagination, trained author favourably reviewed another's work in return for a to deal with thoughts and objects so often foreign to the lie favour that he expected to be granted. individual's experience, became separated from the world The position of the artist reflected the position of the of everyday living. The absence of a cultural tradition, of whole society. In so far as the original cultural heritage any possibility of what one might term, "apprenticeship" of their ancestors (mainly African) was lost, in so far made the task of learning technique, and of developing there was an easy incorporation into and participation in appropriate attitudes di5cult. Denied mobility and pos- the life of the metropolitan area. This rendered educational sibility for movement in the social system many coloured and consequently political advance easier perhaps, but it middle-class intellectuals went in for &tic work as a com- shifted as a consequence the centre of gravity of the com- pensation and were not seriously moved by any creative munity so to speak to a position outside itself. This was impulse. There was an inordinate hankering for achieve- the price that had to be paid. ment and distinction over-night Quick publication and fa- The failure to develop any centre of intellectual life vourable review in the local press gave one the dignity of 250 Problem of Cultural Integration in Trinidad / Lloyd Braithwaite 25 1 being a poet and an author. And publication, in the 1 favourable light. But to those who were interested in "crea- absence of any publishing firms, was simply a matter of 1 tive" work these activities seemed to constitute a threat to individual action. Over-night reputations mushroomed. Al- j their position and to what they were striving for. The "im- ways there was the absence of impartial criticism. ' position" of British culture was resented and interest was For such criticism one had to go abroad and this re- 1 directed toward "expression" among the masses. sulted frequently in actual emigration from the island. ' The existence of two separate and distinct cultural ex- 1 C. L. R. James, Alfred Mendes, Eric Wims, Samuel pressive patterns corresponding to social class not only Selvon and others, aII emigrated abroad, only a few to i symbolized the difference between the classes (the lower return. Most of those who managed to make any money 1 class on the one hand and the rest of the society on the out of writing have done so by their sales to the English ; other) but helped to accentuate further the difIerence be- and American public; or by broadcast of their produc- / tween them. To a certain extent there was an acceptance tions to the West Indies by the B.B.C.'s overseas service, I of much of this lower-class "culture", notably at Carnival "Calling the West Indies". / time. But this acceptance was only of a limited nature. The social-class-caate structure of the society tended in ! The people of the towns were unaware (the upper and some respects to hinder the development of any mature ; middle classes totally, the lower classes partially) of the form of expression. Those who were technically the most a dances and the songs of the wuntryside. When, for in- i competent came from the most isolated of the social 1 stance, a wUector of folk traditions gave an illustrative groups-the upper class. Even where technical interest over- j lecture in Port of Spain on the "Folk Songs and Folk came social isolation the development took place on sepa- j Dances" in the island, most of the people attending had rate lines. Thus, the dramatic societies in Trinidad have / never seen the Limbo Dance, the Bongo Dance or the developed along racial lines. There are white dramatic Calioda, although most of the participants were drawn societies and coloured ones. From one point of view this ! from villages on the outskirts of Port of Spain. division did no harm as long as the dramatic societies pro- 1 The results of this attempt to draw on these "folk" *a- duced plays with European backgrounds. The appearance j ditions led to the creation of two dance groups-the "Little of a mixed racial group in such a play would probably Carib" and the "Holder" dance groups. These have sur- have appeared incongruous to the audience in a society 1 vived over a period of years and bid fair to become per- where there was such a high degree of sensitivity to the / manent features of the cultural life. of the community. Some problem of racial relations. In recent years there has been : of the folk dances have also been introduced as physical only one locally produced drama written by a Trinidadian. I education into the rural schools Perhaps it is no accident that this first &ort was written i This turn in interest towards the masses has revolu- about the conquest of Trinidad by the British and thus 1 tionized people's attitude. Previously items such as the did not touch on any of the tensions that exist in present- 1 Shango, the Bell-air dance, were dismissed as unimpor- day Trinidad society. tant at least, if not hostilely opposed. Periodically there Some of the inteagentsia became absorbed in this "re- 1 would appear an outcrop of letters in the press in which productive" sort of activity and to this group the work of / the behaviour of people at "wakes" was criticized and the the British Council in providing facilities of one sort or : "wake" itself condemned. The Sbango flourished in out- another caused the Council's activities to be viewed in a / of-the-way country parts and on the outskirts of the city. ! 252 Problem of Cultural Integration in Trinidad ! Lloyd Braithwaite Even Calypsonians poked fun at the Shango and the booed. Among certain circles the fact that something was Shouter: of African origin made it more acceptable than it would otherwise have been. It was in the height of Guanapo However the search for a distinctive and national form That I met up with a dance they called Shango of expression which would both symbolize and give unity While travelling through the vicinity I heard them singing melodiously to the society was not altogether easy. The areas in which Azanganal paratico4hl the lower class seemed to have the most to contribute were areas heavily associated with the more despised forms of A group of voices singing so loud lower class behaviour. The singing and dancing of the As if they want to buss a hole in the cloud lower class were associated with relative freedom and lack -Tiger of inhibition. The words of the songs were frequently, by upper and middle class standards, vulgar; and the dancing On the whole the idea of most people was to dierenti- struck the inhibited as being exceedingly erotic in nahlre. ate themselves as much as possible from anything that Again, the contribution which was most acceptable from sounded "African". "African" was associated with the , the point of new of the "culture" of the community, the primitive, the barbarous and the uncivilized, and in fact, steel hand, associated as it was with Carnival, became ta- the idea of Africa and its inhabitants corresponded in no I booed on account of other socially reprehensible factors as- small measure to the stereotype so often to be found in sociated with it. The problem of uniting the various forms the United Kingdom. With the search for some form of of expressive behaviour into "national" patterns are so well national expression, and with the resentment against those , illustrated by the steel band movement that some account of the ethnic groups which had retained a greater portion of it is given here. of their original cultural heritage (the Indian group in I particular) the attitude markedly changed. Members of the Negro Welfare and Cultural Associa- tion and similar groups had shown some interest in Afri- can survivals. (One member of the Negro Welfare sang The ethnologist interested in tracing cultural elements at one of their concerts a Yomba song which hi grand- of African heritage will find few evidences of African mother had taught him.) But these were lowerslass drums still surviving in the island. In the Shango groups, groups. Now respectable people started advocating a re- in vival of Africanism. A prominent lawyer, at one time ac- and the Rada groups the outlying districts of the island are to be found a few drums, but the variety that appar- tive in the Parent-Teacher's Association (now defunct), advocated the teaching of Yoruba and other African Ian- ently is to be found in a country like Haiti does not exist in Trinidad. The reasons for the relative decline in the guages in the schools. (Periodically this suggestion arises ; I drums are numerous. The attitudes of the people towards among the more extreme of the Negro Nationalist Move- things African, the increasing urbanization of the island, ment, but is so impractical as never to have received any the breach with the creole culture through the substitution serious attention.) There began a diligent search for folk i of English speech-all played their part. Of more interest, tunes and attendance at Shango dancing became a per- missible activity, although actual participation was ta- 7 In giving this account I am indebted to the steel band committee. 254 Problem of Cultural Integration in Trinidad I Lloyd Eraithwaite 255 is the effort on the part of the authorities to control the any persons may be so assembled and stop such dance expressive behaviour of the masses. Proper historical ac- or seize and carry away all such drums, gongs, tam- couats are not available; however, Osborne Innis, him- bows, bougees, chac-chac or other instruments of music self a coloured creole, but sympathetic to the suppression and reform of the lower classes, hap given an account Likewise during Carnival Day there is still placed upon which conveys at least some of the spirit with which the ; the streets of Port of Spain placards prohibiting, among reforms were dedout.8 He refers in hi8 reminiscences I other things, the. beating of any drum or the tooting of to the obnoxious practice of beating the big Bongo dnuna any horn. These prohibitions although violated nowadays Huge crowds would assemble in the yard, and the beating without any prosecution must have materially helped to of the Bongo drum would proceed throughout the night bring about the disappearance of the drums. At any rate on Great difeculty was experienced in the controlling of the Carnival Day, as in the countryside for Bongo dancing, nuisance until Oovernment hit upon the idea of prosecut- a substitute for the dnuns was found. For weeks before ing in an indirect way those who were associated with Cam~valbranches of bamboo trees could be seen being the criminal elements who frequented the yards where. dragged through the streets for a new type of "drum" in- these dnuns were played. This was alleged to have had 1 volving the beating together of specially selected pieces of 1 bamboo. The Bamboo tamboo (tambour) became synony- the desired effect I Although there is no strict enforcement of the legisla- mous with Carnival. It was a cheap form of music and tion to control, the laws on the statute book still remain:O Carnival began on Monday mornings with the invasion of the streets by bamboo bands. Some idea of the emotional 80. Every person or occupier of any home, building, significance of the bamboo band can be indicated by the yard or other place who shall: fact that one Calypsonian in recounting the loneliness of (1) without licence under the hand of a commissioned a Trinidadian in New York sang: officer of constabulary permit any persons to assemble and play or dance thereia to any drums, gong, tambours, New York ain't got breadfruit bougees, chac-chac or other similar instrument of music AU they have is grapefruit. at any time between the hours of ten o'clock in the ev* Bamboo band and chac-chac ning of one day and the hour of six o'clock in the morn- Waiting for you here in Sangre Grande. ing of the next day, or (2) permit any person to assemble and dance therein The bamboo band reigned completely for a number of

the dance known as "Bongo" or any similar dance, I years, the only addition being the bottle and spoon-one shall on conviction before a Magistrate be liable to a to a band. Gradually there were added the hubs of motor penalty not exceeding ten pounds, and it shall be lawful I car wheels and other metallic car parts that could produce for any constable with such assistants as he may take to the required sounds. These metal instruments bad gradually his aid, to enter any home, building, yard or place where 1 replaced the bamboo when the second World War broke 8L. 0. IMiS, Reminiscences of an Octogenarian (Trinidad, out. n.d.). During the war years Carnival was banned as well as 0 Laws of Trinidad and Tobago, Ch. 25, p. 345, quoted from M. J. and F. S. Herskovits, Trinidad Village (New York: were demonstrations in the streets. Frequently the steel Knopf, 1947), p. 348. bands, which, in view of tbe prohibition, now "practised" 256 Problem of Cultural Integration in Trinidad Lloyd Braithwaite 257 indoors, invaded the streets only to be put down by police. cies towards outsiders. At the same time the powerful beat action. For instance, when one steel band appeared at and exulting rhythm of the steel band seems to have given the Queen's Park Savannah to support the proletarian confidence to its members. One steel band Calypso de- team "Colts" in the Amateur Football competition they scribes how "asleep in his cachot" he dreamt of a steel were dispersed by police. action. band going to fight Hitler: These clashes between police and steel bandsmen in- creased in number when gang warfare between the rival Adolf Hitler, here comes the enemy steel bands developed. During the war this was due to poor We are quite prepared for the Bad Man from police supervision, the social and psychological dislocation Gennany resulting from the establishment of the American Bases, No bayonet, no gun, and the consequent breakdown of social control. The The beating of the steel band go make him run. So, Hitler, Be on your guard. removal of the outlet of Carnival during the war years I mean, it's the steel band from Trinidad. was also of great siguilicance. Immediately after the war there was a great revival of V-J V-E Whatever the sources of the hostility, its proportions be- Carnival which automatically took place on and came alarming, particularly when fights between rival days before the holding of Carnival on the usual Carnival gangs took place on the streets to the risk of life and limb days became legally regularized. The steel band became of innocent bystanders; and when, too, pedestrians on the popular and there was a great improvement of technique. street were "bounced" (given slight cuts with a razor on i' The improvement in technique immensely increased the fun :/l popularity of the steel band, but at the same time its con- the arms) just for the of it. The attitude of repression which first characterized the official attitude proved un- nection with gang warfare was so acute that attitudes to- 1; wards the bands continued to show a strong element of successful. Fortunately there were some far-seeing individuals in , , disapproval. .!I# The hostility towards authority, and in particular to- the community who recognized the steel band as an in- ;'I wards the police, expressed by the members of the steel digenous expression which needed encouragement and :i. band to those making the steel band survey in 1949 was who consequently sougbt to wean the steel band away extreme; most of them replying to the question as to what from its criminal associations. Their point of view was they would do if they saw a policeman injured and in need adopted by the Colonial Secretary of the time and a Com- of help by the roadside by saying that they would pass mittee was appointed to carry out a sociological survey of him by and would render him no aid. In part this resulted the steel bands of the Port of Spain area; to make recom- from bad handling of the situation by the police and mendations whereby the cultural and recreational poten- possibly from a too severe or indiscriminate prosecution tialities of steel bands might be encouraged; and to suggest of offenders. Certainly there were other elements in the the future scope of the Trinidad and Tobago Steel Bands' situation as well The increasing sophistication of the steel Association. band necessitated a great deal more practice, co-ordination, The last term of reference. indicates that in an attempt leadership and organization than before. Such develop to gain control of the movement and to give it status the ment seems to have served to weld the steel band into a bands had been forced into an association. The problem of closely knit primary group with strong aggressive tenden- organization was rendered more difEcult since the steel 258 Problem of Cultural Integration in Trinidad Lloyd Braithwaite 259 band had improved so much that the individual bands movement became associated with all the symbols of Gov- were able to obtain contracts to play at dances and night ernment, of upper-class society, etc., and this undoubtedly clubs, at home and abroad, including even the United helped to remove the stigma attaching to "steel bands- States of America The Association as at first conceived men". was one of linking up the bands in such a way that they The visit of the steel band to the United Kingdom was would, in a self-governing manner, exert discipline on quite successful from the point of view of the island so- those recalcitrant groups which did not observe the code ciety. If, from the limited point of view of most of the in- of behaviour to which they were committed. The new habitants, it was expected that the steel band was "going wmmercial possibiities made this task more difticult since to take England by storm", there was little disappoint- it required a much higher degree of integrity in the leader- ment if results fell short of this, since the same limited ship and loyalty on the part of the individual bands if perspectives prevented them from appreciating how im- they were to accept decisions which would have impor- possible this was of achievement. tant financial consequences. Nonetheless the steel band movement has not yet be- The struggle to wean the steel band away from crime come definitely removed from its criminal associations. was only partially successful. The councillor, the politician, Since the TASPO (Trinidad All Steel Percussion Orches- the man of good will who devoted themselves to this task tra) visit to the Festival of Britain there have been further served to give "o~al"recognition by the upper classes outbursts of gang warfare, though not as serious as on of the society, of the achievement of the steel band in some occasions. In one respect, however, some progress has creating from nothing or rather from empty gasolene been made. The association of the steel band with crime drums, something of an orchestra. This effort to inte- was to a large extent fortuitous. It was only in fact in Port grate the steel band movement into the life of the society of Spain that a great many of the bands had criminal af- as a whole came to a head when there was a drive on the filiations. In the country districts this was not the case. part of the steel band committee to raise funds by public However, the best bands were in Port of Spain and the suLwcription to send a representative steel band to Great general public were aware of the specially composed Britain to represent the island at the Festival of Britain in Calypsos by the Steel Band Association with their aggres- 1951. sive tone: The drive received the patronage of the Governor and a large degree of enthusiastic support from the general pub- Ah, Lord Invaders, why you Nn, why you NU lic. The amount that it was sought to raise was $15,000 "Tokyo" back in Town. (B.W.1.)-£3,000-a large sum to be raised at such short Invaders too bad notice and for such a purpose. About two-thirds of this They want to pelt a stone in the yard amount was actually raised and the Government of the Tell them we are young island provided the rest Although the sum may appear Tell them we are strong. small, in order that it could be reached at all a real "na- tional" effort was needed involving radio appeals by Nonetheless, on account of the rhythms and the techai- leaders of the voluntary organizations, paeonage of con- cal competence involved, several middle-class persons certs by the leading citizens of the land, and voluntary learned to play the steel band. One result of this has been collecting by individuals, etc. In this way the steel band the organization of these bands in the secondary schools 260 Problem of Cultural Integration in Trinidad and of the "Giul Pat" steel orchestra, a band composed of middle-class girls. In a sense this has solved the problem of gemhg some form of cultural expression of a national nature. However, it has not served to bridge the gap be- tween the lower class and the middle class because as soon as the middle clam groups learn the technique of actually operating the steel band they move away from association with the "real" steel bandsmen. How far this trend will overcome the concern and admiration for tech- nical competence cannot be judged at the moment. Caribbean Narrative 0. R. Dathorne

No aspect of West Indian culture better conveys the com- **** plexity of West Indian life than recent Caribbean literary Andrew Salkey once said to me that there was no such works, autobiographical, picaresque, and folkloristic. The thing as West Indian literature; Denis Williams affirmed that it is a province of English letters. They would both extraordinary development of West Indian fiction since argue that it has still to attain a certain de6nite identity the Second World War is traced here by a West Indian before it can acquire nationality. Indeed there is some novelist, who is unique in having left the Caribbean for a truth in this. But literature does not operate in a vacuum, long sojourn in Africa. The need for a wider audience, and it would seem to me that West Indian writing has to he points out in this introduction to his own collection of grow out of developing social patterns. West Indian cul- Caribbean fiction, is a major reason most such writers have ture is still only in the process of maturing and until emigrated; but self-exile inevitably affects their creative this happens, West Indian literature, like West Indian life, style. Even though a number of the finest West Indian reaches backwards towards Africa and India, and is satu- American writers do occasionally return home to refresh and to re- rated in its present with English and elements. Ultimately, West Indian literature will merge and consoli- store their creative impulse, the nuances of the West Indian date these ditferences into its cosmopolitan image of the scene, the style, the flavor, and the pace of island life are future. inevitably diluted by distance and the fading of memory. There are more immediately practical considerations. None of the few publishing houses in the West Indies has I Guyanese-born, o. R. DATHORNE took his undergraduate the financial backing to be able to risk a book and market degree at Shefield University and did postgraduate work it abroad. Even if the West Indian writer were to publish in English at the University of London. He has taught at in Jamaica, or Trinidad, the West Indian reading public is the University of Nigeria and is presently on the staff of still negligible, and unlike Canada, Australia and South Africa, cannot support its writers. The West Indian the Department of Afro-American Studies at the Uni- versity of Wisconsin. His own novels include Dumplings Caribbean Narrative, London, Heinemann Educational Books, Ltd., 1966, pp. 2-16. Reprinted by permission of the in the Soup and The Scholar-Man. I author. 264 Caribbean Narrative 0. R. Dathorne 265 writer is therefore tied to the economic apron strings of Britain and sometimes of America. Consequently it is not and J. A. Froude's The English and the West lndies (1888). provide interesting background reading. But imag- surprising that this tends to influence his work. The ma- jority of the writers in this selection live in England. As inative interest in the West hdies goes back as early as George Lamming said in a television interview in London, Alexander Barclay's The Ship of Fools (1509), was stimu- the West Indian writer came to England much as the West lated by Raleigh's Discovery of Guia~in 1595, and was hdian labourer did-to seek an employer. given literary expression by Robert Greene, George Chap man, Shakespeare, Marlowe, Spenser, Marvel1 and Nash But West Indian literature did not begin when Mittel- holzer left Trinidad for England, nor with Lamming and among others. Later on when travel literature was in vogue, Defoe's Crusae (1719), The Adventures of lon- Selvon who followed in 1950, nor with Naipaul's scholar- ship to Oxford. Indigenous West Indian literature is at least athan Corncob (1787), Michael Scott's Tom Cringle's Log (1829-1833), and The Cruise of the Midge (1835), were one hundred and 6fty years old and goes back to the some of the many books of fiction that had at least part eighteenth century. The authors at that time were formerly slaves and their journey to England and subsequent aliena- of their setting in the West Indies Anthony TroUope's tion from the West Indies and their writing, seem to travel book on the West Indies (1859) was straight travel foreshadow the experiences of most of the writers of our literature. Some time before this, abolitionist literature had brought about the revival of the theme originally own century. In 1787 Cugoano published his Thought# treated in Aphra Behn's Oronooko (1688), itself a varia- and Sentiments, an account of his own life and the unjust tion of the Inkle-Yarico legend of African love in the new practices of the slave trade; Equiano, in 1789, published world, which was mentioned in the Spectator of 3 March his Interesting Narrative, also part-autobiography and part 1711. This revival was expressed in the form of novels, anti-slavery propaganda. Before these the Letters of Sancho poetry and drama until the mid-nineteenth century. In was published posthumously in 1782; and Phyllis Wbeat- our own times we have witnessed the West Indian once ley, who had lived some time in the West Indies before more writing about himself, but the English interest con- going to America, published her poems as early as 1773. tinues, for example in Ronald Firbank's Prancing Nigger Apart from this there was some local writing going on, (1924). in the macabre ending of Evelyn Waugh's A and Edward Long mentions in his History of Jamaica Handful of Dust (1934), in Graham Greene, Colin Mac- (1774) that there was a Jamaican schoolmaster, Francis Innes and more recently in a television play by Kingsley Williams, who bad apparently published verse, which Amis. Long says was overpraised. Indeed Long's derogatory re- Meantime in the West Indies people continued to write. marks are general, which would suggest there was a certain N. E. Cameron was able to bring out in British Guiana, amount of writing by Negroes; he feels that too much praisc as early as 1931, an anthology of Guyanese poetry cover- was given to them, and adds sarcastically that before their ing the period 1831 to 1931, and J. E. Clare McFarlane 'sacred name flows every fault'. published an anthology of Jamaican poetry in 1949. In This does not of course take into account the vast the field of prose Frederick Charles Tomlinson had pub- amount of imaginative prose literature which was pub- lished in 1903, Thomas MacDermot in 1907, and the Ja- lisbed by English people who bad either been to the West maican novelist Herbert G. de Lisser brought out Jane's Indies or had read about it. Both Lady Nugent's journal, Career in London in 1914. Fiction was published 1ocaUy covering her residence in Jamaica between 1801 and 1805. in the West Indies, some of only ephemeral interest; but 266 Caribbean Narrative 0. R. Dathorne 267 there were others of a more enduring quality lie A. R. F. Webber's Those That Be in Bondage (1917). Of the people who are now writing and about whom which dealt with East Indian immigration. In the twenties people usually speak when they refer to West Indian litera- our leading novelist was Claude McKay who published ture, Edgar Mittelholzer was the fist to be published. In- in America and whose world was an expansive one of deed, as Lammiog has pointed out a little sceptically, it black West Indians, Negro Americans and Africans. In 'gave him a certain seniority of prestige among people the thirties C. L. R. James's Minty ANey was published, who wrote in Trinidad'. He had published Courenryne and Alfred Mendes was attracting some attention with his Thunder in 1941. Vic Reid's New Day did not appear until short stories and his novel Black Fauns (1935). About 1949, Selvon did not publish A Brighter Sun until 1952, this time too Walter Adolphe Roberts started being pub. nor did Lamming publish In the Castle of MY Skin until lished in America; his earliest novel is The Mind Reader, 1953, in the same year that Roger Mais's The Hills Were a mystery story with a New York setting published in Joyful Together came out. When John Heame's Voices 1929. Under the Window appeared in 1955, V. S. Naipaul's The forties saw an important development in the growth The Mystic Masseur in 1957 and Jan Csrew's Black Midas of our indigenous literature-the founding of three periodi- in 1958, the development of West Indian literature had cals, whose intluence in West Indian literature can never begun. Since then these writers, with the exception of be overestimated. Frank Collymore started Bim in 1942 Mais and Mittelholzer, have continued to write, and many in Barbados, the first issue of Focus came out in 1943, more West Indian writers have been published. Frank edited by Edna Manley in Jamaica, and Arthur Seymour Collymore listed a number of writers well-known in the began Kyk-over-a1 in 1945. In addition the Christmas num- West IndiesSeepersad Naipaul (Naipaul's father, now bers of local newspapers all had literary supplements, and dead), Ernest Can and Cecil Gray of Trinidad; John the Department of Extra-Mural Studies of the then Uni- Mansfield, Inez Sibley, Claude Thompson, A. E. T. Henry versity College of the West Indies started Caribbean of Jamaica; and Karl Sealy, L. E. Braithwaite and John Quarterly in 1949. Most of the West Indian writers now Wickham of Barbados. Now West Indian writing appean writing had their early work fist published in Bim, Focw frequently in English periodicals, two c~llectionsof stories and Kyk, which existed with little money, were never sub- have been edited by Salkey, some critidm has appeared in sidized, and which only progressed from one issue to the book-form by Lamming and Coulthard; and West Indians next because of a certain amount of goodwill on the part have been published in Australia, West and East Africa as of buyers and a praiseworthy excess of zeal on the part well as Canada, America, England, and of course the West of the editors. One must also add that some measure of Indies. In addition their work has been translated into praise is due to Henry Swanzy, who began editing 'Carib many ~uropeanlanguages, and in paperback form it has bean Voices' for the B.B.C. in 1946. It was only witb reached- ~ many parts of the world and many levels of the these periodicals and 'Caribbean Voices' that Mittelholzer, reading public.- Selvon and Lamming got a wider West Indian public. In If a general point can be made about West Indian lit- 1950 the Pioneer Press was founded in Jamaica by Edna erature it is that the writers, living out of the West Indies Manley and others; it published West Indian writing locally as most of them do, usually exhaust any recognizable im- and would no doubt have developed into the foremost age of the West Indies in their first few books. This very publishing house in the West Indies, had it not folded up. point was made by a writer in the Times Literary Sup- plement: 'All novelists have trouble with their second Caribbean Narrative books; the West Indian has more trouble than others, if he :limax to a farcical situation in a short story called Man- bas transferred from the Caribbean to Europe.' Few have Man. had the opportunity of returning home: Mittelholzer went The abiity to observe and utilize real-life experiences is back to live in Barbados for two years; Lamming, Selvon not of course a West Indian monopoly, but I am suggesting and Naipaul have more recently returned as visitors. that what these writers use is West Indian. As a matter of Heame is at the moment living in Jamaica, Dawes has fact, it is not only the locality that makes it West Indian recently left British Guiana after a year there, and Jan but the West Indian creative attitude, which is first of all Carew bas returned to England after some time in British interested in certain types of farcical experiences, and West Guiana and Jamaica. It would seem therefore that the Indian expression, which lends itself well to describing realism of these writekwbat one might call our recog- these. Lamming, for instance, gives an entertaining ac- nition of the familiar-is bound to suffer, and their later count of how, when he went to cover certain aspects of novels, as with Naipaul's, Mittelholzer's, Carew's, Salkey's, the funeral of George VI for the B.B.C., an amusing inci- Lamming's, and Selvon's, are either going to move com- dent took place. Lamming and a companion, Thomasos, pletely away from the West Indian setting and deal with are in the Abbey and Thomasos sees a black man walking Americans or Englishmen or Africans, or else they are go- towards him complete with morning suit and sword: ing to deal with what after all these writers know best- the alienated West Indian living out of the West Indies and To Thomasos, who had now halted, this gentleman cut off from his roots. was simply playing the ass. That hilarious get-up might This experimental engendering of recent West Indian have been perfect on carnival day in Port-ofSpain. But writing has meant that a great many of the first novels of not in the Abbeyl West Indian writers have a biographical basis. George Lamming's is, among other things, fictionalized recollec This is of course a typical West Indian response to such tions of a Barbadian childhood; Geoffrey Drayton's a situation and this is not fiction here; in this incident Christopher is thioly disguised biography. Selvon's and George Lamming relates something that acWy hap Naipaul's first novels are about the young Indian growing pened. It becomes fictionalized in his short story A Wed- up in Trinidad, Jan Carew's Black Midas owes a great deal ding in Spring where George Lamming uses a device other to the real-life adventures of Herbert Scotland, one of the than narrative bias to ridide the morning suit. In the people to whom the book is acknowledged, and Neville story a character called Beresford owns it, and his attach- Dawes's The Last Enchantment and Laucbmonen's Guia~ ment to it is compared with that of Boy, are respectively about youth in the city and the canefield. But the realism goes further, and the West his grandfather whose wedding could not proceed; had, Indian tall story, what one might call our 'ga, is seen in indeed, to be postponed because be would not repeat the words: All my worldly goods I thee endow. He writers as different as Selvon and Naipaul. For instance, had sworn never to part with his cow, like Beresford the well-known tall story of the religious maniac who seeks and the morning suit. a kind of self-imposed cmciExion is dealt with in their dif- ferent ways by these two writers; in Selvon a character When in the short-story Beresford and Knickerbocker mentions it en passant, and in Naipaul it becomes the arrive with top-hats and morning suits, a poodle attacks 270 Caribbean Narrative them, rips off one of Knickerbocker's coat-tails and at- books their comic verve; in Naipaul a slightly less authentic tempts to escape with the tophats. version of a closed racial world is the prerequisite towards Another example of West Indian response to comic situ- understanding his books. The Negroes in Naipaul's world ation and its later incorporation in a story, is the account are therefore only on the periphery of his design, in Selvon of Selvon's meeting with a Nigerian when he &st went to they communicate at the core. London: It is the way in which this polygenous mass of races intermingle in the West Indian novel that distinguishes it The third lodger was a Nigerian whom we called from the narrower dimensions of standard European do Mate. I'm not sure whether this was the name he gave, tion. In attempting to describe this the writen may have or whether Selvon had chosen it. Mate was a stu- . . . one of several things to do--the intention may be merely to dent whose monthly allowance had been temporarily suspended. . . . He always wore a suit, arranged in exhibit the unique commingling of races that is West In- every pleat and seam with impeccable neatness. He dian, or to satirize. its prejudices and failigs, or to high- brushed everything before he dressed, and he repeated light its rigid distinctiveness above the apparent cosmopofi- the same chore before he went to bed. He might not tan flux. Edgar Mittelholzer sets himself such a task in regain his allowance; but he would never betray his A Morning at the Ofice. Another approach is to isolate a clothes. particular community and describe it. But whereas this is only incidental to Naipaul's purpose, it is a sine qua non In one of Selvon's episodes in The Lonely Londoners, of a novel like BIuck Albino by Namha Roy, where the Mate becomes Cap, a Nigerian who does no work but who setting of the story is among the Maroons of Jamaica, and prospers in idle luxury. deals with the effect on the tribe. when the chief has an As I have said, when West Indian writers want to write albino son. But I 6nd that in both of these books by about the West Indies after their first novel, it is as if physi- Mittelholzer and Namba Roy the intention is too obtru- cal severance from their setting has made them less sure of sively pedagogic; in Selvon's A Brighter Sun the young detail. This has given way to a new kind of realism in Indian couple and their Negro neighbours mix and partici- which I 6nd that the writers are more concerned with pate in the business of living and incidentally learn about human situations in a setting that is every West Indian themselves and each other. But it is all done within the island and yet none at all. Lamming invented San Cristobal, strict limitations of the novel-form, with no excursions into Hearne sets his novels in Cayuna; but even where the excessive didacticism. writers agree to give the place a known geographical name, As a racial theme in the West Indian novel, the African their evocation of what it means to them differs. Therefore is perhaps the predominant one. From Claude McKay'a Jan Carew's Guyana is not Wilson Harris'sxarew sets Banjo (1929) in which the bero sentimentalizes upon the physical al&nation of individual struggle against a African dialects that were 'rich and round and ripe like jungle, wobbling before man's assertiveness, Harris sur- soft tropical fruit', to Denis Williams's hem in Other renders his community to the potency of myth and the Leopards (1963), who hds to his horror that he is an will of landscape. And the Trinidad of Naipaul and that uncommitted African in Africa, the search for roots goes of Selvon-both humorists and what is perhaps less im- on. It is an interest that is motivated by West Indian atti- portant, both Indians-is a very different one. In Selvon it tudes to Africa; genuine sunrivals extant in Haitian voodoo, is the cosmopolitan associations that matter, that give his the practices of the Maroons of Jamaica and so on; rnili- 272 Caribbean Narrative 0. R. Dathorne tant perversions that identify the African heritage with true story of Anne Palmer, who lived with her husband Ethiopia, such as the Rastafarians in Jamaica, imagina- John, from 1820 to 1828, at the Great House at Rosehall, tively treated in Orlando Patterson's Children of Sisyphus, a few miles from Montego Bay in Jamaica. Vic Reid's first and the so-called Sbango cult in Trinidad. Since it is only novel, New Day, has as its background the Morant Bay relatively recently that the African has become articulate, uprising of 1865. More recently Edgar MitteIhoIzer in the it is obvious that when the West Indian novelist writes Kaywana trilogy has canvassed something of even larger about Africa it is essentially a localized West Indian wn- proportions; in Children of Kaywana life and death in the cept that he has in his mind, probably based on the fact Guyana of the seventeenth and eighteenth century is cen- that West Indians, in the words of the South African writer tred round Hendnckje van Groenwegel; The Harrowing of Ezekiel Mpbahlele, 'were taught some nasty things about Hubertus (or Kaywana Stock) continues the story down us by their colonial masten and pseudc-historians'. A to the death of her grandson, Hubertus, early in 1800, West Indian version (which I must say is an authentic and and Kaywana Blood, the sequel, begins in 1795, and this realistic presentation of the West Indian viewpoint) of the time centres itself around Hubettus's young cousin, Dirk. African presence appears in the characters of Preacher Whatever may be the shortcomings of these novels, they and Mr Cuey in Naipaul's The Suffrage of Elvira. In are nevertheless a huge saga and represent an intentional Andrew Salkey's first novel two views on Africa are put but not obtrusive attempt to re-live history, at a time when fonvard-Miss Mellie's that 'we is a people who live on the it has become a commonplace to assert the absence of a island of St Thomas, not Africa', and Mother Johnson's, West Indian tradition. What Kingsley Amis said about that 'everybody is a part of slavery days, is a part of the Children of Kaywana applies to the entire Kaywana tril- climate-a-Africa'. In a recent novel by John Hearne, Mar- ogy: Mittelholzer has achieved 'the passionate realization cus Heneky (Marcus Gamey?), is seen as more than a of a world in historical and topographical as well as per- mere racialist. His ideology is an attempt at re-ordering sonal terms'. history, and so he has had to change 'the lie that the black What, however. I find more significant in West Indian man was faceless' so as 'to give the black man the sort of writing is a definite striving for historical sense. In a place vision of himself that would make him free. And make where, for many, history is the recollection of the incidents the whites and the browns free, because they were shackled of two previous generations, it is more than ever imperative to the lie too.' This, as a theme, will be soon effete unless that we should give depth and dignity to what we do recaU it is associated with the historical perspective and ex- to re-interpret the amalgam of influences that has con- panded into a more intense scrutiny of the nature of man. tributed to our present social complexity. A novel like A The attempt at writing historical novels is not the same House for Mr Biwas, though fragmentary in outline, item- thing as what I have called the historical perspective, al- ises the incidents that contribute to the physical and cul- though it can stimulate this in the writers who engage in tural evolution of its hero in a society, which according it, the readers who interpret, and the writers who are gc- to Naipaul in The Middle Passage, 'denied itself heroes'. ing to write afterwards. Therefore, it is perhaps a good It succeeds because it gives heroic stature to Biswas and it thing that we have at the beginning of our contemporary is out of this that the historical ambit expands. One might novel movement in the West Indies, historical novels of say that in this novel Naipaul makes the historical sense some significance. Herbert de Lisser's The White Witch operate in character, but that in general, Naipaul, Hearne, of Rosehall is, according to Philip Sberlock, based on the Mais and Selvon lack the historical sense; their characten 274 Caribbean Narrative 0.R. Dothorne 275 live on the ephemeral terrain of circumvention; their at- Roberts and Mittelholzer bave written some) but also in titudes and actions are contained in specific moments of artistic distortion and a dishonest association between the time. There is no 'backward glance'. West Indies as it exists in the mind of the writer, and the Another writer who I feel has a concept of the past is West Indies as it exists in the minds of his European read- Lamming; at times, as in Seuson of Adventure, his past is ing public. This is indeed very often a sorry compromise. a conglomeration of hazy notions of an African mystique. This is not the same as saying that Selvon, for example. However. I feel it is not totally uasuccessful, because when ought not to write funny stories about the West Indies. the past does not operate through character, it asserts itself Indeed this is where his success lies; they are funny, they 1 best in the archetypal significance of the grandeur of myth. are even distorted, but we can believe in them. As J. A. I This is WiIson Hanis's method-his novels are made up of Ramsaran has said in his New Approaches to Africm the personae of world mythology. For example, in The 1 Literature (1965), 'Selvon's forte is the episodic presenta- Secret Ladder, Poseidon, half-god, half-man, is the proto- tion of mood and impression'. It is because the mood and I type of the wise old man. In The Whole Armour, Magda, impression are Selvon's, and make no concession to the I a magna mater figure, is the prototype of the old faithful exotic tastes of a foreign audience, that we can believe in mother. Harris's incidents are usually contained within a Selvon. One might add too that Selvon is very much with : setting out from somewhere and death which operates in his characters, unlike Naipaul, whose humour has less i his pages like an ominous accessory to life. The action of compassion and is more embittered. Indeed it is surprising his novels is one that lends itself, therefore, to wider inter- that West Indian writers who, Salkey feels, 'wear the comic pretations in terms of the significance of life and death. mask with more assurance than the tragic', have only pro- His novels are a conspiracy against our organized concept duced two wmic writers. Mittelholzer and others have 1 of time and place. In this way he is the most interesting of course written some comedy; Alvin Bennett's God the and original talent to have come out of the West Indies. Stonebreaker is very funny. But in general the West Indian I ' Naipaul criticized the West Indian novel because the has avoided the humorous novel. Naipaul quotes Graham West Indian author's 'involvement with the white world Greene's observation that 'comedy needs a strong frame- . deprives his work of universal appeal: The historical /* . . work of social convention with which the author sym- recognition is one way in which the West Indian writer has pathizes but does not share' and adds that 'by this de6ni- 4 circumvented this inability to appeal universally. Another tion the West Indian writer is incapable of comedy'. way is by dealing in large human terms with character West Indian comedy seems to lie mainly in character, 1 and incident-not necessarily by giving them the propor- language and to a less extent in incident. Personal names, I il tions of myth, but by re-shaping them into the more readily drawn from the inanimate or the trivial, provide a large apprehended and recognizable. Thii has been done, as we element of the comic delineation-Selvon's characters have 11 shall see later, but there is a danger here that writers suc- names like Five-past-Twelve, Mangohead, Small Change cumb too easily to superlatives, in the temptation to relate and Eraser; Naipaul's characters are called Hat, Big Foot, what is either too readily recognizable or too excessively Bogart, Razor, and so on. Sometimes the same name oc- surprising to the Europem and Ame"can reader-thereby curs in both Selvon and Naipaul, e.g. Popo. Selvon often perverting their themes in order to domesticate the un- writes in a half-way variant between standard English and realistic. This causes not only what we might term tbe Trinidadian dialect; Naipaul writes an arch, precise kind of 'commercial' novel (Herbert de Lisser, Walter Adolphe English. Selvon's characters, whether they are Jamaicans, 276 Caribbean Narrative 0. R. Dathorne 277 Trinidadians or Africans, speak in much the same way, partial assimilation of English creeds (satirized by Nai- but Naipaul has been noticeably unadventurous, as his paul in the Suflrage of Elvira) is opposed to a neo-Marxist main West Indian characters are all Trinidadian anyway. popular party in need of dedicated and informed leader- (Lamming has a much better ear for dialect as can be ship. On the personal level the political consciousness of seen in The Emigrants, where there are dialects from many the novel operates through two characters-Ramsay TuU islands. But he lacks the comic gift.) Indeed, where Nai- and Cyril Hanson, both Oxford educated; but whereas pad and Selvon succeed best is in creating a succession of Tull entrenches his negroness against the inroads of angli- bright eccentrics who do little, but whose eccentricity is in cization, Hanson compromises. When they return to Ja- how they act and how they speak. maica, Tull becomes the chief spokesman of the leftist Perhaps one of the reasons why West Indian novelists party, Hanson of the other. But, as with Hearne, order have steered clear of humour in general is because they collapses, and with it Ramsay Tull and his ideals. Here the see it as their business to interpret and classify their social interpretation would seem to be more relevant and less world-one in which politics seems to play a leading r8le. universal than Hearne's-is socialism possible in West In- Politics, perhaps in its largest sense man's insistence on dian society? order, is the theme of most of John Hearoe's novels. I Lamming explores the politics of his island in two main would prefer to interpret Hearne's themes on this wider, novels-Of Age and Innocence and Season of Adventure. and for me, more significant level. Mark Lattimer in Voices In Of Age and Innocence, Mark and Shepherd, who re- Under the Window, Carl Brandt in Stranger at the Gate, turn to San Cristobal from Europe, help awaken the pee Jojo Rygin in The Foces of Love, Eleanor Stacey in The ple from their political sloth. But the end is like Hearne's Autumn Equinox and Marcus Heneky in Land of the and Dawes's-the leader was crushed and the movement Living all move, as a critic said in a broadcast, 'towards apparently defeated With Season of Adventure, San the same dark end and defeat'. All of Hearne's heroes Cristobal is a republic, and Lamming is now concerned are defeated by their attempt at restoring order; this cer- with the more far-reaching problems of freedom-on the tainly makes the author's vision tragic, but it gives his political, social and individual levels Fola's search for her novels a significance beyond their immediate statement and origins is a microcosm of the desire of the islanders for a setting. They represent the imaginative diaguosis of a hu- new kind of freedom. The end of the novel is one of tri- manistic vision of revolution-a vision rendered all the umph and apprehension; politics in Lamming is a turning more universal because the heroes or victims in his novels inwards, what he has himself called 'a clarification of his identify themselves with a profound and intensely passion- relations with other men, and a report of his own, very ate Weltschmerz. No other West Indian writer has quite highly subjective conception of the possible meaning of a succeeded in unobtrusively affirming the political and the man's life'. animal in man. Perhaps if C. L. R. James were less a seri- This expanded introspective study of self is, to my mind, ous propagandist, he would have approached nearest to one of the most exciting facts about the West Indian novel, the kind of constitutional framework in Hearne's novels. which takes it out of the area of provincialism, and which We find a deep political awareness also in Neville will later on give it a larger and more significant potential- Dawes's novel and its connection with emerging national- ity than it now incorporates. Many West Indian novelists ism. In The Lad Enchantment the issues are spec&- have attempted this; for example, Lamming in his first a neodemocratic party, which has secured power by the novel, In the Castle of My Skin, Selvon in An Island Is a 278 Caribbean Narrative 0.R. Dathorne 279 World, Mittelholzer in A Tale of Three Places, Vic Reid quently overdone. But the heightened prose is a legacy in The Leopard and Wilson Harris in his htfour novels from poetry, for most of our novelists began as poets; which make up a Guyana quartet This has often meant indeed not so mucb from poetry but from that artistic free- that the writers have had to be fairly experimental with dom of language that Walter Allen has written about in language, and this has caused some writers to be labelled Tradition and Dream-what one might call the absence of Nudo-Joycean'. But if a myopic view of race or national- rigid traditions that inhibit, and the presence of shifting ism is widened into this much larger vision of existentialist values which stimulate experiment. In a ditTerent century, self-inquiry, then the instrument of interrogation has to concerned more with that special technique of diction that be magnified as well. This is the reason for Dawes's fre- is poetry, and less with a fashionable technology of words quent changes of style in his novel, for Lamming's tech- which is the prose of fiction-in an age that required a less nique in Cmfle, for Wilson Harris's fastidious extravaganza frigid aesthetic, I wonder if most of our novelists would of diction and image, so that no word is a 'passenger' but not have remained poets. is relevant to dialogue, narrative, setting and action. In his later novels Lamming's style has tended to verge on the exhibitionist and the verbose, but I feel that some of the diiculties of communication lie in the nature of his themes There is none of this at all in Naipaul, very little in Hearne, and I sometimes wonder if this is not the main reason for their success in England. We all write for an English reading public and in general the West Indian writer is concerned with canvassing emotiom in much too overt a manner; in recent English literary tradition the reader is not usually even nudged by the author; the author is expected to respect emotions as sacrosanct Conrad, Synge and Dylan Thomas all wrote outside this tradition. The fact that West Indian writers are inextricably con- cerned with the working class is probably a redeeming feature in this case. One would balk at the idea of a Sel- von who only wrote the soppy sentimentalism of "My Girl and the City", even thougb it is emotionally persuasive. A great deal of the heaviness of the language and the sen- tentiousness of Season of Adventure is redeemed by the dialect and the uninhibited actions of the steelband men. Also I feel that the local idiom of Hanis's characters en- hances his novels-prevents them from straining towards too high a pitch of inaudible excess. In Jan Carew and Vic Reid these verbal excesses often add a touch of poetic truth to their descriptions; in some writers they are fie- The West Indian Novelist: Prelude and Context W. I. Carr

The special circumstances of West Indian writing and the way these circumstances affect its quality are surveyed here The fact that a society is producing novels and poems does by an Eoglishman. Economics is not the only motive for not mean that it has a literature. Two hundred pages or so West Indian self-exile, he shows; the Caribbean cultural of exhausted prose do not constitute a work of imagination; environment also leaves much to be desired. A social and a hundred and 6fty lines of leaden blank verse is no suf- intellectual milieu impoverished by isolation and by small- ficient guarantee of the existence of a poem. Most of us ness, the corrosive effects of class and ethnic prejudice, have a self-preserving instinct for cliche and are there and the glare of publicity that attaches to any local success fore perfectly willing to see our prejudices, our conven- may all diminish the capacity for, and the character of, tional views of experience, presented to us between hard imaginative writing. In this milieu, those who achieve any- covers. The simple fact of publication, we are apt to be- thing are apt to become self-conscious participants in, as lieve, is the token of achievement. Yet when we talk about well as conscious observers of, the local scene: their no- "the Victorian masters," for example, we should recognise toriety as local celebrities makes it impossible to keep that what we are judging to be a developing manifesta- out of the public eye. Some West Indian writers, feeling tion of genius is in fact a very small proportion of the required to be constantly up to the moment in approach amount of fiction published in the nineteenth century. So at what point then, with what justification are we entitled and content, 6nd it hard to maintain integrity of crafts- to manship. A carapace of ironic humor shields them from decide that a particular writer belongs to a literature, self-criticism only at the cost of creative vitality. and that another is trapped in the dismal prison of con- temporary fashion, and that another is merely vending trivial, temporary or vicious assumptions? w. I. CARR was for some years in the Faculty of Arts of the University of the West Indies in Jamaica. He is now **** Professor of English at the University of Guyana. Caribbeun Quarterly, Vol. 11, Nos. 1-2, March-June 1965, pp. 71-84. Reprinted with permission of the author and tho editors, Department of Extra-Mural Studies, University of tho West Indies, Kingston, Jamaica 282 The West Indian Novelist W. I. Carr Take the following stanza from a Jamaican poem: intelligence-the other is a piece of self-indulgence. It is not a creative participant in a literature. Herman Mel- Through whispering shades do you stricken run ville's expression "the shock of recognition" may be Alone, alone, beloved one? adopted to describe a situation in which writer and reader And are you lost in mist and rain ate profoundly and enduringly available to each other. The earth unknowing of your pain? That meeting place of proffered and accepted experience And if you call none give reply, is what we might describe as "a literature." None give reply-not even I- It is necessary to begin in this way in trying to describe Not even I, beloved one? some of the circumstances of contemporary West Indian A comparison with Thomas Hardy is barely plausible- fiction No claim on behalf of its "greatness" can yet be but we might look at it in comparison with a verse from responsibly made. It is possible that we will never be able Hardy's After a Journey. to make such a claim. But it seems to me that the work of West Indian novelists since 1949 justifies reference to "a Hereto I come to view a voiceless ghost; literature," even though much bad fiction has been pub- Whither, 0 whither will its whim now draw me? lished and will obviously continue to be. It is, however, Up the cliff, down, till I'm lonely, lost, an inescapable irony of the colonial situation that bad And the unseen waters' ejaculations awe me. writing can, in an obscure and perverse way, comprise a Where you will next be there's no knowing, revealing commentary on local experience, or at least of at- Facing round about me everywhere, titudes towards it. Thii does not mean that in discussing With your nut-coloured hair, colonial writing there must be a suspension of critical ef- And gray eyes, and rose-flush coming and going. fort. Bad writing must be clearly identified as bad writing otherwise one simply prolongs (with a high degree of Hardy's poem was written after the death of his wife, and meretricious and therefore destructive geniality) the ex- after he had come fully to realise the subtle meannesses she perience out of which the writing has come. But the had intruded into their relationship. The poem does not, uniqueness of the West Indian situation must be grasped however, contain anything of the retrospectively self- otherwise discussion of local writing will become evasive righteous, anything of posthumous condemnation. His en- and futile. It must he remembered, for instance, that stand- deavour is to try and understand what his feeling is. The ards of critical judgment and critical honesty are the prod- slightly awkward diction and the rhythms that move from uct of old, secure and confident cultures. Indeed in the the poetic to the near-conversational enforce Hardy's gen- West Indies itself the critical function has no welcomed tly ironic honesty in his attempt to understand the ambigu- and sanctioned presence. And no useful analogy can be ous nature of their mutual living. The Jamaican poem is drawn with the experience of post-Revolutionary America simply an incantatory blur of conventions. Hardy's puz- In spite of the acutely perceptive awareness of loss on the zled, shifting movement involves us in an effort at truthful part of (say) Fenimore Cooper, Hawthorne and Henry understandig. This, we feel, is what coping with experi- James, the Eastern States did, when we consider the West ence is like. The first poem offers nothing but the willing Indian context, constitute an embodied culture. The im- tearfulness, the co-operative instinct for effusion, of the portant American writers were not obliged to create a sentimentalist. After a Journey is a poem of signilicant literature out of the impoverishment, the humiliation and 284 The West Indian Novelist W. I. Carr 285 the selfdoubt that are the prescribed allotment of the society. There are the powerful, confident estate owners West Indian. What the American writers can supply, how- of John Hearne's novels and the insiitent ways in which ever, is the example of a rare integrity. The West Indian his writing tries to draw attention to roots, to a past. There writer is peculiarly vulnerable to the prejudices of his is George Lamming's invocation of the "peasant concept" society, exposed to the temptation of a basic wnfonnity of as the determinant in West Indian writing. There is the feeling. The dread of isolation, which seems to me to attempt on the part of even so hea mind as that of haunt the West Indian imagination, can easily overpower C. L. R. James to make a culture hero of Alexander Ham- personal understanding and commit the local writer to ilton. There is the rather glib identiftcation with African the assumed and accepted pressures of his community. The movement that dancers in Jamaica attempt At a sad and great American writers withstood them. Hawthorne. lan- frivolous level it can be summed up in an encounter at a guishing at Salem, might appear an exception. But what- party where a guest asserted that his family had been farm- ever degree of selfdeprecating irony Hawthorne conveys ing in Jamaica for three hundred years. His family came when he summons his Puritan ancestors he does at least to the island, apparently, towards the end of the nine- have ancestors to summon. When the West Indian writer teenth century. When Henry James spoke of a society with glances over his shoulder all he can perceive is an anony- a rich complex of manners as the necessary field for the mous mass of sdering. And there is Mr. V. S. Naipaul's activity of the novelist he expressed a peculiarly American grim observation in The Middle Passage: need. But if we modify James' obse~ationto mean a ribbed structure of circumstance and tradition, felt and History is built around achievement and creation; and available social materials, then the dilemma of the West nothing was created in the West Indies. Indian writer becomes clearer. West Indian literature is a bootstrap literature. When Naipaul has his own appropriate private nightmare to in- the local writer attempts to survey his past little more can habit Yet he is describing here at least the residual con- be present to him than a long and bloody histo17 of sys- sciousness of even the most mature West Indian. At times tematic and incompetent exploitation Greed, power and there is an air of rather fabricated melodrama about The the restless individualism of sixteenth century Europe were Middle Pmsage-sxperience seems too easily to incorpo- the forces that brought his world into being. You cannot rate itself into Naipaul's assumptions. But the irritation in the West Indies proffer, say, Raleigh and Hawkins with his book aroused in the area when it first appeared (and the nimbus of dedicated heroism to which an English the hostility or suspicion the mention of his name invariably schoolboy is usually ~ccustomed.If one tries to account for produces) are a curious guarantee of his accuracy as an the discrepancy between the numbers of slaves brought analyst at least of an emotional atmosphere. The present to the West Indies and the size of Negro populations now, writer is frequently informed, for example, that Naipaul's or tries to understand why there are large Indian and sociology is "all wrong," that he "doesn't know the so- Chinese communities in the area, then one encounters the ciety." The point is that he precisely gauges its fears about bedrock poverty of the West Indian past. What Ameri- itself. Tbis is borne out in the tendency of many West can writers judged to be the sparseness of their society Indian intellectuals and artists to manufacture a known would be accumulated riches in the West Indies. The Amer- and more or less comfortable world in which they can ican colonists, after all, severed a political connection; they try to identify the problems both of themselves and their did not frustrate a natural cultural commerce. There has The West Indian Novelist never been such a commerce in the West Indies. The West ) The novelist in England inhabits (by comparison) a Indian has never been invited to join the group and con- , dense world of critical discussion, of weekly reviews, of sequently Europe has only been available to him on terms I shared exchange. He has the great advantage of relative of a very specialised irony. (The finest awareness, in the I anonymity in a culture, or rather in a social context, West Indies itself, of just what this means is to be found which is not forced to engage in a prolonged and painful in the poetry of Derek Walcott "As well as if a manor I dialogue with itself. He is not obliged, by the wnditions of of thy friend's . . .": the line from Donne is disturb- his living, to explore the nature of his Englishness. It is ingly poignant coming at the end of a poem entitled "Ruins present for him in the achievement of his predecessors. of a Great House.") Reviewers in England, however, I And at the same time the English novel is so evidently the largely failing to realise what this means are given to rhe- , product of a high degree of endowed social awareness. If torical talk about "an exciting racial complex" as though the social structure of Victorian England had been dif- this were the explicable and comprehensive dynamic. In ferent then so would many of the presented and e-ed fact the West Indian novelist does not know enough about i moral interests of the Victorian novelists I am not attempt- himself or the varieties of race in his area to make a com- ing here any crudely Marxist dewtion. I am suggesting manding imaginative statement. What is easily seen in Eng- 1 only that the moral interests of the Victorian novelists bear land as the stimulus of racial mixture presents itself in a clear relation to the range and quality of their social the West Indies as the reflex of frequently defensive irony. ! experience, In the West Indies it is impossible to evoke an What he confronts as an artist is not so much the imposed i equivalence of texture. There are for example a number and as brutalking handicap of colonialism the absence of I of shared middle class habits in the Weat Indies, a number positive cultural resources. The distinction here may seem of shared assumptions about behaviour and about personal illusory-the one is the inevitable consequence of the relations. But they do not constitute a moral or social style. other. But I am at the moment more concerned with the I Social comedy, or comedy of manners, is virtually im- role of artist than with the artist simply as experiencing I possible, for it is an art which depends on a subtle aware agent. For instance, I can think of no West Indian writer nem both of shades of surface and of implications. In i who has presented as impressive a sense of the destructive, 1 the West Indies the texture is too thin and in any case the predatory nature of colonialism as has Conrad. One re- I determining factors tend to be those of colour and aftlu- members the warship shelling Africa in Heurt of Durknesa j ence. I have often found in classes (to supply an instance and the account of the operations in the mines. As a person from poetry) that one of the great difEdties in teaching the West Indian writer is an inextricable participant in the Dryden and Pope is the inability of the students to grasp experience of his society and the experience of his society in ' the signScance in their satire of theiu relation with their not simply one of prolonged inhumanity. It is also the wn- audience. The confidence which springs from a relation ! templation of barrenness, of a context as negative as of shared assumption, the economy of effect that comes Mr. Forster's Marabar Caves. It isn't simply a matter of, from an instantaneous taking of point and intention On for example, Conrad's obvious superiority to any contem- 1I the part of an audience more or less trained to do it, do porary West Indian writer. It is a matter also, exile though not emerge very clearly in a society which hasn't that kind he was, of the richer possibilities of Conrad's culturd of confidence in itself and has nothing even faintly resem- circumstances, the prompt availability to hiof tradition bling the inescapable social background of so much English and achievement. literature. Consequently Dryden is ohjudged as shallow. I 288 The West Indian Novelist W. I. Carr 289 and Pope is seen as inhibited and in some obscure way as missionary gatherings designed to "explain" your society "unpoetic." Byron obtains a more favourabie response, but and its cultural unfdarities. then Byron makes so many strenuous claims on behalf of It is very easy to be facetious or uncharitable about himself. this problem. But there can be few West Indian writers I think the representative social experience of the West who have not experienced it in one form or another. The Indian novelist (once he has realised for himself that he small, eager literary group that genuiaely means well but is a writer) can be generalised as follows. He is a kind of soon freezes in its assumptions; the societies which have a Messianic spokesman (when he is taken seriously). He vague w~exionwith International PEN; the reviews must speak for a nexus of claims and aspirations of which appear (occasionally) in the local newspapers. This which he is still himself a part. It might seem easy to is where you are likely to have started from and you pm argue that all he need do to free himself is saturate him- , serve for it an inevitable nostalgia for early &ty, for self in the 05cially attested exuberance of his society, your introduction to a world where the terms were known, and r&t the vitality of its behaviour ("an exciting racial while at the same time you recognise that your ~tial complex"). Some writers have in fact surrendered to this wmmitment is to something larger and more spacious- temptation and the fictive results are depressing. They be and something which ia bound to entail your suffering. wme purveyors of the self-co~~sciouslyexotic, the vendors You will know that the people who helped you will never of an immature, merely picaresque irony that at times undergo the sense of loss and hope and achievement that The can barely be distioguisbed from mere unintelligence, and ' will be yours. pleasures of exile, to borrow George Lamming's phrase be, for them, little more than a form will have their place in the historiography of West Indian ' will of spiritual tourism. You will encounter them again at writing insofar as they illuminate the problems by the very ' parties on the occasions when you return and you will fullness of their failure. It isn't hard to see why this should ! probably find it difficult to understaod what they are ta&- happen. If you are trying to write in the West Indies you i ing about. are in a curiously exposed position. You will habitually win I This is a familiar prelude to the experience of the West uninspired and ill-directed national literary competitions ' Indian writer and its source is not provincial amateurism (conspiracies of manufactured enthusiasm on behalf of 1 but the legitimate and hungry need for a solid context of "the arts"). Schools will demand your frequent (and vol- I endeavour. Hawthorne, after all, did have his ancestors. untary) efforts. Friends will lean on your perceptions, i The West Indian writer has only the disparate fragments you will find yourself invited to be an empanelled judge I of his own and his society's experience and an immense on subjects often outside your competence. You will find I burden of responsibility that is not the necessary lot of the yourself the centre of a constricted world. Few societies, artist At the same time his own society is not likely to I would imagine, require a more conscientious effort to welcome his work. It might want to but it doesn't know preserve what you regard as the integrity of your talent how to. His work has the occasional and partisan support Your experience will become a kind of battery unit for the of government. If the writer himself has the appropriate experience of other people. You dread (or you ought to) social contacts he might be accorded a warm sense of be- the possibility of becoming a veranda lion, a party sage. longing. But the real terms of comprehension and dialogue Finally, you quit your island and make your way to Europe do not exist. The writer, for example, at public meetings though even there you are likely to become involved in is Wrely to be asked to comment on the extent to which \i

290 The West Indian Novelist j W. I. Caw 291 he is West Indian. Because the West Indies is not merely / that the societies they separately describe are shut off from in a tragic sense isolated from world history-it is also any larger, more coherent world. The experience of their isolated from world literature. It easily supposes, for ex- observed people has the suggestion of a password-a means ample, that local writing is calculatedly vicious and de- of initiation and a means of exclusion. Neither Lamming's praved. It confuses satire with sarcasm and supposes that i Barbadian villagers, nor Naipaul's horribly trapped East irony is another name for patronage. It is willing to ba i Indians are as remote in circumstance and implication as lieve that its writers, especially those long resident abroad. ' the two writers are probably willing to believe. Lamming's are engaged in some form of conspiratorial treachery with 8 people are sensually aware that their experience should English reviewers and publishers. It is likely to endorse the I not end in itself. Naipaul's are compulsively hiding the keys work of those writers who either endorse the clichC of a to their own prisons. They meet in their need to make a fifth form taste for romantic poetry, or who offer their : whole out of a heap of fragments. The chief characters writing as a weapon in an ill-understood political confXct I try to survive under conditions of grotesque underprivilege Significantly the only important ironist the West Indies has j and are therefore obliged to make a paradigm out of the yet produced, V. S. Naipaul, appears to have taken up per- ; jetsam of what is available-and all of them make the mis- manent residence in England and has refused to be identi- : take of equating what is available to them with what is fied as a West Indian writer. And Naipaul's irony is often available. Both writers have their own kinds of awareness elaborately defensive. ' of this and the ditference between them is the quality of Within the society itself there is no coherent class struc : Naipaul's obseNant and compassionate irony and Lam- ture with a fertilisiig mobility. There are simply the Magi- : ming's inability to decide whether he is an artist or a pro- not lines of colour or auence; and behind those lines bation officer. The meaningful resonance of an expression the self-conscious groups of intellectuals. The only West like "My mother who fathered me" (from Lamming's Indian novel which provides an analysis in depth of a book) in the West Indies itself does not have the kind of society is Phyllis AUfrey's The Orchid House. The novel spontaneous momentum that communicates in a different is set in Dominica, a society frozen into its past. With rich : world. Sociologists in England, observing the mores of an and careful nostalgia, and a penetrating but unobtrusive 1 immigrant population, may suppose they have grasped it. symbolism, Mrs. Allfrey establishes the society and the Their evidence is likely to be drawn from the priggishness attempt of three young people both to understand it and I of the English working class with whom the immigrants break away from it. In political terms her society supplies i mainly come into contact. But the meaning of the expres- the means of its own betrayal. And the meaning of her j sion in the West Indies, and its incorrigible effect upon three central characters is only available to them abroad. j human relations, is a different matter. Insofar as the field It is true that after George Lamming's first novel, or I.of the novelist is human relations this may help to ex- after V. S. Naipaul's A House for Mr. Biswas, an assertion i plan why the bulk of West Indian readers are so will'ing of this kind is open to responsible challenge. Both these / to feel that the local writer's treatment of sexual relations writers, it can be decently argued, depict a society. George is merely profane. The readership resents (or encourages i Lamming, in fact, has even argued that the essential West i for the wrong reasons) any careful examination of its own Indian writer is Samuel Selvon, the master of the "peasant ' cultural patterns. It is hardly surprising then that Naipaul's image." But what both Lamming and Naipaul have in I predominant mode is irony and that he should prefer to common, unlikely though the comparison may seem, is ' see himself as an English writer. In a general way his po- l 292 The West Indian Novelist ' W. 1. Carr 293 sition and viewpoint are easily understandable-especially book-a book still canonised on library shelves, still prof- when one remembers again the amount of West Indian fered to occasional enquirers after "What has been written writing that is produced abroad. But it is possible, and this on West Indian writing." For anyone who has read the is one of the ironies of this kind of colonial writing that he best West Indian writen in any bulk the inutility of a has not acknowledged (recognition is another matter) the volume on Jamaican writing is obvious. Two Jamaican dual role that is forced upon his fellow writers. novelists were in fact ignored and so necessarily was every Novelists in the West Indies lack the confidence of a cul- other West Indian writer. Yet in the same weekly review ture either metropolitan or tribal. They are driven to a in 1940 two other Jamaican artists were contesting pre- degree of explanatory matter that is not imposed upon cisely the assumptions that dominate A Literature in the the inhabitants of an old and settled culture. Much of the Making. One artist, the novelist Roger Mais, argues that naivete of dialogue in West Indian novels can be accounted ! if you are reading Shakespeare in the twentieth century for thus, and also much of the naivete. of English review- with the extravagant ambition of using him as an example, er's reaction to West Indian writing. They must illustrate ' in practice, you try and understand the nature of Shake- before they can try to explain. This is not because their , speare's originality. You do not imitate the varieties of experience is unfamiliar or "exotic" but because the time 1 technique-absurdities are bound to follow. In experienc- and the confidence necessary to create a view of life which I ing the effect of a major writer, the argument ran, you is at the same time new and attested do not yet exist Nai- try to understand the quality of his enterprise within his paul, it would seem, has abdicated from even the pos- . context. The West Indies is probably one of tbe few socie- sibility of an eventual tradition of West Indian writing. I ties in the world where this kind of discussion can take He is also, in my view, the most gifted novelist in the Brit- place (it stiU does). The enduring meanings of quality and ish Caribbean. A kind of logic therefore seems obvious: stature do not decide themselves, but they are more easily flight is an enduring guarantee of talent stabllised in societies where the business of dehition is an It is plain, however, that talent cannot be measured as i act of imagination. In societies where they have not simply some kind of abstract possession. The simple fact of pub- I a merent meaning but virtually no meaning at all beyond lication presupposes nothing but a share in royalties. There their insisted application to class and colour, the procevl are no writers that one does not try to evaluate in terms of humane evaluation is bound to appear more naive. of their grasp of and interpretation of the circumstances 1 In other words the examination of a colonial literature 111, they come out of. And thew circumstances are often entails initially the comparison of possibility with possibil- created by earlier writers. For instance, in 1956, a smau I ity, of understanding with the materials that prompt and volume called A Literature in the Making was published i assist it, not value contrasted with value. For value shifts in Jamaica It was written by a poet and litterateur who had 1 as societies change. . . . The challenge of West Indian been ceremonially crowned in a local theatre as the Poet , writing, then, is not that of deciding whether George Laureate of the island. His own verse is largely pseudo- 1 Lamming is turgid or whether Iohn Hearne writes about Wordsworthian and his judgments can command no seri- 1 tbe wrong people. The critical question, to begin with, is ous respect. The point is that eighteen years before a series whether their writing is faithful to the reality they suppose of articles by the same writer had appeared in a newly- themselves to depict. It is not a question of special cate- founded Jamaican weekly review and with effectively no i gories. To create them is to recreate in a metaphysical revision they make up the substance of the abovementioned j form the original conditions. What is required is a fresh I 294 The West Indian Novelist understanding of the social and personal conditions of writers." As this was what I had regarded the writers tbem- value terms so that an endu~gand available meaning selves as being I was puzzled until I recollected that they can be created. were addressing a University audience. The existence of a The point calls for stress insofar as the chief themes of local University, distributed among three islands with ad- West Indian writing are easily forecast Though in putting ditional local Extra-Mural centres, is a guarantee of a de it this way I might seem to be aMihilating the relevant gree of local meaning, of local confidence. It is hard to core of what I want to say. The themes are "easily fore- imagine the situation before (say) 1952. Only one sig- cast" in that writers in a colonial or excolonial situation i nificant talent has yet come out of the University, but my are going to be selfconsciously concerned with questions ; point at the moment is that its existence eliminates the i ! about themselves and their experience that arise atnost i need for an indefinite sequence of "pioneers." Graduates spontaneously out of the moral and political pressures : will continue to go abroad, but their experience will not ; be the same as that of their predecessors. They will have ! of their communities. I say "almost spontaneously" be : r cause the writer will usually hdhimself in advance of the ; an official framework for their intent And in the West , . Indies, in the absence both of a tribal structure and a con- i i habituated assumption of the mercantile, professional and plantocratic classes upon whom responsibility will be ceptlon of manners, visible frameworks, visible meanings, I j imposed after the departure of the British. The local writer ! even if they happen to be official ones, are important. The is naturally likely to insist that what he is really concerned 1 experience of "abroad" will remain crucially significant sense 1 with is a particular problem in human relationships. If his I but the graduate will never have the of poignant , . I, claim to be a novelist has any just meaning, then of course isolation which in large measure entitles people who are ., 1 still under forty to regard themselves as a special genaa- !! 1 he is. But he cannot disengage his problem from its par- ticular context-and its context is not just hi society, it is j tion. the degree of his comprehension of it. This is perhaps the i The other sense in which essential themes are easily major problem that confronts the colonial writer. Unless i forecast is harder to define clearly. To begin with one is the novelist is speaking to his immediate contemporaries, i faced with problems of cultural impoverishment and fail- which in the West Indies itself is hardly yet possible, he / ures in personal sensibility that cannot easily be separated. must make wmon meaning out of experience which is I And the precise point at which one is a consequence of peculiar and local. Let me suggest a relevant instance. the other requires very careful examination. In colonial 'Time," in a colony nearing independence, or recently be- / societies in particular terms which do have genuine mean- come independent, moves at an accelerated pace, at least I ing are easily demoted into slogans. The slogans can be for the intellectual and the artist. The emotional context in 1 embodied with more than a huckster's assertion, but it is which the writer is working will alter far more swiftly and j fatally simple for experience of a special order to do easy dramatically than would be possible in Europe-r in Amer- and ready substitute for a mature grasp of the experience ica unless you happen to be a negro. The writer may be in / itself. Exasperated Englishmen in the West Indies have voluntary exile, and he may find his territory independent, often said to me, "This business of the search for an and for bhthese two experiences are not dissimilar. His identity-it becomes a sort of tarpaulin ctich6 for anything sense of the dramatic possibilities of experience will radi- I anybody thinks they feel. or ought to feel." Naturally. If cally alter. At least twice in Jamaica alone I have heard two these are merely provisional terms for definition in societies writen (both of them under forty) refer to the "younger i which have for so long been without them, then the charla- 296 The West Indian Novelist tan has a hopeful future. In the main the society lacks large concession to patronage and to an irritating kind of both the time and the inclination to make sharp discrimina- tolerance. And neither of these can be of any advantage tions within and about itself. And when, as an English- to a nascent literature. But I think that I am really anxious man, you are faced with what you judge to be a totally to direct attention towards a special kind of mculty. fraudulent reputation your task is not an easy one. You A novelist like James Baldwin, for example, can annexe can indulge in an unwitting cruelty simply because you himself to a creative tradition that has nothing as such to fail to understand that the inability to make a true imagina- do with the intimate and challenging problem of being a tive comment on the part of this or that writer may be the negro in a society marked by barely credible lack of privi- consequence of a complex of citcumatances that you your- lege. Indeed, the tradition deepens its fictive possibilities. self profoundly deplore. The failure is not necessarily the To the extent to which Baldwin can grasp and use the result of imaginative coarseness or emotional insincerity. experience of earlier American writers he is better able to In locating what you regard simply as a failure in sensi- record hi understanding, as an artist, of the tragedy of bility you may be dealing with the historical and emotional his people. This comes out very forcibly in the essay in conditions which help to make the failure inevitable. After Notes of a Native Son in which he describes his visit to a all, what about the writers you really think are saying conference of African writers held in Paris. He felt him- something important? self to be an American-perhaps in spite of the acrid No doubt I seem to be contradicting myself, or raising ironies that must attend that conviction in America itself. a previous issue, or possibly both. The issue is not so much The West Indian writer, living in a society which by official about what is cheap and fraudulent and what is not-it is intention and in some measure by practice gives the black never so very hard to make up one's mind about that man a dignity which is not available to him in America, The issue is about the experience which underlies difIerent is culturally far worse off. It seems clear, then, that ques- kinds of failure, and the varying capacities of individual tions of "value" must not be watered down to suit colonial understanding. There is, for instance, a Jamaican novel convenience. There is an original problem. which consists of little more than invective, illuminated Another predictable theme in West Indian writing is by temporary moments of compassionate understanding. wlour and the scale of prejudices which go with it. And These moments need to be carefully distinguished from in the main, the fictive treatment of colour by the local self-pity, for to be black is not to be automatically welcome novelist is disappointing. I mean simply that too much fic- in the West Indies. But the novel seems to me to be di- tion is either manifestly bad, or merely states the self- rected almost entirely by a naive, retributive malice rather evident. It is true that the West neither has, nor probably than by any creative desire to explore the context and the needs, a novelist like James Baldwin. But whereas in Bald- pressure of humiliation and underprivilege. Though the win's case it can be responsibly argued that his experience West Indian novelist has little more to fall back on than as a negm gives him an original kind of awareness there purely subjective reactions, highly vulnerable to the imme- is no West Indian novelist with an equivalence in sensi- diate pressures of local insistence, without the helpful per- bility. The quality of British colonialism is in important spectives that a larger wddence can supply. Irony and measure to blame for this. It is not the instinct of the Brit- satire, as I have said, have an air of the abnormal in the ish to share their identity with the societies they either West Indies. take over or invent. The British impose a degree of mod- In putting it this way I must appear to be making a erately efficient bureaucracy, instil some convictions about 1 298 The West Indian Novelist W. 1. Carr 299 law, and leave it at that. They do not attempt to persuade , factitious quest for origins, and partly because of emphatic the colonial that he has a place, that he has significant 1 recourse to clichC. A number of writers indulge in membership within, the metropolitan culture. (It took the I what can only he described as anthropological assertion British working class long enough to inform its rulers that with nothing behind but the limit of possibility. The sym- it had a right to the implications of Civis Brittanicus Sum. , bolic integrity of, for example, V. S. Reid's The Leopard In fact it took it so long that it constitutes a major impedi- 1 makes novels like Sylvia Wynter's The Hills of Hebron or ment in racial understanding now.) This kind of institu- 1 Frank Hercules' Where the Hummingbird Flies look like tionalised impoverishment is immensely exacerbated in the prescribed fantasies. When we are told that simple Jamai- West Indies-a society whose original inhabitants have can cultists feel the historical loss of the spear and the coal- almost entirely disappeared to he replaced by enforced pot, the developed ritual of West African tribal Lie, we expatriates, i.e. slaves and their descendants and those oc- are dealing finally with the author's subjective require casional beneficiaries of the termination of slavery, the In- ' ments and not with the rewarding detail of genuine dians and the Chinese. No other complex of societies I observation. It is clearly dangerous for an Englishman to for which the British have heen responsible can offer offer strong disagreement with the implications of this kind equivalent experience. It is not simply the fact of oppres- I of manufactured background. But my point is that the sion, nor of an induced sense of inferiority. The means of background is little more than a circle of stage 6re. It is cultural definition were never encouraged to exist. They 1 emotional decor rather than the felt substance of experi- were never felt to be necessary. Some of the consequences ence. And at the level of sociological observation it hardly of this are predictable. Jamaica, for instance, is making ' fits the facts of Jamaican cultist behaviour. We are dealing a fairly sustained attempt, with the encouragement of Gov- here with an enduring irony in the context of West Indian ernment, to discover the culture of the Arawak Indians writing-the tendency of history to rearrange itself at the who were the original inhabitants of the island. But the behest of whim and limitation. Talent alone is insufficient enterprise is necessarily factitious partly hecause the Ara- when the society itself lacks the advantage of a traditional waks, as far as is known a simple, gentle people, were ex- coherence. There is not even an agreed matrix-desperate tirpated entirely by the colonial masters, and partly be- loyalties exist among the writen themselves. It is therefore cause there is nobody in Jamaica who can claim anything ; easy for the writer to take refuge in illicit inventions about more than a museum relationship with the Arawaks. The experience, fantasies which gain a degree of legitimate cur- : meaningEd legacies in Jamaica's history are the slave rency because of the density of unspoken aspiration which chains and the mantraps prese~edio the Folk Museum. 1 lies behind them. This is not a healthy situation for the v Arawak remains, as so far uncovered, amount to little production of a literature and it seems reasonable to sup more than burial pits and refuse dumps. These are pre- I pose that permanently major talent in West Indian writing , sumably of some interest to the archaeologist but they are will consolidate itself on the debris of ephemeral reputa- hardly suflicient for an original cultural re-orientation and I tions. definition. On the other hand colour and the historical and 1 The basic challenge, then, confronting anyone who at- contemporary indecencies which go with it are essential tempts to comment on the achievement of West Indian facts of West Indian life. No writer can finally manage to fiction so far is to recognise an at least temporary am- avoid them. bivalence in the use of value judgments one had previously i And yet in a way they are avoided, partly because of a taken for granted. Or, if not an ambivalence, at least an 300 The West Indian Novelist elasticity of interpretation. This is partly a consequence of to be more or less indefinite. The comparative anonymity some of the circumstances I have attempted to describe, of English life can have the pull of a magnetic attraction. and partly a consequence of a reading of those arcum- Living in the West Indies is apt to have the effect a sunray stances. It doesn't mean that "value" must undergo a lamp might have on a lizard-you can bask in the glow process of tolerant adaptation. It means that we have &st without realsing that you are being shrivelled. The uses of to wme to terms with the available roots of value. One imagination, it would seem must be learnt abroad. In this parts company here with the experience and perception peculiar way the overlord culture can be forced to yield of Henry James-at any rate as an inevitable wmpanion up what it never supposed mattered in the West Indian scene. We have to realise that James was exceptionally well-endowed in ways that are not avail- able to the West Indian writer. This was partly a matter of James' own family background, but more importantly James could go to Europe and absorb himself in a culture which welcomed him, so to speak, in advance. The white American was never colonised imaginatively and James could meet (say) George Eliot, not as an equal perhaps but certainly as a fellow-practitioner. The West Indian writer, even when his verse is read in Dover Street, cannot do this. George Lamming's account (in The Plemres of Exile) of a literary evening with the ICA reads rather like a deliberate refusal to indulge in special pleading, and therefore it is a mode of special pleading. But at least it gets across a reaction which is both understandable and valid James never manifests that curions blend of self- complacence and inferiority. The West Indian has not so much been taught to feel inferior. Simply, it was the at- mosphere in which he and his people were born and developed In England he js apt to be haunted by a con- sciousness that addresses him in dissonant accents. More is at stake for him than his role as artist; who he is and what he looks like are enforced roles. He will not be ex- plicit about this in his own temtory-at least not if he in- tends to remain in it He is much more likely to cohabit with the reiterated slogans that make up its political life that emanate from its centres of power. Or he will dom- inate the small, selfconscious network of middle class per- sonal relations that abound in a small society. This is one of the reasons, in fact, why the pleasures of exile are likely Meanings Derek Walcott

The problems of West Indian creativity are set forth in My mother, who was a school-teacher, took part in ama- concrete detail by the St. Lucian poet-playwright ~~r&teur theatre. My father was a civil 8want. but also Wrote Walcott. He explores his own erowth toward seEex~ression verse and was an excellent drau&tsman. He was also a - in the context of middle-class life in a small .-----colonial good portrait painter in wateralour. Our how was society dominated by complacent philistinism-a social haunted by his absence because all around the drawing environment deadening to creativity. Yet, for him, the room there were his water-colowr and wateralour por- , traits. He had a meticulous style with an innate hdW. West Indies pmvide sources of strength as well: vivid , as if he were a perpetual H~ must have pbfted his and strongly marked physical landscapes, insular self- , own &velopment cueully, proceeding from drawing to containment enriched by an awareness of an entire , m1-bodied Daintinn when &ath intermpted it. He died -- .--- archipelago, a pewasive sense of elemental mysteries, a I quite In situation I thini he would have penchant for the mythic and fabulous, all overlaid and been an &t, He evidently bad a great influence on his energized by familiarity with the world's great classics, rein- ' friends. One of them, under whom I later studied painting, terpreted in local terms. Walcott sees the exuberant in- went on to become a professional painter. 1 have an im- dulgence and sheer physical expressiveness that stem from mense respect, in fact, an awe, for that kind of spiritual these and other West Indian circumstances as contributbg strength; I mean here was this circle of seIftiv*g, COW- to both the strengths and the defects of west =dim artistic teous people in a poveq-ridden, weUy ignored colony creativity. 1 living by their own certainties. So to begin as a poet was, for me, a direct inheritance. It was natural. I feel that I have simply continued where my father left off. Born in St. Lucia and now resident in Trinidad, DWK , I back as far as rhis because it is almost death to the WALCO~has captured many West Indian moods in his : spirit to try to survive as an under colonial condi- drama and Poetry. His best-known plays include Malcnu- ! tions. which haven't really changed with our independent chon and The Dream on Monkey Mountain; much of his The fall-out rate among artists and actors, verse is collected in The Castaways and Other Poems and / Savacou, No. *, 1970, pp. 45-51. permis- In a Green Night. / sion of the author and Savacou. 304 Meanings Derek Walcott in fact, all creative people, is considerable. They either detailed psychology of character so much as a mimetic abandon their talents or emigrate, which is the same thing power, in the dance parthhly. I had a company in mind I really became involved in theatre when my brother who would be both dancers and actors . . . a dance com- suggested I write a play about the Haitian revolution. He pany mixed with an acting company. Then the Little Carib had read a book about it and gotten excited. So I said. and the workshop separated, so what happened was that all right, I'll try one, and I wrote a play, Henri Chrbtophe. an actor had to try to be a dancer. Thii was in Saint Lucia, where I was still living. We formed Sooner or later, I had to decide whether to go back to a group there ded The Arts Guild-mainly school-boys, the West Indies at all. Luckily, my brother was still with and we performed this play. Then I began to write more The Arts Guild They went to Trinidad, and he asked me if plays for them. We performed them in Castries, my home I would come and help him, so I went down there. I used town; the whole island's population must be about eighty it as an excuse. I didn't 6uk.h my Fellowship. I was very thousand. The plays may have been seen by a few hundred tired and was feeling very depressed about New York people in aII. But The Arts Guild still exists. My twin theatre and about any chance I might have of ever doing brother, who also writes plays, continued it. At the uni- anything there. Plus, of course, at that time in '58, plays versity in Jamaica, we formed another group. Then I got about the West Indies, a black actors-well, there wasn't a Rockefeller Fellowship to go to America in '58. much of a chance of getting anything going. There was no While I was in America I was supposed to study scene such thing in New York as a company of black actors. So design as well as directing, hut because I was so isolated I went back to Trinidad and began the Trinidad Theatre I felt very alone in the United States. I knew I did not want Workshop. Most of the people who came to tbis Company what was going on. Not on Broadway, but in a way, not had some experience in amateur theatre or with other off-Broadway as well. I think the pressure of that loneli- companies in Trinidad. But we began very modestly. I ness made me realize I had to do something which was true didn't do any work on production at first. Having gone to the kind of company I wanted to have. I used to go to through the American experience of seeing improvisations Jose Quinter6's classes and to the Phoenix Theatre. and directing, watching American actors and 'the method'. The first real experience I had of writing a stylized West I knew that initially I had to get discipline. I had to work Indian play was in New York. It was a West Indian fable for three or four years doing improvisations, letting the called Ti-lean and His Brothers. For the first time I used actors lead themselves with all of us exploring together I songs and dances and a narrator in a text. That was the before we finally could put on a play. It was seven years I fastest play I'd ever written. I wrote it on my first trip to before we really decided we were fit to produce something. I New York-before I got the Rockefeller-in four or five We chose two very modest plays-modest in scale: The days. It astonished me. I probably wrote the damned thing Zoo Stay and The Sea At Dauphin, a play I had Written

Ii because I was afraid to go out. Out of that play, I knew earlier about a fisherman. what I wanted. When the improvisations began, I saw that them was I Then I came back from New York to take up the Fel- something extra about the West Indian because of the way lowship and I began to study Japanese films. I had seen he is so visibly, physically selfexpressive. If that were com- i the dancers of the Little Carib Company in Trinidad and I bined with the whole self-annihilating process of who you I felt that what would spring from our theatre need not be a are and what you're doing, which you get from metbod literary thing-not the word, not the psychology-not Lhe acting-if those two were fused together, you could get a 306 Meanings Derek Walcolt 307 ter~scstyle. So that's what we aimed at. And once im- plays. Now, a strange thing happened: I had a prepared provisations began to go well, then I would know in what text, but there was one figure at the back of my mind, a direction the wmpany could move. So I was after . . . and death 6gure from Haitian mythology, that wasn't dt- am still after . . . a theatre where someone can do Shake- ten in. There was an actor, Albert Le Veau, who had just speare or sing Calypso with equal conviction. finished doing The Zoo Story and Dauphin We were going In 1966, we did our first production in a very small on tour, but there was no part in it for him. So I worked abandoned bar called The Basement Theatre. We only had in the figure from the center of the play's design, and the seats for sixty people. We thought we would just be on part radiated through the whole text-the part of Basil. I for two nights, but we went on for a week. We were think that this figure tightened, webbed its structure. It's amazed. Tbe response was so good that we decided that one of the beautiful accidents that can happen when you we were now a producing company, and we put on other have a good wmpany. West Indian plays which got equally good report. The Ow sin in West Indian art is the sin of exuberance, of theatre itself was very crude: a platform very loosely made self-indulgence, and I wanted to impose a theatre that ob- and some lights. Then we put on our first repertory season, served certain rules. The use of choruses rrq& precise which ran successfully for 26 nights. We did The Blacks, measure; the use of narration required precise mime. and a West Indian play called Belle Fanto, and The Road 1 There was one dance step that, when it was arrested, by Soyinka. By that time the actors were working very seemed to be exactly what I wanted-powerful, didf hard-working by day at eight-to-live jobs and coming back precise. It came out of the bongo-dance. It is a male chal- at night to perform. So there is a terrific energy that exists lenge dance played at wakes, obviously derived from war- in the Company. rior games, and I saw in that moment the discipline of From then on we began to do a lot of plays. I can't arrest, of revelation from which a mimetic namtive power remember them all now. I try to keep a balance in could spring like some of the mies in Japanese theatre. the repertory between classic or great contemporary plays Ruthermore, I do a lot of drawing for my playa In fact. and West Indian material. There are things I want to do, I visualize them completely in terms of costume and stag- but not yet. Eventually, we are going to do some kind of ing, even certain group formations, before I go into pro- Shakespeare, but it must have its own style-not just exotic. duction and while I am writing the play. In New York, I I am talking about a real, true style-true to our own ex- came to the Chinese and Japanese cIassic theatre through perience. It would be very cheap to do certain things-a Brech+ I began to go to the texts themselves and, because black Hamlet-just for that kind of effect. I know I have a I draw, I used to look very carefully at the woodcuts of good Hamlet in the Company, but I don't want that kind Hokusai and Huoshige. There was then a very strong pop I of thing. ular interest in Japanese cinema-in K~~awa.and fib18 At this time, I began to revive my own plays because I such as Ugetsu, Gate of Hell, Rarhomn, etc. I had writ- now had the company to express them. The Dream On ten one play which was derivative of Rashomon, called Monkey Mountain, for example, I had begun in the States Mnlc(u~chon.It was the story of a woodcutter and people in '59. We were going on tow; we had just wmpleted our gathered togaher under a hut. 'This was a deliberate imi- first repertory season and needed a new play. I remember 1 tation, but it was one of those informing imitatioos that I wmte the second ad very rapidly because we had to have ' gave me a direction because I could see in the linear a play, and I aIways fiddle around a long time with my 6 shapes, in the geography, in the sort of myth and super- 308 Meanings Derek Walcott 309 stition of the Japanese, correspondences to our own for- dancers. They can do dances which are spontaneous yet ests and mythology. I also wanted to use the same type of precise and have more to do with acting than with dance. figure found in tbis material, a type essential to our own Any one of them in the Company, for instance, can do a mythology. A woodcutter or charcoal burner. bongo step, and the bongo step was the step which, as I To me, this figure represented the most isolated, most said, crystallized the kind of movement I was after; it is a reduced, race-wntaining symbol. In addition. I have my kind of Russian thing, low-stepping, leg-crossed, and it's own associations of our forests, of rain, of mists, plus of just one of those associations that generated a style for me. course, the inherent violence or despair in a person of The bongo is a wake dance, a spiritual celebration at that type-the mad woodcutter. In the kind of play I wanted death of the triumph over death. I suppose two warriors to do, it was natural to have someone who was nmating would challenge each other to divert the attendant griev- the text since, in a sense, that is Oriental as well as African. ing people from the death. It is a very foot-asserting, earth- What I wanted to do was reduce the play almost to an asserting, lifeasserting dance in contradiction of the grief inarticulateness of language. I would like to have had a that has happened through the death. In that dance, when play made up of grunts and sounds which you don't under- the legs are crossed, and the dancer is arrested for a sec- stand, like you hear at a Japanese film. The words would ond, there is all the male strength that I think has been be reduced to very primal sounds. absent for a long time in Western theatre. The emphasis But in writing the play another more literary tradition is on virility. This ancient idea of the ador in a theatre took over. so that I made the figures voluble. In a sense, I where women are not allowed to take part or are unin- feel that is still what I am going after. I am a kind of split terested was true of colonial society in the West Indies writer: I have one tradition inside me going in one way, and in Africa, whether in Soyinka's Company or in mine. and another tradition going another. The mimetic, the nar- . Very few women took part in our theatre when we be- rative, and dance element is strong on one side, and the gan, so initially all of our plays had more male characters literary, the classical tradition is strong on the other. than women. Still, it's good. I think that in a theatre where In The Dream On Monkey Mountain, I tried to fuse you have a strong male principle, or where women aren't them, but I am still after a kind of play that is essential involved at the beginning, a kiad of style will happen; and spare the same way woodcuts are clean, that dances there will be violence, there will be direct conflict, there will are clean, and that Japanese cinema is so compressed that be more physical theatre and there will be less interest in gesture does the same thing as speech. That is where our sexual psychology. From this step, the bongo step-came a kind of con%ict is rich. I think the pressure of those two , private mythology associated with the warrior-figure& contlicts is going to create a verbally rich literature, as weU African warrior, or the Japanese samurai. In that sense, it as a mimetic style. This happens in Wole Soyinka. It hap is more like early medieval plays or early Shakespeare plays pens as well in the kind of plays that we are writing at where the conflict is always a male conEict home. This is in some part affected by our being an island cul- When we first did Monkey Mountain, I told the actors ture. I think that an archipelago, whether Greek or West exactly what I was after. It was easy to communicate with Indian, is bound to be a fertile area, particularly if it is a them because I knew what was being generated in the bridge between continents, and a variety of people settle actors' minds. All of these actors move well. They don't there. In the West Indies, there are all these conditions- dance in the ballet or modem idiom; they are not abstract , the Indian heritage, the Mediterranean, the Lebanese and 310 Meanings Derek Wdcott Chinese, etc. I don't want to look too far ahead, but I would come down the street on a Saturday when he got think there will be a playwright coming out of the Indian paid and let out an immense roar that would terrify all the experience and one out of the Chinese experience; each children in the street. When we heard him coming we all will isolate what is true to his own tradition. When these bolted, because he was like a baboon. He is still alive. things happen in an island culture a fantastic physical and there is no terror anymore-except in the back of my theatre will emerge because the forces that dect that com- mind. This was a degraded man, but he had some ele- munal search will use. physical expression through dance, mental force in him that is still terrifying; in another so- through the Indian dance and through Chinese dance, ciety he would have been a warrior. through African dance. When these things happen, plus There is another strange thing for me about the island all the cross-fertdhtion-the normal sociology of the place of Saint Lucia; its whole topography is weird-very conical, -then a true and very terrifying West Indian theatre will with volcanic mountains and such-giving rise to all sorts come. It's going to he. so physically strong as to he. some- of superstitions. Rather like what Ireland was for Yeats thing that has never happened before. and the early Irish poets-another insular culture. On any island, when the night comes in-and it's true Whether you wanted to accept them or not, the earth for the Japanese peasantry too-we gather around the emanated influences which you could either put down as story-teller, and the tradition is revived. A style is also folk superstition or, as a poet, accept as a possible truth. emerging, because you've got the story-teller at the lire, I think that is why a lot of my plays remain set in Saint and you've got the hero whose quest is never done. Thie Lucia, because there is a mystery there that is with me quest figure, who is a warrior, a knight, endures experi- from childhood, that surrounds the whole feeling of the ences that resolve what he is. There is a geography which island There was, for example, a mountain covered with surrounds the story-teller, and this is made physical by mist and low clouds to which we gave the name of La things like mist or trees or whatever-mountains, snakes, Sorci&re, the witch. devils. Depending on how primal the geography is and Docs an island tradition impose limitations on a am- how fresh in the memory, the island is going to be invested pany such as ours7 This goes hack to the whole question in the mind of the child with a mythology which will come of provincial, or beyond that, colonial experience, and of out in whatever the child gmm up to re-tell. how we can broaden the base of the arts in the West In- In the West Indies, from a slave tradition adapted to the dies, and through that reach the larger audiences we environment, the slaves kept the strength of the stories should like. To me the only hope is in communal effort, about devils and gods and the cunning of certain figures, just as I think some form of socialism, evolved from our but what was missig in the folklore was a single heroic own political history, is the only hope for the archipelago. warrior figure. We had the cunning of certain types, repre- When people like me ask the state for subsidy, we aren't sentative of the slave outwitting his master, like Br'er Rab- asking the state to support the arts; we are informing the bit or Tar Baby, done in West Indian dialect state, which is as poor and as spiritually degraded as we My Makak comes from my own childhood. But there have been, of its true condition. The state is Wig asked to was no king, no tribal chief, no warrior for a model in share the condition of its artists, to recognize its experience. those stories. So the person I saw was this degraded, The indifference is the same as it was under colonialism, humble, lonely, isolated figure of the woodcutter. I can but without that charming, avuncular cynicism of the see him for what he is now, a brawling, ruddy drunk who British 312 Meanings Yet I feel absolutely no shame in having endured the colonial experience. There was no obvious humiliation in it. In fact, I think that many of what are sneered at as colonial values are part of the strength of the West Indian psyche, a fusion of formalism with exuberance, a delight in both the precision and the power of Ihguage. We love rhetoric, and this has created a style, a panache about life that is particularly ours. Our most tragic folk songs and SELECTED READINGS our most self-critical calypsos have a driving, life-asserting force. Combine that in our literature with a long experi- ence of classical forms and you're bound to have some- thing exhilarating. I've never consciously gone after this in my plays, nor do we go after this kind of folk- ACWORTH, A. w., Treasure in the Caribbean: A First Study exuberance deliberately in my theatre company. But in of Georgian Building in the British Wesf Indies, London. the best actors in the company you can see this astounding Pleiades Books, 1949. fusion ignite their style, this combination of classic dis- ~TT,LEONARD E., The Rastafarians: A Study in Me* cipline inherited through the language, with a strength of sianic Cultism in Jamaica (Caribbean Monograph Series. physical expression that comes from the folk music. No. 6). Rio Piedras, Institute of Caribbean Studies, Uni- It's probably the same in Nigeria with Wole Soyinka's versity of Puerto Rico, 1968. Company. It's the greatest bequest the Empire made. BENNETT, LOUISE, Jamaica Lobrish, Jamaica. Sangster'8 Those who sneer at what they call an awe of tradition Book Stores, 1966. forget how old the West Indian experience is. I think that BEROHE, PIERRE L. VAN DEN, Race and Racism: A Com- precisely because of their limitations our early education parative Perspective, New York, John Wdey, 1967. must have ranked with the best in the world. The ground- CAMPBELL, A. A., St. Thomas Negroes: A Study of Perm* ing was rigid-latin, Greek, and the essential masterpieces, ality and Culture (Psychological Monographs, Vol. 55, but there was this elation of discovery. Shakespeare, Mar- No. 5), Washington, D.C., American Psychological AS- lowe, Horace, Vergil-these writers weren't jaded but im- sociation, 1943. mediate experiences. The atmosphere was competitive, assmu, P. o., Jamaica Talk: Three Hundred Years of creative. the English Longuage in Jmaica, London, Macmillan, It was cmel, but it created our literature. 1961. assmy, P. G., and LE PAGE, R B., Dictionary of Jamai- can English, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1967. C~SNRE, d,Cahier d'un retour au pays natal [19391, Paris, Prdsence Africaine, 1956. COLLYMOBE, PBWK A., Notes for a Glossary of Words and Phrases of Barbadian Dialect, Bridgetown, Barbadoq Advocate Press, 1955. COMITAS,LAMBROG, Caribbeana 1900-1965; A Topical 314 Selected Reading8 Selected Reading8 315

Bibliography, Seattle, University of Washington Press KESTELOOT, LILYAN, Aime' Cdsaire, Paris, Pierre Seghers. for the Research Institute for the Study of Man, 1968. 1962. CORZUiI, JACK, Splendeur et misdre: l'exotisme littdraire LAMMINO, QEORGE,The Pleasures of Exile, London, MI- aux Antilles (Groupe Universitaire de Recherches Inter- chael Joseph, 1960. Caraibes, Etudes et Documents, No. 2). Pointe-&Pitre, LEIRIS, MICHEL,Contacts de civilisations en Martinique et Guadeloupe, Centre d'Enseignement SupCrieur Litter- en Guadeloupe, Paris, UNESCO/Gallirnard, 1955. aire..- 1969. ~~. LE PAGE, R B., and DECAMP, DAVID, Jamaican Creole, Lon- COULTHARD, G. R., Race and Colour in Caribbean Litera- don, Madan, 1960. ture, London, Oxford University Press for the Institute LOWBNTHAL, mvm, West Indian Societies, London and of Race Relations 1962. New York, Oxford University Press for the Institute COURLANDER, WOLD, and BASTIEN, K~MY,Religion and of Race Relations and the American Geographical Politics in Haiti, Washington, D.C., Institute for Cross- Society, 1972. Cultural Research, 1966. MITTELHOLZER, EDOAR, A Swarthy Boy. London, Putnam. CRONON, EOMUND DAVID, Black Moses: The Story of Mar- 1963. cus Garvey and the Universal Negro Improvement As- -, With a Carib Eye, London, Secker and Warburg. sociation. Madison, University of Wisconsin Press, 1964. 1958. PANON, FRANTZ, Black Skin, White Masks, New York, NNPAUL, V. s., An Area of Darkness, London, Andre Grove Press, 1967. Deutsch, 1964. PERMOR, PATRICK LEIGH, The Traveller's Tree: A Journey -, The Middle Passage, London, Andre Deutsch, 1962. through the Caribbean Islands, New York, Harper, NETTLEFORD, REX M., ed., Manley and the New Jamaica: 1950. Selected Speeches and Writings 1938-1968, London, QORWN, SHIRLEY c., A Century of West Indian Educa- Longman Caribbean, 1971. tion: A Source Book, London, Longmaas, 1963. -, Mirror Mirror: Identity, Race and Protest in Ja- -, Reports and Repercusslorn in West Indian Educe- maica, Jamaica, William Collins and Sangster, 1970. tion, 1835-1933. London, Gi,1968; New York, In- NETIZEFORD, REX M. and HA YACONA,MARIA, Roots and ternational Publications Service, 1968. Rhythms: Jm'cds NatioMl Dance Theatre, London, HEARN. LAPCADIO, TWO Years in the French West Indies, Andre Deutsch, 1969; New York, W and Wan& 1970. New York, Harper and Brothers, 1923. OXAAL, WAR, Black Intellectuals Come to Power, Cambridge, J-, JANHEINTZ. A Bibliography of Neo-African Litera- Mass., Schenkman, 1968. ture from Africa, America, and the Caribbean, London, -, Race and Revolutionary Consciousness: A Docu- Andre Deutsch.. 1965.~-~. mentary Interpretation of the 1970 Black Power Revob JmEs, c. L. R., Beyond a Boundary, London, Hutchin- in Trinidad, Cambridge, Mass., Schenkman, 1971. son, 1963. PRICE-MARS, JEAN, Ainsi parla l'oncle: essas d'ethno- -, Party Politics in the West Indies, San Juan, Trini- graphie [1928], New York, Parapsychology Founda- dad, privately published, 1962. tion, 1954. JAYAWARDENA, CHANDRA, C0nfict and Solidarity in a Proceedings of the Conference on Creole Language Stud- Guimse Plantation, London, University of London, ies, London, Macmillan, 1961. Athlone Press, 1963; New York, Humanities Press, RAMCHAND, KENNETH,The West Indian Novel and Its 1963. Background, London, Faber and Faber, 1970; New KBRR, MADELINE,Perso~lity and Conflict in Jam'cn, York, Barnes and Noble, 1970. London, Collins, 1963. RUBIN, VERA, ad WVNLONI, -A, We Wish 10 Be Selected Readings Selected Readings 317 Looked Upon: A Study of the Aspirations of Youth BENNETT, ALVIN, God the Stonebreaker, London, Heine in a Developing Society, New York, Teachers College mann. 1964. Press, 1969. BRATHW~E,EDWARD, Islands, London and New York, SIMPSON, GEOROE EATON, Religious Cults of the Carib- Oxford University Press, 1969. bean: Trinidad, Jamaica, and Haiti (Caribbean Mono- -. Masks, London and New York, Oxford University graph Series, No. 7), Rio Piedras, Institute of Caribbean press, 1968. Studies, University of Puerto Rico, 1970. -, Rights of Passage, London and New York, Oxford INO OH AM, A. w., The Hero and the Crowd in a Colonial University Press. 1967. Polify, New Haven, Yale University Press, 1968. CAREW,JAN, Black Midas, London, Secker and Warburg. SMITH, M. 0.. Dark Puritan, Kingston, Department of 1958. Extra-Mural Studies, University of the West Indies, 1963. -, The Last Barbarian, London, Secker and Warburg, SMITH, M. G., AUGIER, ROY, and NETTLEPOBD, REX, The 1961. Ras Tafwi Movement in Kingston, Jamaica, Kingston, -, The Wild Cwst, London, Secker and Warburg, 1958. Institute of Social and Economic Research, University CARPENTIER, ALBJO. Exploswn in a Cathedral, Boston, Lit- of the West Indies, 1960. tle, Brown, 1962. SOBEIS, GARFIELD, and BARKER, J. S., editors, Cricket in CLARKE, AUSTIN and the Sun: A History of West Indies Cricket, London, c., Amongst Thistles Thorn, London. Heinemann, 1965. Arthur Barker, 1967. The Meeting Point, London, Heinemann, 1967. Trinidad Carnival Issue, Special number of Caribbean -, Quarterly, Vol. 4, Nos. 3 and 4, Jamaica and Trinidad, -, The Survivors of the Crossing, London, Heinemam, March-June, 1956. 1964. WULuMs, ERIC, Education in the British West Indies, New COULTHARD, G. R, editor. Caribbean Literature: An An- York, University Place Book Shop, 1968. thology, London, University of London Press, 1966; -, Inward Hunger: The Education of a Prime Minister, New York, International Publications Service, 1970. London, Andre Deutsch, 1969; Chicago, University of DAMAS, LBON-G.,Black-Lubel, Paris. Gallimard, 1956. Chicago Press, 1971. DAMORNE,O. R, editor, Cm'bbean Narrative: An Anthol- ogy of West Indian Writing, London, Heinemann Edu- cational Books, 1966. FICTION AND POETRY DAWES, NEVILLE, The ktEnchantment, London, Mac- Gibbon and Kee, 1960. ABRUMMs, PETER, This Island Now, London, Faber and WHRMAN,RICHARD, The Cross of Baron Samedi, Boston. Faber, 1966; New York, Macmillan, 1971. Houghton Mifain, 1958. ALLFREY, PHYLLIS S~AND, The Orchid House, London, DRAYTON, OEOFFREY, Christopher, London, Collins, 1959. t Constable, 1953. PERMOR,PATRICK LEIGH, The Violins of Saint-Jacques: A ANTHONY, MICEAEL,The Games Were Coming. London, Tale of the Antilles, New York, Harper & Brothers, 1 Andre Deutsch, 1963; Boston, Houghton MiBlin, 1968. -, Green Days by the River, London, Andre Deutsch, 1953. 1967; Boston, Houghton MiBlin, 1967. PIGUEROA, JOHN, editor, Caribbean Voices: An Anthology -, The Year in Son Fernando, London, Andre Deutsch, of West Indian Poetry, London, Evans Brothers, 1971. 1965; New York, Humanities Press, 1970. oLnswr, BDOUARD, La LCrorde, Paris, editions du Seuil, BARRETT, NATHAN,Burs of Adamant, New York, Fleet 1958. Publishing, 1966. -, Le quatri2me sihcle, Paris, editions du Seuil, 1964. Selected Readings Selected Readings 319 WS, WILSON, The Far Journey of Oudin, London, USHALL, PAULE, The Chosen Place, The Timeless Peo- Faber and Faber, 1961. ple, New York, Harcourt, Brace and World, 1969. London, Faber and Faber, 1964. -, Heartland, M~~NALD,w, The Humming-Bird Tree, London, Hehe- -, Palace of the Peacock, London, Faber and Paber, mann. 1969. 1960. MITTELHOLZBR, EDQNL, The Life and Death of Sylvia, Lon- HBARNE, JOHN, The Autumn Equinox, London. Faber and , don, Secker and Warburg, 1953. Faber, 1959; New York, Vanguard Press, 1970. -, A Morning at the Ome, London, Hogarth Press. -, Stranger at the Gate, London, Faber and Paber, 1950. 1956.-- .. . - Shadows Move Among Them, London, Peter Nevi& London, Faber and , -, Voices under the Window, 1952. Faber. 1955. MORars, JOHN (Moms Cargiu and John Heame), Fever HERCULES, PRANK, Where the Humming-bird Flies, New Grass, Jamaica, Collins and Sangster, 1969; New York, York, Harcourt, Brace and World, 1961. G. P. Putnam. 1969. The Independence Anthology of Jamaican Literature, N~AUL,SHNA, Fireflies, London, Andre Deutsch, 1970; Kingston, Arts Celebration Committee of the Minii New York, Alfred A. Knopf. 1971. of Development and Welfare, 1962. NNPAUL, V. s., A HOIISCfor Mr. Biswas, London, Andre J-, C. L. R., Minty Alley [1936], London, New Bea- Deutsch, 1961. con Books.~, ..1971. . -. -, The Mystic Marseur, London, Andre Deutsch, 1957; KHAN, IS= The Jumbie Bird, London, MacGibbon and New York, Vanguard Press. 1959. Kee, 1961. -, The Suffrage of Elvira, London, Andre. Deutsch. -, The Obeah Man, London, Hutchinson, 1964. 1958. LAMMINO, GEORGE. In the Castle of My Skin, London, NICOLE, CHRISTOPHER, Off White, London, Jarrolds, 1959. Michael Joseph, 1953; New York, Macmillan, 1970. -, Ratoon, London, Jarrolds, 1962. -, Of Age and Innofence, London, Michael Joseph, -, White Boy, London, Hutchinson, 1966. 1958. PA~RSON,ORLANDO, An Absence of Ruins, London, -, Season of Adventure, London. Michael Joseph, Hutchinson, 1967. 1960. -, The Children of Sisyphus, London, New Authors. LAUCHMONEN (Peter Kempadoo), Old Thom's Harvest, 1964. London, Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1965. ~vrss~ssuu,ml, Someone Will Die Tonight in the Car- LOVELACE, EARL, The Schoolmaster, London, Collins, 1968; ibbean, New York, Alfred A. Knopf, 1958. Chicago, Henry Regnery, 1968. UCW, EBNNETEI, West Indian Narrative: An In- -, While Go& Are Falling, London, Collins, 1965; ductory Anthdogy, London. Nelson, 1966; New York. Chicago. Henry Regnery. 1966. Barnes and Noble, 1970. MAClNlWS, COLIN, Westward to Laughter, London, Mae- REDABAD, WILPRED, Three Comic Sketches (Caribbean Gibbon and Kee, 1969; New York, Pawcen World Li- Plays No. 61, Trinidad, Extra-Mwal Department. Uni- brary, 1971. versity College of the West Indies, 1956. ms, ROOBR, Black Lightning, London, Jonathan Cape, mm, V. s., New Day, New York, Alfred A. Knopf, 1949. 1955. RHYS, JEW, Wide Sargasso Sea, London, Andre Deutsch. 1954. -, Brother Man, London, Jonathan Cape, 1966. , The Hills Were Joyful Together, London, Jonathan - RICHER, CL~MENT, Ti-Coy0 and His Shark: An Immoral Cape, 1953. Fable, New York, Alfred A. Knopf, 1951. 320 Selected Readings Selected Readin@ 321 ST. OMEI(, QARTH, A ROOm on the Hill, London, Faber Cape, 1969; New York, Farrar, Straus and Guoux, and Faber, 1968. as,".1am -, Shades of Grey, London, Faber and Faber, 1968. -, In a Green Night; Poems 19484960, London, =KEY, ~RBW,Escape to an Autumn Pavement, Lon- Jonathan Cape, 1962. don. Hutchinson, 1960. WAUOH. ALEC, Island in the Sun, New York, Famar, -, A Quality of Violence, London, New Authors, Straus and Cudahy. 1955. 1959. WOUK, mruati, Don't Stop the Carnival, New York, SALKEY, NWREW,editor, Breaklight: Poetry of the Car Pocket Books, 1965. ibbean, New York, Doubleday, 1971. WYNTER, snvu, The HiUs of Hebron: A Jamaican Novel, -. Stories from the Caribbean: An Anthology, Lon- London, Jonathan Cape, 1962. don, Elek Books, 1965. , West Indian Stories, London, Faber and Faber, - INDIAN 1960. WEST PERIODICALS 8CHWABZ-BART, SIMONB, and SCHWARZ-BART, AND&, UfI Bin Bridgetown, Barbados. Semi-annually. plat de porc aux bums vertes, Paris, editions du Ccuibbean Quarterly. University of the West Indies. Extra- Seuil. 1967. Mural Department. Kingston and Port-ofSpain. Quar- SLVON. SAMUBL. A Brighter Sun, London. AUan Win- terly. gate, 1952. Caribbean Review. Hato Rey. Puerto Riw. Quarterly. -, An Island Is a World. London, MacGibbon and Caribbean Studies. Institute of Caribbean Studies, Uni- Kee, 1955. versity of Puerto Rico. Rto Piedras, Puerto Rico. Quar- -, The Plains of Caroni, London, MacGibbon and terly. Kee. 1970. Jamaica Jmd.Institute of Jamaica. Kingston. Quarterly. -, Turn Again Tiger, London, MacGibbon and Kee, PmalI21es. Fort-de-France. 3 or 4 times a year. 1958. Savacou. Caribbean MtsMovement. Kinmton- and Lon- 8HERLOCK, PHILIP M., And, the Spider MaJamaican don. Quarterly. Folk Tales. London. Macmillan, 1962; New York, Social and Economic Studies. University of the West Crowell, 1954. Indies, Institute of Social and Economic Research. -, The Iguana's Tale: Crick Crack Stories from the Kingston. Quarterly. Caribbean, New York, Crowell, 1969. Voices. The Book Shop. Port-of-Spah Tri-annually. TEOBY-M~RCELIN, PHILLIPPB, and MAP.CBLIN, PTBRRB, All Men Are Mad, New York, Famu, Stram and Giroux, 1970. -, The Pencil of God, Boston, Houghton Mi,1951. UNDERK-IILL, HAL, Jamaica White, New York, Macmillan, 1968. v~acm.ROOER, L'fle ties revenants, Paris, Editions Al- bin Michel, 1954. WALcon; DEREK, The Castaway and Other Poems, Lon- don, Jonathan Cape, 1965. -, The Gulf and Other Poems, London, Jonathan INDEX Acadkmie Fran~aise,L', 233 role, 79-92 passim; and Achong, Tito P., 2434 myth of multiracial equality Adams, Grantky, 82 (Jamaica), 102, 103-21, Africa. xvi 35.36. 38-55 ws- 122, 123-40; .and national sim;l03; 106,~169,lll,i16, identity and athtudca to race 127-28. 133. 262. 267 (see (Jamaica), 35-55; and per- ah specif% &divid&ls, sonality pattern, social people, places); and cul- class, and aggression in tural heritage and integra- West Indies, 12, 13-33; and tion in West Indies, 240, prestige standards and local 241-60 passim; emigration honors, 97; and raw and to, 3, 37n, 49-51; and lit- class Jmstility (Jamaica), erature in West Indies, 262, 56, 57-77; and race and 263, 268, 271-72, 299; and class omblems. xv ff.. 2-3. speech (language) in West Iadies, 216, 232 Africans (Afro-Americans, Afro-West Indians), xv ff., 2-3, 4-11, 12, 13-33, 34, (see also speci6c people, 35ff.. 56, 57ff., 79ff. (see places); and theatre and also specific aspects, indi- dance in West Indies.. 305.. viduals, orpnbtions, pc- 306, 309-12 ple, places); and Africa, 3, Afro.Asian.¶, 44, 45 3711. 49-51 (see also Af- Afmuliise. 43. 45 rica); and cultural heritage Afro.East Indians, 43.44.45. and integration in Trinidad, See also East Indians 242,24460 wim; and ed- Afm~uropeans, 43, 44, 45, ucation in Jamaica, 169-89 46-55 passim; and education and AfldbxOns, 4041. see ah racial inequality. 148-67, Afdcao.9 (Aim-Amerieanq 168, 169-89; and folk and Afro-West Indians) elite speech (social class) AUen. Walter, 279 in Haiti. 214. 215-39: and AUeyne,..." Mervin C., 198, 199- LIL Allfray, Phyllis, 290 301 (see also s&cifii indi- Alumina Jamaica, 138 viduals, people, places); aqd Amerindians, 200-1. see ah middle clasa and leadershp Arawak Indians; Canis Index Index Amis, Kingsley, 265, 273 Brecbt, Bertold, 307 British West Indies (conld) Cambridge University, 126, "hancy" story readings, edu- Breen, H. H., 203 246-51; literature (fiction) 153, 154, 155, 159 cation in Jamaica and use Britain, British. See United and culture in, 262, 263- Cameron, N. E., 265 of, 172-73, 185 Kin~dom 79,280,281-301,305 303- Campbell, CliITord, 38-39 Anglican Churcb, 66 ~ritish- roadc casting Company. 12 (see also specific aspects, Canada, 36.40, 151, 157,245, Anjou, France, 216 See B.B.C. individuals, people, places) ; 263, 267 Antigua, 205 British Caribbean. See British Literature and language in. Canaries, St Lucia, 200 Arawak Indians, 39, 139, 200, West Indies 231-35; middle class and Carew, Jan, 267, 268, 270, 298-99. See also Amerin- British Council, 242-45, 250- 278-79 1 leadership role in, 78, 79- dians - - 92; national identity and at- Caribbean Co&ion, 146 Aruba. 27 British Guiana, 115 (see also Caribbean Defence Force, 28 Asia, xvi, 35, 38. 46. See also Guyana, Guyanese); cdu- titudes to race in, 35-55; occupational choice and ed- Caribbean Quarterly, 215 n, s@Iic couotrks, people, cation in, 156, 159, 165; 216. 266 places literature in, 265, 268 (see ucation in, 190,191-97; per- caribn, 200, 201 Australia, 40, 81, 109, 263, abo specific individuals) sonality patterns, social Carmichael. Mrs. A. C., 16- 367 British Isles. See Unitcd King- class, and aggression in (St 17 Am Lyons. St. Lucia. 200 dom Vincent). 13-33; prestige Carnegie Trade School for British West Indies, passim standards and local honors Girls. British ffuiana 156 Back-to-Africa movement, 3, (see also specific individ- in, 94, 95-100, race and Carr, ht,267 37 n, 49-51 uals, o~*ng people, class hostility in, 56, 57-77 Carr, W. I., 280, 281-301 Baldwin. James. 297 places) : clas and wlor di- (see also specific aspects, Castries, St. Lucia, 200, 201, Baptist Chnrch,'&d education visions in literature in, 271- individuals, organizations. 209, 304 in Jamaica, 170, 181 72. 296-301 (see also sp6 people, places); racial and Catholics. See Roman Catho- Barbados, Barbadians, 82; fie cific individuals, places); class problems and inequal- lics tion Wnhg in, 267, 268, class and cultural forms itv in. xv ff.. 2-3, 4-11, 12, Caucasians, xv ff. (see also 291 (see also specific indi- (cultural integration) in, ii-33, 34, 35 tr.; 56, 57 ff., Afro-Europeans; Christian- viduals); language and so& 240, 241-60, class and lan- 79 ff., 102, 103-21, 122, ity; Europe, Europeans; SF- etv in. 205 guage in, 198,199-212.214, 12340, 142, 14344 (see cific aspects, wwltrie~,in- ~art;er,Bernard, 69 n 215-39; dance in, 309-12; also specillc aspects, individ- dividuals, people, places); Barclay. Alexander. 265 education in, 148-67, 168, uals, people, places); and and language (Haiti). ~arke<.~luce,38-39 169-89, 190, 191-97, 198, racial themes in literature, 2 16 8. (see also specific Ian- Bastien, RCmy, 217 199-212, 214, 215-39, 248- 271-72, 296-301 (see also guages, people); and middle B.B.C., 250, 266, 269 49; education and cultural specific individuals, people, class and leadership role, Beaulieu, Christian, 230-31 integration in, 248-49; edu- places); theatre and drama 78, 79-92 passim; and na- Behn, Apbra, 265 cation and language. in, 198, in, 302, 303-12 (see also tional identity and attitudes Belgium, Belgians, 128 199-212, 214, 215-39; and specYc individuals, people. to race (Jamaica), 35-55 Bell, Claude, 127 Federation (see West Indies places) passim; and personality pat- Bell, Wendell, 196 n Federation); language and Brittany, France, 216 terns, social class, and ag- Bellegarde, Danes, 217 n, 221, education and society in, Bustamante, Alexander, 82 gression (St. Vincent), 13- 229, 230, 232 198, 199-212, 214, 215-39; Butler, Uriah, 82 33; race and class hostility Bennett, Alvin, 275 literature in, 231-35, 246- Byron, Lord, 288 and (Jamaica), 4-11, 56, Bim (literary periodical). 266 51, 262, 263-79, 280, 281- 57-77; and racial and class Bombay, India, 42 301, 302, 303-12 (see also Cadiz, Spain, 139 problems in West Indies, Braitbwaite, Lloyd E., 19511, specific individuals, people, Calypso(s). 4611, 174, 185, xvff., 4-11, 13-33, 35-55 240, 241-60, 267 places); literature and cul- 246, 248, 252, 253-60 pas- passim, 56, 57-77, 78, 79- Brazil, 43 tural integration (Trinidad), sim, 306, 312 92 passim, 102,103-21,122, 326 Index Index 327 Caucasians (conf'd) Development and Welfare Egypt, 81 Federation of the West Indies. 123-40, 142, 143-44 (see Commission, 159, 167 Ennland. Eoalish. See Eonlish See West Indies Fedaation also specific aspects, coun- Dollard, John, 13, 23 n l&≥ United Kingdom Festival of Britain (1951), tries, people, places) Dominica, 290; education in, English language, xvui xix- 258-59 Central America, 152. See also 156-57 253; 164. xx, education in West Fignold, Daniel, 227 Latin America; specific pee Dominican Republic, See Indies and use of, 148, 151. Firbank, Ronald, 97, 100, 265 also Hisoaniola: Santo Do-- ple, places , - 152 and language in Haiti, Focw (literary periodical), Chapman, Gmrge, 265 miogo 216; and so. Donne, John, 286 and language 266 Chinese, 10, 42-43, 45, 46, 50, ciety in St. Lucia, 198, 199- Foreign Nationals and Com- 51, 53, 129, 142, 144, 285, Doret, Frederic, 216-17, 225 Douyon, Ernest, 222 212 monwealth Citizcna (Em- 298, 309-10; and cultural Equiano. Olandah, 264 ployment) Acf Jamsica, 243- Drayton. Geoffrey, 268 integration (Trinidad), 287-88 Espinet, Adrian, 94, 95-100 53 n 44 Dryden, John, Du Bois. W. E. B.. 9 EstimC. Dumsrsais, 226 Formosa, 46 Christianity, 38, 124-25, 134- 234 Ethiopia, 47 Forster, E. M., 286 35 ~urand,~~swald, (see also Caucasians; Dutch, the, xvii, 146 Europe, Europeans, 109, 111, 4-H Clubs. 166-67 Europe, Europeans; specific 114, 115, 119-20, 121, 128 France, thc French, xvii, XVE, denominations, people, Eastern Caribbean, 212. See (see ahCaucasians; Chris- xx, 81,216 (see olro Freneh places); and language in also specific people, places tianity; spec& countries. Caribbean islands, French West Indies. 224-25 East Indians, 10, 38-3911,42- individuals, organizations, Creole; French language); Cipriani, A. A., 82. 245 43, 45, 46, 53 (see also spe- people, places); and class and language and society Collymore, Frank, 266, 267 cific individuals, organ- and color problems in West (social stimbue) in St Lu- Colonial Development and tions, people, places); and Indies, xv ff., 43.44-45.46- cia, 198, 199-212 Welfm Organization, 24 cultural heritage and inte- 53, 64 (see also specific as- Francis, 0. C., 45 n Colonial mce, 83, 84, 87, 88 gration (Trinidad), 242, pects, countries, individuals, Franck, Kate, 62 n Columbus, Christopher, 139 243-44. 252; and drama people, pW); and cul- French Caribbean islands, Commonwealth Caribbean. (theatre) in West Indies, tural integration in West In- 146, 157 n. See also France., See British West Indies 309-10; and education and dies, 245-46; and education the French; specific islands, Congo. 104 racial inequality, 160-67; in West Indies, 157, 163- people, PW Conrad, Herbert S., 62 n and language and society in 64 (see also specific people, French aeole, xvii, xviii, xix- Conrad, Joseph, 286 St Lucia. 206: and litera- places); and language and xx; in Haiti, xix-xx, 214, Cooper, James Petlimore, 283 ture, 266, 266, 270, 271, society in St. Lucia, 198, 215-39; in St Lncia, xix- Costa Rica. 36, 37 n 285, 291 (see nlso specific 201; and literature in West xx, 198, 199-212, 253 Coulthard, G. R., 267 individuals. nlaces): and Indies, 285, 286, 288-89, Prench language, 152 (see also Creole. See French Creole myth of mhtikcial ;huslity 294-300 (see also specific French Creole); and folk Cuba, Cubans, 20, 36, 82, 164, (Jamaica). 105-6: and raca countries, individuals, pep and elite speech in Haiti, ---716 ple, places) 214, 215-39; and language Cugoano, Thoughts and Senti- . . . Evans, P. C. C., 191 and society in St. Lncia, ments (1787) by, 264 6, 16047 (see a& spe- Em, Edward John, 58 198. 199-212 Curaeao, 20, 27, 157 n cific aspects, individuals, Freud, Sigmund, 85 people, places) Faine. Jules, 22&21 Fronde, J. A, 265 Dathorne, 0. R., 262, 263-79 Education Commission Pam Work Scheme, Jamaican Dawes, Neville, 268, 276-77 (1934), 149-50, 157, 158- migration and, 37 n Gabbidon, Albert, 134 Defoe, Daniel, 265 59, 161 Farquharson Institute of Pub- Ga~ey,Marcus, 2-3, 4-11, De Lisser, Herbert, 265, 272- Edwards. Bryan, 39 n lic Affairs. Kingston, la- 12, 34, 4S51, 102, 128-29, 73, 274-75 Efron, Edith, 214, 215-39 maica, 122 272; biography and back- Index Index Garvey, Marcu (conrd) Hearne. John. 47 n. 267. 270. Jamaica (conrd) James, C. L. R., 78, 79-92, ground of. 2-3; on Jamaican 272,'273-74, 276-77,- 278; 89, 190, 191-97, 205; illit- 247, 250, 266, 276, 285 rauallsm. . (1915). xviii 2-3, 285. 293 eracy in. 160-61; literature James, Hew, 283, 285, 300 4-1 1 Henriques, Fernando. 42 n. 48. (fison) in, 263-68 passim, Japanese, 43, 87 Geddes, Arthur, 23 n 64 271-73. 275-76. 282-83, Jews. 43 n. 44. 142. 244 JO&~, h;iilla;d, 51-52 Germany... 87. See nhNazism. Hem. A. E. TI 267 292-95; 296, 298-99 (see Nazis also smci6c individuals): Jun& Carl G.. U Ghana 39. 40. 86. 110. See middle-class and leadedp Hill, F&, 48 0 role in. 90: Morant Bav Re- Kandel, I. L. (Kandel Re olm.Mr;umah, ~wams port), 154-55 Gillan, Angus, 242 n Hidus, 242. See also East bellion (i865) in, 57-58, Indians; specific places 273; multiracialism in. 43- Kempadoo, Peter (Lad- Gold Coast, 37 n monm), 268 Albert, 244 Hispaniola, 216. See also spe- 45, 102, 103-21, 12340. Gomes, cific islands, people, places Kenya, 39 Gray, Cecil, 267 and myth of multiracial Kenyatta, Jomo, 39 Hitler, Adolf, 257. See also equality (1960). 102, 103- Great Britain. See United Nazis, Nazism Kerr. Madeline. 42 e 194 Kingdom 21, 122, 12340; national Hoffer, Eric, 67 identity and attitudes to race Greene, Graham, 265, 275 Hong Koug, 46 Greene, Robert, 265 Hone Aericultural School. Ja- in, 35-55; occupational 143, 168; 170 Grenada, 163 AaicG 157 choice and education in, Kipling, Rudyard. 96 Grevy, Jean, 238 n Homey, Karen, 13 190, 191-97; parent-teacher Kirkwood. Robert 84 Guyana, Guyanese, 270, 273, Hughes, Marjorie, 59 n relationshi~s (rural com- K-swa; ~kira,'96, 307 278 (see also British Gui- munity school&g) in, 168, Kyk-overal (literary pcriodi- ma); literature in, 265,270, India. 39. 40..... 42. 46. 81. 96, 169-89: orestias standards cal), 266 273, 278 (see also specific 110, 263 and ldcai honors in, 95, individuals) Indians. See Amerindians; Ara- 97, 98-99; race and color Labour Party (British), 245- wak Indians; Caribs; East hostility in, 2-3, 4-11, 56, 46 Hadky, C. V. D., 12, 13-33. Indians 57-77; race question in Labour Party (Jamaica). See 35 Innis. Osbome. 254 (1915), 4 2-3, 4-11; Jamaica Labour Party Haile Selassie, 47 n ~nstikteof &ial and Eco- and racial eaualitv and in- (J.L.P.) Haiti. Haitians. xix-u, 161. nomic Research, University equality, 2-3; 4-1 i, 56,57- Labour Party (Trinidad). education and lan&ge in; of the West Indies, 160,190, 77, 102, 103-21, 122, 123- 24546 220, 229. 230-31: French 240 40, 142, 143-44 Lafontaine. Fables of. 234 and Creole patois (folk and Irish, as teachen in St. Lucia, Jamaica Daily Gleaner, 49, 50, Laleau, Leon, 215 . elite speech) in, xix-xx, 205 58 Lamming. George, 264, 267. 214, 215-39; language and Jamaica Labour Party 268,269-70,274,276,277-

culture in, 215-39 passim; Jacmel, Haiti, 225 (J.L.P.).. . 5211...66, 143. . 144.~ 78, 285. 289. 290-91, 293, literature and language in, Jacobs, H. P., 122, 12340 i 68 300 231-35.271; voodoo in, 271 Japan, Cheddii 89 Jamaican Mental Health As- America, 157-58. See Hammond, S. A., 156 u, 159 n Jamaica, Jamaicans, 304 (see ciation, 38 also Central America; South Hampton Institute, Virginia, 3 also s~ecificindividuals. or- Jamaica Social Welfare Com- America; specific w~mtrks, Hardy, Thomas, 282 ganizitious, political par- mission, 66. See also Ja- people, places Harris, Wilson, 270, 274, 278 ties); anomie and frustrated maica Welfare, Limited Lauchmonen (Peter Kern~a- Hausas, 193, 194 goals in, 196; Coral Gar- Jamaica Star, 58 n dm), 268 HawLins, John, 285 dens "uprising" (April Jamaica Welfare, Limited, Lebanese, in British West In- Hawthorne, Nathaniel, 283, 1963). 76; education in, 16667. See also Jamaica dies, 309-10. See also Leb- 284, 289 150-67 passim, 168, 169- Social Welfare Commission anon Index Index Lebanon, 46.51. See also hb- 267,268,271,273,275,278 Nigeria, 3711, 40, 95, 98, 193, Pierre, Lemox, 244 anese, in British West Indies Moko (Trinidad). 94 112 Pioneer Press (Jamaica), 266 Leeward and Windward Is "Mongoose" story readings, ~krumah,Kwame, 39, 81, 86 Pompilus, Pradel, 221 lands, education in, 153-54 education in Jamaica and Normandy, France, 216 Pope, Alexander, 287 Le Roy, Morisseau, 235 ust of, 172-73 Norris, Katrin, 60 n Port-au-Prince, Haiti, 220 Leswt. Elie, 226 Monireur, Le (Haiti), 226 North America (see also Can- Port of Spain, ninidad, 243, Le Veau, Albert, 307 Mon Reps, St. Lucia, 205 ada; United States of Amer- 251-53, 255, 257, 259, 269 Lewis, Oscar, 70-71 Montego Bay, Jamaica. 273 ica; specific people, places) : Powdermaker, H.. 29 n Leyburn, James, 221-22, 224 Morant Bay Rebellion (1865). Jamaican exports to, 36 n Price Mars, Jean, 233 L'H6risson, Justin, 219 57-58, 273 Northern Nigeria, 193. See Protestant Church (see ah Locke, W. J., 247 Mordecai. John. 38-39 also Nigeria Christianity; specific London, 29, 99. See also Lon- MoS~OE,char& C., Jr.. 68n Notre Temps (Haiti). 228-29, churches, denominations) : don University; United Moton, Robert Russa, 3, 4-11 238 n and language in Haiti, 224- Kingdom Mphahlele, Ezekiel, 272 Nugent, Lady, 264-65 25 London University, 126, 159 Muslims, 242. See also East Public Opinion, 58 n Lon& Anton V.. 39 n Indians; specific places OrpanLation of American Puerto Rim, 152, 157 n Long, Edward, 264 states, 91 Lumumba, Patrice, 127-28 Naipaul, Seepersad, 267 Oxford accent, language and Queen's Park Savanaah, Trin- Naipaul, Vidia S., 84,261,266, society in St. Lncia and use idad, 256 MacDermot, Thomas, 265 267, 26849, 270-71, 272, of, 206, 210 McFarlane, J. E Clare, 265 273-76, 277, 278, 284-85, Oxford University, 126, 153, Ragatz. L. J., 45 n MacInw. Colin, 265 290-92; historical sense in 154, 159, 264. See also Ox- Rahman, Tunku Abdul 39 Mcby, Claude, 266, 271 works by, 270-71, 273-76 ford accent Raleigh. Walter. 265. 285 Mais, Roger, 267.273-74.293 passim. 284-85, 290-92; Ramsaran, J. A, 275 Malaya, Malayaaq 39, 40, 55 Trinidad in works by, 270- Pakistan, 95, 110 Ras Tafari movement. RM Manley, Edna, 266 71,272,273-76 passim, 277, Palmer, Anne. 273 Tafariana, 47, 51, 67, 103, Manky. N. W.. 41 n 278, 284-85, 290-92 Panama, 20, 36 106, 107, 136,272: and M* Mansfield, Job, 267 Nurayan, R. K.. 96 Panama Canal, 36 n rant Bay Rebellion (1865). Marlowe, Christopher, 265, Naoser, Gamal Abdel, 81 Parent-Teacher Association R ---217 Nation, Ln (Haiti), 227-28 (P.T.A.), Jamaica, 184, R~Y;Satyajit, 96 Maro0U8 (Jamaica). 271 78 ,. - - Natbn. The (Trinidad), 187-89 Reid,700 Vic, 267, 273, 278-79. ~aItinique',199 Nazis, Nadsm. 20, 85. See Paris, Treaty of (1814). 201 Mau, James A, 56, 57-77 also Hitler, Molf Parry. J. H., 45 n, 58 n ~hodisia,40, 116 Mau Mau. 62 Negritude, 51-52. See also Af- parsons. Talcon, 19611 Richardson, WUy, 247 ~auuieri'~:F., 133 ricans (Afro-Americans; Patois. See French (3rcols. Roberts, Wrge W., 37 Mayard, Piem. 235 Afro-West Indians); specific specific people, places Roberts, Walter Molphe, 266, Maynier-Burke, Shirley, 53 n aspects, individuals, people, Patterson, Orlando, 272 274-75 Meier, Domthy L., 19611 places Paul, Edmond, 238 Roman Catholics (see alco Melville, Herman, 283 Negm Welfare and Cultural People's National Movement Christiaoity) : and langoags Mendes, Alfred, 247, 250, 266 Association, Trinidad, 252 (P.N.M.. Trinidad). 78. 146 in Haiti 224-25 Merton. Robert K.. 62 n, 76 n Neb, Pandit, 39, 81 ~ebp~e's.~ationai party Mexico, 164 Nettleford, Rex, 34, 35-55 (P.N.P.. Jamaica).. . 51-52 n, Mico Schools (Mico Training Nevin, R. Sanford, 61-62 n i25, 143, 144 Colleges). 204-5 New York, 304, 307; Trini- People's Progressive Party Mills, Don, 37 n dadians in, 255 (P.P.P., Jamaica), 51-52 n Mittelholur, Edgar, 264, 266, New Zealand. 40 Picardy, France, 216 St. Louis, Carlos, 233-34 Index hdex 333 St. Lucia. St. Lucians: creative South Africa, xv, 40,111,116 Trioidad (confd) 248, 252; Festival of Music arts (literature and drama) 17, 232, 263 and music in, 25160; edu- (1951) in, 25M9; labor in, xx, 302, 303-12 (see South America, 109-10, 152. cation in, 78, 89, 94, 147- movement in, 81, 136-37; ah specilic individuals); See also Latin America; 67 passim; "folk" tradition Labour Party in. 81; Ian- education in, 165, 2028.; specisc people, places in, 2514, language and guage and society in St Lu- language and society (social Soyinka, Wole, 308, 312 society (social structure) cia and, 198, 199-212 (see structure) in, xix-XX, 198, Spain, 82. See alro Hispaniola; in, 211-12; leadership role also English language); and 199-212 Spanish language and education in, 78,89,94: literature in British West St Thomas, 272 Spanish language, 216 literature and drama in, Indies, 26344, 265, 267- St. Vincent, Vincentians, 12; Spanish Town (former capital 246-51, 263-64, 267, 268, 68, 278, 282, 286, 287-88, language and society (social of Jamaica),. ~ 8 269, 270-71, 272, 275-76, 290,291,294,295-96.297- "Sparrow" (Francisco structure) in, 199,205,208; 304ff. (see also speci6c in- 98, 300-4 (see ahspcci6c personality patterns, social Slinger), 100 dividuals); prestige stand- individuals, people, places); class. and awesion in. 26- Stalinism. 85 and occupational choice, 33; 27 . tann nard; Harold, 24243. ards and honors in, 97, 98- Salkey, Andrew, 263,267,268, 2A4n 99; race problems in, 46 u, 194; and pmtige standard8 and local in British 272.-, 275 Stockdale, Frank, 167 n 49, 78, 798.. 114, 2508.; honon Gcho, Letters of (1782), 264 Swanzy, Henry. 266 Shango adt in, 252-53, West India, 94, 97-1W; Santo Domingo, 216. See also Sylvain, Georges, 234 272; steel bands in, 2534 university scholarships Dominican Republic Syrians, 39 n, 43, 45, 46, Trinidad and Tobago Steel given by, 126 Sapir. Edward, 246 51, 142, 144 Bands' Association, 257-58, United National Independence Scotland, Herbert, 268 259 Party (Trinidad), 94 Scott, Michael, 265 Tai Tenn Quee, Hubert, 38-39 Trollope, Anthony, 97, 100, United Nations (UN),40.41: Seaga, Edward P. G., 38, 39, Tannanvika 40 265 report on education and 168, 169-89 ~aga(*dad), 94 Toskegee Institute, Alabama, language in Haiti (1949) Sealy, Karl. 267 TASPO (Trinidad All Steel 3, 4 of, 23 1 ~ercussionOrcheshn), 259 United States of America. 2. Thompson, Claude. 267 Underhill, E. B., 39 n 20, 27, 36, 37 n, 40, 41,-81; 275-76, 278, 290 ~imei~ifermy ~upplement, U.N.I.A. See Universal Negro 82. 91, 97, 99-100, 163, Seymour, Arthur, 266 267-68 Improvement ARwcia'on 166,304,305; and clasa and Shakescan. William. 265. Tomlinson. Frederick Charles. (U.N.1.A) race problems and divi- 265 United Kingdom, xvii, xviii, sions. xv. 2. 4. 37 n. 40. 97. Tracy, Honor, 97, 100 xx, 20, 22, 29, 35, 36, 37 n, 110, '111; 114,' 11&17,.130; Treaty of Paris (1814). 201 38, 40, 45.46, 50, 51.78, 157 n; and cultural heritage Trinidad, Trinidadians, 20.27, 83, 84, 86-87, 90, 94, 105, and integration in Weat In- 46 n, 49,78,89,94 (see also 109. 110. 114. 115. 130 dies, 245. 248. 258; and ed- specEc individuals, places); (see also. ~ri& weit In- ucation and occupational Calypso in, 46 n, 246, 248, dies; spccilic individuals, or- choice, 194, 196; and Ian- 252, 25360 passim, 306, ganizations, people, places); euaee in West Indies. 216: 312; Carnival in, 246, 248, and colonialism and cduca- kd-literature in we& 1i 21, 30, 167, 241 255-56; class and cultural tion in British West Indies dies. 97. 99-100. 263. 264. Singh, Khusbwant, 96 forms (cultural integration) (see also specilic individu- 266; 267, 268, 283-84; 28s Slinmr. Francisco ("Soar-. - in, 240, 241-60; arative als, people, places); Colo- 86, 294, 297, 300 (see also row';), 100 arts in, u, 246 &, 253-60, nial Office, 83, 84, 87, 88; wecific individuals. mnle. Smith, M. O., 35 n, 36 n, 190, 263-64, 267, 268, 270-71, and cultural heritage and in- 191-97 272, 275-76, 304E; dance tegration in Trinidad, 242 %., Index ANCHOR BOOKS Universal Negro Impmvement West Indies, British. See Brit- Association (U.N.I.A.), 2, ish West Indies; speciEc as- AFRICAN AND AFRO-AMERICAN STUDIES 3, 49-50 n, 128-29 pects, individuals, people. AND 'IRE v~c~o~u~s-RonaldRobinson and John Gal University College of the PI- ma West Indies (U.C.W.I.), West Indien Federation, 36 n, lagher, with Alice Denny, A04 133, 168, 249,266. See also 83, 84.89-90.115, 199. See mCANRELIQIoNS AND PI&OSOPBY-johnS. Mbiti, A754 University of the West In- also specilic individuals, AGAINST THE Wow: Attitudes of White South Africa-Douglar dies people, places Bmwo, A671 University of Guyana, 280 West Kingaton. See Kingston, AMERICAN RACE aELAnONS TODAY-E~~IRaab, ed., A3 18 University of the West IndiZs, Jamaica AND WE ARB NOT SAVED: A Histo~yof the Movement as Pwplc- 168, 190, 198, 240, 280, Wheatley, Phyllis, 264 Debbie Louis. A755 295. See also Universitv WicLham, John, 267 mowOP LWD-JXUUB Achebe, A698 CoUege of the West 1ndi4 wi~liams eni is, 263, ni BUCK AwmzNma m CAPITALIST AMwa-Roben L. Allen, A759 (U.C.W.I.) Williams, Eric, 83, 97, 146- BLACK EXSTORY: A Reappraisal-Melvin Drimmer, ed., A08 47. 14867. 250; back- CASTE AND CLASS m A SOUTHERN TOWN-John Dollard, A95 Varma, Jai Lal, 38-39 mund of, 14647; on edu- DEMOCRA~mus EMPIRE: The Jamaica Riob of 1865 and the Venezuela, 110 cation in tbe British Weat Governor Eye Controversy-Bernard Sernmel, A703 Victor. RenC. 233 n Indie% 146-47, 14867 DWeReNT DRI~MER-W~~~~~UIMelvin Kelley, A678 Vmcent, Stenio, 226, 239 Williams, Francis, 264 DOWN .SECONDAVENUE-EZ~L~CI Mphahlele, A792 Virgio Islands, 157 n Wilson, Edmund, 220 EMANUPATION PROCLAMA~ON-JohnHope Franklin, A459 EQUALITY BY STATUTE: The Volts Dam, 81 Wilson. Godfrey, 68 n Revolution in Civil Rights-Mom Wilson, Monica, 68 n Berger. A591 FROM RIOT m sm-IN-Arthu~I. Waskow, A557 Windward Islands. See Le4 IUCE WD'S BITS OF WoobOusmane Sembene, intro. by A. Adu Boahen, 1L ward and Windward Islands A729 Washington, Booker T., 3, 10 Works Permit Act (Jamaica), Wan& Evelyn, 265 53 n HISTORY OF EAST ANU CmLmcA-Basil Davidson, A677 Webber, R F., 266 A mmRY OF WEST ma-Basil Davidson, with F. K. Buah and A. WorreY Frank, 99 the advicc of J. F. A& Ajayi, A550 West Africa, 3711, 267. See Wynter, Sylvia, 299 nLLERs OF m? also specific countries, peo- ~--LiUian Smith, A339 ple. dates bu~OF .raa ~m~m-ChinuaAchebe, A594 MOVEMENT AND aavoLVnON: A Conversation on American Radi- Zion Revival (Jamaican calism-Peter L Berger and Richard J. Neuhaus, A726 church), 170 MY NAME IS --Keorapetse Kgosibile, intro. by Gwendolyn Brooks.. -----A019 MY PBOPLE I TEE ENEMY: All Autobiopaphid Polemic-Wii Stringfellow, A489 NATIONS BY DESIW: Institution Building in Africa-Arnold Rivkirt, ed., A629 ln~NAl'wu~ OF PBEJUDICE--GO~~OUW. AUprf abridged, A149 TBB NEOBO ANu THE AMeBlcXN LABOR MOVEMENT-Julius Jacobson, ed.. A495 NEWW- Handlin, A283 POLITICS OF SCaOOL DESEORE~~~ON-RO~~~~L. Grain, A665 RACE ANU NATIONALITY IN AMERICAN LIPE-Oxar Handli. A1 10 awm OF THB URBAN CLASSBOOM-G.Alexander Moore, Jr., AS68 slss~iohnA. Williams, A710 1Ab ANCHOR BOOKS

'rxmaws OR m SACRED: A Range of Poetries from Africa, America, Asia, and Oceania-Jerome Rothenber& ed.. A06 SOCIOLOOY TBB UPBAN co&iPLE-RobeTt C. Weaver, AS05 W~K~aewmm m:Profle of Urban Education--Elizabeth M. m ACADEMIC M.uucErnL*C~:An Anatomy of the Academic Flu- Eddy, Ph.D., A570 fession-Theodore Caplow and Rcece I. McGee, A440 wwa MAN, LI~I-RichardWrigbt, A414 AOAINSr THe WORLD: Attitude8 of White South AfIbX-Do~gh8 wm NEEDS raa N~(~(~?-SidneyWillhelm, intro. by Staughton Brown, A671 Lynd, A789 MWNPROBLEbXS AND PEASANT MOVEMENTS M LATIN AMtUUCA- Rodolfo Stavenhagen, ed., A718 AMERICANanc~ rmunoNs mn~-EarlRaab, cd., A318 AMERICAN SOCIAL ~ATTEENs-william Petersen, ed.. A86 ANATOMY OF A ME~BOPOLE-E~~~IM. Hoover and h~0Ild Vernon, A298 m WE m NOT SAWD: A History of the Movement as People- Debbie Louis, A755 ARAB WORLD TODAY-MOmoe Berger, A406 asnuMs: &says on the Socii Situation of Mental Paticnta sod Other Inmates-Erving Goffman, A277 emom smmx The Police in Urban Society-Arthur Niir- hoffer, A653 me BeRgeLEv SWENT REVOLT: Facts and Interpretatiom-sey- mow Martin Lipset and Sheldon S. Wolin, eds., A486 BROKEN IMAGE: Man, Science and SOCiiety-Floyd Matnon, AS06 usre w~cuss m A somnixm mw-John Dollard, A95 ma cwLLeNae OF YOUTH-ETiL H. EriLson, cd., originally pub lished as Youth: Change and Challenge, A438 COMMWES IN DUSTER: A SOC~O~O~~CB~Analysis of Cokdve Stress Situations--Men H. Barton, Foreword by Robert K. Mer- ton, A721 COMMUNW AND PRIVACY: Toward a New Architecture of Human- Lam-Serge Chermaveff and Christovher Alexander. A474

.. ~ George Lawrence, trans., A05 Dauos ON C~UQ(IE-us-Helen H. NOW& intm. by Ken- neth Keniston, A670 me~Yuia sa~p-Charles M. Fair, A760 THe EMOnONNLY DISTUasED CHILD: An Inquiry into Family Pa- terns-]. Louise Despert, A720 raa END OF nm PEOPLE?-GCOI~~SFriedmann; Eric Mae bacher, trans., A626 EQUNITY BY STATUTE: The R~VO~U~~OUin Civil RightbM011t~ Bereer.---. A591 - T& enom IMP ERA^: Thc Crisis in American Valw-Richard L. Means. A735 raa BXPU~D~Obmmm~~~--~ditors of FO~IUIIC, A146 m PIR% NWNATION: TbC United Slates in Historical and Com- parative Pe~spcftive-SeymourMartin Lipset, AS97 16Ab socro~oo~(confd) ~UD:The Mind of the Moralist-Philip Rieff, A278 1RB ~~~Nio-ClydeKIuckbohn and Dorotbea Leighton; revised by PROM luc~RIOT TO m-m: 1919 and the 1960s-Arthur I. Waskow, Richard Kluckbohn and Lucy Wales, N28 A557 1RB NffiRO AND THE AMEIUCAN LABOR MOVEMENT-JuliusJacobson, m OA~LGZNO STORM m ME CBUPQIRS: A sociologist'^ View of ed., A495 the Widening Gap Between Clergy and Laymen-Jeffrey IL Had- me ~~ww~ms-OscarHandlin, A283

den~ ~ A712 m~NEW MEDIA AND wUC*noN: Their Impact on Socii-Peter H. ME oumuween ~WMB-RobertThcobald, AS19 Rossi and Bruce J. Biddle, eds., A604 om^: Man and Society-Roger W. Smith, ed., A768 OF nhm, WOW AND LEISURE: A Twentieth-Century Fund Study- ME HIDDEN DWSION-Edwa~d T. Hall. A609 Sebastian de Grazia, A380 &~arr's SOCLU BHYOL~ON: Class Bdd Status in Nazi Germany ON INTELL~CNALS-P~~~~~ Rie5, ed., A733 1933-1939-David Schoenbaom, A590 MB OR(UNIUTION MAN-William H. Whyte. Jr.. A1 17 ~usne~s,BEATS, AND om@m-Ned Polsky, A656 POLmCAL MAN: The Social Bases of ~oliti&ymour Martin Lip WMLOQY nnm INSANITY: Essays on the Fxychiatric Dehumanization set, A330 of Man-Thorn88 S. Szasz, A618 POPVUnON: The Vital Revolution-Ronald Freedman, ed., A423 -~RA~N RITUAL: ESS~VS on Fawto-Fm Behavior--Ervin# - THE PRESENTATION OF SELF IN EVERYDAY LIYE-&V~P QOffmaa - ~ ~05an.A596 A174 mAnoN TO SOCIOLOQY: A Humanistic Perspective-Peter L. Berger, A346 PRISON wmsocffin: A Reader in Penology-Lawrenu Hazcl- JACOB ans aevmreo: Poverty and the Slum in Another Era- rigg, ed., A620 Frao- Codasw, ed., A646 P~OT~STANT-CAIROLIC-JEW:An Essav in American Relieious- So- nu= OP TEE DW: An Analysis and Evaluation of the South- ciology-Wi Herberg, revised edilioo, A195 Wlian Smith. A339 PsYareo~~~cs:Tbo Uses and Implications of HallucinogeDL Drugs nmLAST uNwcm%William H. Wbvte, A717 -Bernard Aaronson and Humphry Osmond, A736 LAW AND PSYCEOLQQY m co~m-Jb&Mlrshall. A654 RACE AND NATION- D4 AMEMCAN LIFR-OSC~~Handlin. A1 10 LET EAT ppobam: Thd Politics of Hunger in America-Nick TEE RADICALurn-Daniel Bell.~-,-~ ed.. ,.-~-A376 Kotz,- A788 WrnKq OP m ~ANCLASSROOM: Observations in Elementary TEE LIES AND WOPI OP 81abmm ~~~u~-EmeatJones; Lionel Tril- Sshools-O. Alexander Moore, Jr., A568 ling and Steven MBTCIM,4s.. abridged, A340 m ~e~oa~moOP QENPRAL EwanoN: Tbe Columh College MNN cmmmm IN SOCWLOQIC~Lmuom, Volume I: Montesquiey Experience in Its National Setting-Daniel Bell. A616 Comte, Man, Taxpeville, tbo Sodologists and the Revolution of 1848-Raymond Aron; Richard Howard and Helen Weaver, REVOLmN AND WUNTBRREvOLmoN: Change and Persistence in trans., A600a Social Structures--Seymour Martin hset, A764 MNN cvanwm m SOCIO~WICU TBOUQRI, VO~UIDOn: Durkhem, A RUMOR OP ANGELS: ~CdernSOCiiety &Id the Rediscovery of the Pareto, Weber-Raymond Aron, A600b Supernatural-Peler L. Berger, A715 mm MAKINQ OP A cornmTuu@-Wre Ro& A697 1~rcs~cneo CANOPY: Elemen& of a Sociolomcal- Theorv- of --Relimon MAN mwmluTE: The Individual and His Work in an Organized -Peter L. Berger, A658 Society-Carl B. Kaufman, revised edition, A672 SOCIAL AND POLITICAL P~LLISOPBY:Readings from Phto to Gandhi MAN m .nre Mooem AGE-Karl Jaspcn, A101 -John Somcrville and Ronald Santoni, eds.. A370 TEE MAN we0 PLAYS~~o~~anilo Dold A740 m SOCIAL w~mucno~OF mm: A Treatise in tha Sociology lansx IN ME MIWIWENTIR?H.~Y: A Yugos1av Phitosopher of Knowledge-Peter L. Bcracr and Thomas Luckmass. AS89 Re~~nsidersKarl Man's WnMgs-Gap Petrd, A584 MM WRBBP: An Intellectual Portrait-Redad Bendix, A281 - -., - -- -- AND DEMOCRACY MOVBMENT AND ~LUTION-PC~~~L. Berger and Richard J. Neu- SOcIETY m Gm-Ralf Dahrendorf.. A684~ haus, A726 8ocIom1srs AT wow: The Oaft of Social ~~arch-~hilli~R MY PEOPLE IS ME WEMU-WilliamStringfellow, A489 Hamond, ed., A598

NnnoN nmmoAND cmm~sam:Studies of our Changing Social ~ .--., Order-Reinhard Bendii A679 STUDIESOP LATIN AMERICAN socffi~cBs-T.Lynn Smith, A702 m NATURE OP PBEJUDIC&GOI~O~W. Allport, A149 TAMPIO M~POLIS,Volume I: What Is and What Could Be, 16Bb 16Cb SOCIOLOQY (cont'd) Volume 11: How to Manage an Urbanized World-H. Wentworth Eldredue. ed.. A593a. b TEE m&ow S&W scimca-~ohn Madge, A437 UNION orsd~c~-SeymourMartin Lipset, Martin A. Trow, and James S. Coleman Foreword bv Clark Ken. A296 muasw cro~~~w~~obei-tC. weaver, A505 umRENEWAL: People, Politia, and Plannin-Jewel Bellush and Murray Hausknecht, eds., A569 WLLAQE OF VIRUTINO: An Ethnographic Study of a Russian Village from Before the Revolution to the Present-Sula Benet, trans. and ed., A758 WALK me wm~eLINE: A Profile of Urban Education-Elizabeth M. Eddv. Ph.D.. A570 WIUTE hlAEi, ~~~TEfil-~i~hmlWright, A414 moDESIGNS mmcn7-Laurence 9. Holland, ed., AS23