Leiden University College
Black British Literature
Final Essay
Resisting Racism in Immigrant Communities of Color in the United Kingdom
Like many predominantly white western nations, people in the United Kingdom ‘believe
it’s common sense that racial and cultural homogeneity in this part of the world has been
disrupted by migration.”1 It is important to note that this negative perception of migration is
mainly directed at people of color. There are not as many similar comments directed at other
white people or white Europeans. However, like most former imperial powers, the United
Kingdom “does not have a ‘white’ or monocultural history” as, due to the interconnectedness
that comes with empire, rather than a ‘country unsettled by immigration, it is one made by it.”2
This present sentiment is rooted deeply in the past, as depicted in the novels The Lonely
Londoners (1956) by Sam Selvon and Small Islands. Although written decades apart, the novels
tell a story around the same period, where the Second World War was still fresh in the citizens’
memories, and there were waves of immigration from people in the former British colonies.
Around that time, in 1955, Winston Churchill suggested “Keep England White” as a good
message and was adamant about restricting Caribbean migration, claiming it was “the most
important subject facing this country.”3 In 1954, Churchill even told “the governor-in-chief of
Jamaica, Sir Hugh Foot, that their presence would create ‘a magpie society’, adding ‘that would
never do’.”4 In Small Island, 1948 England is recovering from the war and Gilbert Joseph, a
Jamaican soldier that fought in the war against Hitler, knocks on Queenie Bligh’s door, a friend
during the war, to get some help with lodging. Eventually, Gilbert’s wife, Hortense, also joins
Gilbert in England, only to be disappointed by the English society she admired. The Lonely
Londoners depict 1950s London, where hopeful new arrivals from the West Indies descend from
a boat into London to start a new life. Moses, a man who has lived in London for many years,
helps the new arrival Galahad navigate the city and employment. All the other lonely Londoners
1 Goodfellow, ‘‘Keeping’ the Country White,” 48.
2 Ibid.
3 Ibid., 50.
4 Ibid.
, face discrimination from the locals but work hard to create a new life for themselves. These
characters face many obstacles in achieving their desired lives due to the color of their skin and
so have to develop strategies for self-preservation to avoid feeling displacement in British
society. It will be argued that these immigrant characters, after trying to belong to the United
Kingdom, realize they are not allowed to and are only able to find belonging in immigrant
communities due to the British society’s refusal of diversity.
The essay will discuss how the characters’ expectations of the United Kingdom as a
paradise of opportunity are not available to people of color. After this realization, the different
integration methods used by characters of color in both novels will be outlined next. Finally, it
will be argued that unlike the previous assimilation strategies to belong to British society,
forming relationships with the immigrant community is the most effective self-preservation
method due to British society’s divisional nature.
First, immigrant characters try to make Britain conform to their idea of paradise and
opportunity they originally envisioned. In a way, they try to force the community to conform to
their expectations of what it is like to live in the United Kingdom. In Small Islands, Gilbert and
Hortense attempt to push the community they reside in to conform to their expectations of what
it should be like. Gilbert regularly applied for professional positions, none of which were
accepted due to race. Gilbert believes he will eventually succeed if he tries hard enough to
belong in British society, but when he applies for jobs after the war, he discovers that businesses
are apathetic towards his services as an RAF soldier.5 Instead, employers give desirable jobs to
white soldiers and tell Gilbert that in order not to offend other white workers or set a precedent
that immigrants of color can expect professional jobs, Gilbert must be restricted to manual labor.6
Similarly, Hortense experiences immediate rejection when applying for a job as a teacher.7 She
ignores Gilbert’s explanations that the teaching certificate that proves her to be a professional in
Jamaica has no value in Britain.8 Despite the racism she experiences on her first day in Britain, it
is not until she is rudely rejected when applying for a job that she realizes she cannot make
Britain into the paradise of opportunity she imagined.
5 Levy, Small Island, 312.
6 Ibid., 313.
7 Ibid., 453.
8 Ibid., 450.
