In his 1956 work, Lonely Londoners, Trinidadian author Sam Selvon describes the isolating experiences of one group of English citizens. Sam Selvon’s lonely Londerers come from the West Indies, from British colonial islands such as Jamaica and Trinidad. As the islands and their people are under British control, Jamaican and Trinidadian men such as Moses, Galahad, Tolroy, Lewis, Bart, and Harris, can live and work freely in England. Like many British colonial citizens, Selvon’s characters come to London in search of opportunities. In England, however, the West Indian men quickly learn where they stand in a hierarchy that values whiteness and reviles blackness. The men find that their race determines their identities and their experiences in English society. The discrimination they face comes in different forms. First, not all businesses in England are willing to hire people of color. The businesses that do hire West Indian men often relegate them to the most strenuous jobs, and pay them less than white men. West Indians also experience social isolation, both from outside and within their racial group. The majority white population in England views the West Indians as undesirable others, a perspective that takes root in the West Indian minority population as well. In Lonely Londoners, Sam Selvon illustrates how West Indian people in London are barred from full and equal participation in society.

English Workplace

As the West Indian men in Sam Selvon’s novel arrive in London in search of work, they quickly learn how racism limits their ability to earn money. The men encounter numerous hindrances in their attempts to make a sustainable living. One Trinidadian man, Moses, takes a newly arrived Trinidadian man, Galahad, to the employment exchange to find work. Moses tells Galahad: “Now, on all the records of the boys, you will see mark on the top in red ink. J-A, Col, That mean you from Jamaica and you black. So that put the clerks in the know right away, you see. Suppose a vacancy come and they want to send a fellar, first they will find out if the firm want coloured fellars before they send you” (p. 28). Moses explains to Galahad that for West Indian men like themselves, their paperwork indicates in scarlet letters their undesirable race. Some employers want to hire workers, but do not employ people of color. Thus, the employment exchange first checks to see if an employer only wants to hire white people. If the employer considers white people only, the employment exchange quickly removes the person of color from consideration. Some employers are open to people of color on their workforce. However, these companies tend to put people of color in only the most entry level jobs and the hardest labor jobs. Moses tries to prepare Galahad for the type of work opportunities he can expect: “They send you for a storekeeper work and they want to put you in the yard to lift heavy iron. They think that is all we good for, and this time they keeping all the soft clerical jobs for them white fellars” (p. 35). Moses warns Galahad that he may arrive at a job and face an offer that differs from his original expectation. Moses believes that English employers reserve higher paying, less physically taxing office work for white people, and assign the low paying, manual labor to the people of color. The Jamaican man, Tolroy, helps his brother-in-law, Lewis, find work at a factory. Lewis is able to secure this job because “…the work is hard work and mostly is spades they have working in the factory, paying lower wages than they would have to pay white felllars” (p. 52). When the West Indian men can find jobs, the English employers pay them less money than their white counterparts can earn at the same job. In Lonely Londoners, West Indian men experience economic disenfranchisement because some companies refuse to hire people of color, some relegate people of color to the certain jobs, and still others do not pay people of color fair wages.

White Society in England

In addition to economic suppression, the West Indian men in the story endure social exclusion from white society. One West Indian man, Bart, visits the London family home of Beatrice, his white girlfriend. When Beatrice’s father sees Bart, “The Old Bart start to stutter about how he is Latin-American but the girl father wouldn’t give him chance…The father want to throw Bart out the house, because he don’t want no curly-hair children in the family” (p. 50). Bart comes from the West Indies, but knows that his real homeland is not a popular place of origin. Bart tells people he comes from South America, in hopes that people will consider him more unique, less black, and unlike the many other West Indians in London. However, Beatrice’s father wants Bart to disappear from his house forever. Beatrice’s father sees Bart and does not need more information regarding Bart’s heritage. He decides that Bart is not white, and he does not want Bart to be a part of his family. While Beatrice’s father does not want a West Indian man in his family, other English people do not even want West Indian people to visit their establishments. Moses explains: “In America you see a sign telling you to keep off, but over here you don’t see any, but when you go in the hotel or the restaurant they will politely tell you to haul- or else give you the cold treatment” (pp. 20-21). Moses tries to describe the more subtle social exclusion that people of color experience in England compared to the United States. While there may not be laws or signs that clearly state a West Indian person’s boundaries in London, a West Indian person can quickly learn where those boundaries are. Based on the treatment they receive, West Indian people understand they are not welcome in all the same establishments as white people are. Some English people want to avoid West Indian people so much that they recoil from even the smallest interaction. When a young English child acknowledges Galahad’s presence on the street, “…the child mother uneasy as they stand up there on the pavement with so many white people around: if they was alone she might have talked a little, and ask Galahad what part of the world he come from, but instead she pull the child along and she look at Galahad and give a sickly sort of smile, and the old Galahad, knowing how it is, smile back and walk on” (p. 76). When the child notices Galahad, the mother’s reaction communicates to the child that acknowledgement of Galahad is embarrassing. The woman does not want to be associated with Galahad, particularly in the presence of other white people. In Sam Selvon’s London, white people do not want social interaction with people of color.

West Indian Society in England

The dominant white society’s preference for white people permeates the West Indian population of London. A target of discrimination himself, Bart reproduces the preference for whiteness: “Many nights [Bart] think about how so many West Indians coming, and it give him more fear than it give the Englishman, for Bart frighten if they make things hard in Brit’n. If a fellar too black, Bart not companying him much, and he don’t like to be found in the company of the boys, he always have an embarrass air when he with them in public” (p. 47). Although Bart is a West Indian man in London, he does not empathize with other West Indian people in London, or with those who want to come to London as well. Bart fears that an increase in the number of people like him in London is certain to draw the attention and displeasure of English people, and make his own situation worse. Bart internalizes the anti-black prejudice in London, and avoids black people. Another West Indian man, Harris, hosts parties and wishes West Indian people did not come. At one party, Harris proceeds with “greeting all English people with a pleasant good evening and how do you do, and a not so pleasant greeting for the boys, for if is one thing [Harris] afraid is that the boys make rab and turn the dance into a brawl.That never happen in a big way yet, but still he always have the fear…” (p. 104). Harris treats the white English people with respect as they arrive at the event, but treats the West Indian arrivals less eagerly. Harris worries that the behavior of the West Indian attendees might draw the attention of the white English partygoers, and embarrass him. Tolroy’s aunt, or Tanty Bessy, chides her nephew for his newfound preference for white women. She says, “Is [white girls] what sweeten up so many of you to come to London. Your own kind of girls not good enough now, is only white girls. I see Agnes bring a nice girl friend from Jamaica to see us, but you didn’t even blink on she” (p. 58). Tanty Bessy criticizes what she perceives to be Tolroy and other West Indian men’s sudden partiality for white women. She claims that Tolroy does not even notice Jamaican girls any more. The West Indians in England experience disfavor not only from White English people, but from each other as well.

In Lonely Londoners, Sam Selvon illustrates how anti-black racism alienates the British citizens from the West Indies. Britain wants the West Indian islands such as Trinidad and Jamaica under the control of the British crown, but England does not fully accept West Indian people into English society. The West Indian people that come to England in search of opportunities face both economic and social challenges. Economically, West Indian people are excluded from full participation and benefits in the workforce. They do not have access to all the same businesses, the same positions, or the same earning potential as white people in England. Socially, a West Indian man may face rejection from his white partner’s family members, may not be welcomed in all the local restaurants, and can expect avoidance from white people on the streets. In England, the dominant white population’s economic and social exclusion of West Indian people makes the racial hierarchy clear. On the top of the hierarchy, preside white people, who enjoy full access to good, available jobs, and who can visit the homes and establishments of other people without fear of rejection because of their race. Further down the hierarchy, West Indian do not live their lives with the same ease. The reality that the dominant class constructs poisons how West Indian people view each other as well. According to Sam Selvon, many different practices and people contribute to the loneliness that West Indian people experience in London.

References

Selvon, S. The lonely Londoners. Penguin Books. (original publication 1956).