The American Brand of Racism
Although the Americans were initially greeted with brass bands and open arms, Antiguans at all levels of society quickly found that the Americans did not see their society as they did. The Americans brought to Antigua a consciousness of race, and a level of racial discrimination and hostility, that was far greater than any that Antiguans had known, at least since slavery ended — it was so strong, and so different, that many people told me that it was the Americans who had introduced racism to Antigua. This is not to say that Antiguans did not know racism: the middle classes still faced a color barrier, although it was gradually rising, while those from the laboring classes who had traveled to England or the United States — and particularly those who had served in the British armed forces in World War I — had returned home angry and vocal about the discrimination they had suffered. In addition, the Garvey movement had affected the consciousness of many West Indians, including Antiguans. What they meant was that the American southern (and army)-style racism of 1941 was different from the kind of "muffled" racism they had know in Antigua itself.
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Antiguans off to war at the landing jetty before embarking on the S.S. Maaskirk in 1941. Left to right: Pilgrim, O'Donowa, Osmund Kelsick, Noel Meade, Rowan Henry, Nanton, H. Foote
[Photograph courtesy of the Antigua and Barbuda Museum.] |
There are many examples, ranging from outright discrimination to more subtle changes in the structure of social life. The United States in the early 1940s was a society in which racial discrimination was pervasive, and in the South segregation, in the form of Jim Crow laws that had been passed in the early decades of the twentieth century, was still legal. Now Jim Crow practices were introduced on the base, including separate toilets and lunch counters. Antiguans who remember those days were well aware that the Americans were mainly "crackers" from the South, and talked about a war between "north against south."
To the dismay of many Antiguans and to the disgust of the Magnet (20 December 1943), these were practices the Antiguan government allowed. In fact, the British were determined to leave such matters to the local authorities in all the islands. For instance, when one complaint from Trinidad alleged that the Americans were trying to restrict "places of refreshment" to whites only, this was denied by the Colonial Secretary. A British M.P. was told by the Colonial Office that this issue had to be "left to the Governors concerned in consultation with the local United States authorities." (On this see CO 971/20/2, File 72059 (1941); FO 371/A1134/10/45, File 30639 (1942).) One Antiguan who had worked at the base described how when he first went there, he saw toilets marked "White" and "Black"--and decided he had to go into the bush, since he was neither.
To the dismay of many Antiguans and to the disgust of the Magnet (20 December 1943), these were practices the Antiguan government allowed. In fact, the British were determined to leave such matters to the local authorities in all the islands. For instance, when one complaint from Trinidad alleged that the Americans were trying to restrict "places of refreshment" to whites only, this was denied by the Colonial Secretary. A British M.P. was told by the Colonial Office that this issue had to be "left to the Governors concerned in consultation with the local United States authorities." (On this see CO 971/20/2, File 72059 (1941); FO 371/A1134/10/45, File 30639 (1942).) One Antiguan who had worked at the base described how when he first went there, he saw toilets marked "White" and "Black"--and decided he had to go into the bush, since he was neither.
Further, American racism not only divided people crudely according to simple phenotypic distinctions between white and black — with black being automatically inferior — but it was fierce and personal: the Americans introduced a new level of racially based violence, verbal and physical: filthy language, drunken driving, fist fights, brawls, and shooting incidents all became commonplace. White soldiers expected Antiguan workers to jump on command, and quickly resorted to verbal and even physical abuse. They were trigger happy and prone to pulling out knives and guns, and there were a number of serious incidents, including at least two murders: one was a man from Freemans Village who tried to steal from an American soldier; another, called Son-Son, was shot in town by a Marine when he refused to be forced off the sidewalk and into the gutter by the American.[3]
There was no equal justice: although the American who shot Son-Son was sent away, for the most part the Americans often got off with a reprimand while the Antiguans were punished with jail time. An article in the U.S. magazine, The Nation, noted that although those who committed offenses outside the bases were technically subject to British law, Southern Americans would not accept coming before a local magistrate, and that if this were allowed to happen, "ugly hostility on both sides may be anticipated" (Nation, 20 September 1941: 251). It was the local belief that, even when they were courtmartialed, all the soldiers had to do was pay $.05 as a fine for the price of a bullet and accept transfer out of the country. In 1940, Antigua had the lowest crime rate per capita in the Leewards; by 1942, the rate had doubled (Hammond 1952: 40).
As noted, the Americans did not want to bring black Americans to the base, but there were a few; two in particular are remembered locally for their willingness to come to the defense of the Antiguans when they saw them being harassed by the white soldiers.
It should be noted that there was also little love lost between the British and the Americans, although the issue was not race but class and nation. The Leeward Islands Regiment was stationed at Campside, where a British Sergeant-Major named Floodgate was training Antiguan troops. Floodgate got into frequent fights with the Americans in taverns in town, and in one well-remembered story, trounced six American soldiers at one time.
There was no equal justice: although the American who shot Son-Son was sent away, for the most part the Americans often got off with a reprimand while the Antiguans were punished with jail time. An article in the U.S. magazine, The Nation, noted that although those who committed offenses outside the bases were technically subject to British law, Southern Americans would not accept coming before a local magistrate, and that if this were allowed to happen, "ugly hostility on both sides may be anticipated" (Nation, 20 September 1941: 251). It was the local belief that, even when they were courtmartialed, all the soldiers had to do was pay $.05 as a fine for the price of a bullet and accept transfer out of the country. In 1940, Antigua had the lowest crime rate per capita in the Leewards; by 1942, the rate had doubled (Hammond 1952: 40).
As noted, the Americans did not want to bring black Americans to the base, but there were a few; two in particular are remembered locally for their willingness to come to the defense of the Antiguans when they saw them being harassed by the white soldiers.
It should be noted that there was also little love lost between the British and the Americans, although the issue was not race but class and nation. The Leeward Islands Regiment was stationed at Campside, where a British Sergeant-Major named Floodgate was training Antiguan troops. Floodgate got into frequent fights with the Americans in taverns in town, and in one well-remembered story, trounced six American soldiers at one time.
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Sonny Benjamin talks about Floodgate, the commander of the British troops in Antigua, and the relations between British and American troops.
Sonny Benjamin tells a joke about British-American relations.
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As the war progressed, the British increasingly capitulated to American interpretations of justice, even when they felt they were not in the best interests of the local population. For instance, the Americans refused to have their men tried by local (nonwhite) juries, and the British then discussed how to rewrite the jury law to make it possible for them to do so — although they noted that such legislation "would require very careful drafting to avoid any suspicion of colour prejudice" and that this was possible in the United States not because of the laws but because the "sheriff only picks white persons when a white person is going to be tried" (FO 371/A7337/10/45, File 30647; A9614/10/45, File 30649). In the end it was agreed that no colonial jury would satisfy the Americans and the effort to make them accountable to in the local courts was dropped.
The coming of the bases also changed relations between working-class men and women. Because of peculiar — to Antiguans — American notions of "democracy," racial barriers that were strictly enforced during the day suddenly dropped at night, when the American enlisted men were all too happy to socialize with working-class Antiguan women, including "interfering" with the wives of Antiguan men. In addition, the Americans had a whole new way of courting, one that had a lasting effect on Antiguan social patterns. The Americans had money to spend on their dates, and they spent it freely, leading to expectations on the part of the women that Antiguan men found hard to meet. Antiguan men complained bitterly that the women were receiving money and gifts and were becoming much too "independent."[4] The Americans also scattered largesse around, handing out candy, beer, and cigarettes, and even tossing dollar bills out of their trucks as they passed through the villages on Sunday trips to Shirley Heights. They dressed in ways that Antiguans found strange: for many, it was the first time they had seen grown men without shirts and in short pants in public, and the Americans wore no hats. Prostitution, which up until then had been undercover and confined primarily to the days when the British ships were in port, was now out in the open.
The coming of the bases also changed relations between working-class men and women. Because of peculiar — to Antiguans — American notions of "democracy," racial barriers that were strictly enforced during the day suddenly dropped at night, when the American enlisted men were all too happy to socialize with working-class Antiguan women, including "interfering" with the wives of Antiguan men. In addition, the Americans had a whole new way of courting, one that had a lasting effect on Antiguan social patterns. The Americans had money to spend on their dates, and they spent it freely, leading to expectations on the part of the women that Antiguan men found hard to meet. Antiguan men complained bitterly that the women were receiving money and gifts and were becoming much too "independent."[4] The Americans also scattered largesse around, handing out candy, beer, and cigarettes, and even tossing dollar bills out of their trucks as they passed through the villages on Sunday trips to Shirley Heights. They dressed in ways that Antiguans found strange: for many, it was the first time they had seen grown men without shirts and in short pants in public, and the Americans wore no hats. Prostitution, which up until then had been undercover and confined primarily to the days when the British ships were in port, was now out in the open.
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