COLOUR AND CONTEMPORARY SOCIETY IN THE CARIBBEAN

by Fernando HENRIQUES

One of the most important characteristics of society in the British Caribbean is its " white bias ". This can be regarded as both a conscious and unconscious part of a majority of the population of African descent to approximate as closely as possible to the European. The development of the " white bias " can be traced back to the slavery period when the white slave-owner was the source of all power, authority, and prestige. The hierarchical society of the plantocracy was pyramidal in form — the mass of black slaves forming the basis of the pyramid and the white planters its apex. The slaves, however, did not constitute an undifferentiated mass. An important distinction was made between field slaves — the majority — and domestic slaves. The latter admitted to the intimacies of life in the planter's household was able to acquire European cultural traits denied for the most part to field slaves. Imitation of the European combined with his relatively privileged position made the domestic slave both envied and admired by his counterpart in the fields.

This historical situation was further complicated by the development of concubinage and manumission. Concubinage on the part of white men and Negro women led to the creation of a mulatto slave offspring. In many instances these children were favoured by their master-fathers. Such favour could vary from remission of tasks to, in exceptional cases, being sent to Europe to be educated. In these circumstances it was inevitable that the mulattoes or " gens de couleur " should occupy an important and distinctive position in the servile population.

Manumission — the right of the slave-owner to free his slaves — operated very much in favour of the mulatto. It was perhaps only natural that the planter should wish to free the children of his concubine. Frequently freedom was accompanied by inheritance of property. Eighteenth century