Race Relations in Colonial Trinidad 1870–1900

Abstract

In this study of the development of a colonial Caribbean territory in the late nineteenth century the diverse peoples of Trinidad - Europeans, white Creoles of French, Spanish and English descent, Africans, Creole blacks, Venezuelans, Chinese and Indian immigrants - occupy the centre stage. They formed a society deeply divided along lines of race, skin colour, economic position and educational level. Dr Brereton looks at how the white elite, both European and Creole, was able to control the society, largely unchecked by the Imperial power and its agents in Trinidad, and then investigates the emergence of a group which would challenge that control: the coloured and black middle class. This book makes an important contribution to the history of the West Indies, and especially to the history of Trinidad, still largely unresearched. It will interest historians and sociologists concerned with the development of post-emancipation Caribbean societies and with race relations in the Americas after slavery.

Constructing and reproducing whiteness:

“…The English Creoles are middle-class, urban, Protestant merchant class. In contrast, the French Creoles see themselves as constituting a genuine aristocracy through their descent from the pioneering settlers who developed the island from the late 18th century [16] . As a group, the French Creoles place much importance on 'racial purity', aristocratic tradition, and Roman Catholicism.…”

Bearing Witness: Essays in honour of Brij V.Lal

“…Walton Look Lai (1993) also addresses the poor relations between Africans and Indians, who were resented by Afro-Caribbeanists during and after indenture, while Bridget Brereton's (1979) study of Trinidad examines the colonial period. However, much work remains to be done.…”

Indian men, Afro‐creole women: ‘Casting’ doubt on interracial sexual relationships in the late nineteenth‐century Caribbean

“…86 Improved technology and falling sugar prices, after the Downloaded by [Eindhoven Technical University] at 03: 59 17 November 2014 1870s, however, meant there were less factory jobs and Indians undoubtedly caused unemployment for Afro-creoles. 87 Competition for wage labour manifested itself in animosity towards Indian immigrants. 88 Reinforcing this line of thinking, it is again Verene Shepherd who concludes that 'one of the most important variables which determines the presence or absence of conflict between Indians and blacks [in Jamaica], is the economic variable.…”