Last Sunday, as I was on Waterloo Road watching the carnival parade, I ran into one of my neighbours. He asked me, “Carolyn, weh yu a do inna brown people business?” Since he’s just as black as me, I threw the question back at him. He laughed and said he was taking pictures.
I suppose his ridiculous question was intended as joke. But it really wasn’t funny. A couple of days later, he stopped at my gate and said, “Hi, browning!” Now this was taking a joke too far. I wondered what was going on in my neighbour’s head.
On Sunday, I wasn’t supposed to be in brown people business. By Tuesday, I had become an honorary browning? I know that money and social status can turn black people brown. But this transformation was rather sudden. And it had nothing to do with me.
FLESH-COLOURED TIGHTS
My neighbour’s strange question and even stranger greeting reminded me of a most unfortunate encounter I had at Jamaica carnival. It was one of the early stagings of the event and, at that time, it did seem as if carnival really was brown people business. All the same, I decided to take my chances and jump up in a band.
As soon as I arrived at the assembly point, I was reprimanded by one of my co-revellers. With much irritation, she said, “You were supposed to wear flesh-coloured tights!” It was early in the day and I was in the mood for revelry. Not a colour clash.
So I nicely informed her that dark brown was the closest shade to ‘flesh-coloured’ that I could find. But my co-reveller was not impressed. Some ‘flesh-coloured’ people in the Caribbean really do have a hard time accepting the fact that flesh comes in a wide range of colours. As far as she was concerned, flesh had only one colour. And it was not dark brown.
And, come to think of it, the real issue for my co-reveller may not have been my brown tights at all. It could have been my black self! The tights could just have been a good excuse to express annoyance with my presence in the band. I suppose I should have felt lucky that my co-reveller was willing to have me in the band at all. Flesh-coloured or not!
FAIR IS FAIR
A few years ago, I had another startling encounter of the flesh-coloured kind. When I was introduced to the sister of one of my friends, she exclaimed in amazement, “This is Carolyn? The way you talk about her, I thought she was fair!”
To be fair to my friend’s sister, she didn’t intend to be malicious. Her response to me was completely spontaneous. She just couldn’t imagine that her brown sister could be so friendly with a black person. We don’t like to admit it, but Jamaica is still a very colour-conscious society.
And it’s right across the Caribbean. The Trinidadian historian, C.L.R. James, gives an excellent account of colourism in his book Beyond a Boundary: “Associations are formed of brown people who will not admit into their number those too much darker than themselves, and there have been heated arguments in committee as to whether such and such a person’s skin was fair enough to allow him or her to be admitted without lowering the tone of the institution.”
James recounts the exceptional circumstances in which blacks could jump the colour barrier: “Should the darker man, however, have money or position of some kind, he may aspire, and it is not too much to say that in a West Indian colony, the surest sign of a man having arrived is the fact that he keeps company with people lighter in complexion than himself.”
WHITEWASHED CARNIVAL
These days, carnival in Jamaica has definitely got blacker. It’s no longer an association of mostly brown people. The majority of the revellers parading in the streets last weekend were certainly not brown. Which makes my neighbour’s question even more ridiculous. Cultural events like carnival keep evolving.
I was not surprised to see that a conversation is now taking place in Trinidad and Tobago about how the colour of carnival is changing there. The headline of a Clutch magazine article published in February this year asks an intriguing question: ‘Is Trinidad and Tobago Carnival becoming whitewashed?’
The author of the article, Tiffanie Drayton, focuses on the body image of female revellers. She confirms that carnival has always celebrated a wide range of body types. But there’s a new trend. The ‘healthy-body’ female is giving way to a new slimmed-down Euro-American model. The article asks a compelling question for which there doesn’t seem to be an easy answer.
“What will become of carnival in Trinidad and Tobago as the years progress and the festival grows even more popular with non-natives? Based on these trends towards Westernised beauty standards and gimme-all-ya-money capitalism, we should fear that this festival meant to celebrate blackness may reinforce the very oppression our African slave ancestors fought dutifully to free themselves from.”
I now have the right answer to my neighbour’s question. Carnival in Trinidad and Tobago started as black people’s business. Jamaica Carnival started as brown people’s business. Now, it is everybody’s business. No matter the colour of the flesh.
– Carolyn Cooper is a cultural consultant. Email feedback to [email protected] and [email protected].
last week i said the same exact thing and there are some people on instagram its like ssk… something like that and they promote event and do media coverage on local parties and so in Jamaica. i was jus thinking they do NOT allow no dark skin son feh den IG the other day Erine the designer the one with the great breasts but crazy looking camel toe, made it on their page i was so shocked. i said good for her she moving up in society. then came Carnival and all the pictures i saw were of brown people. Jamaican treat we Black dark skinned jus like how white treat Aerican. this is why i never fell victim to bleaching and all that foolish self hate. its never gonna change because women are belching even harder
your talking Skkan media they are just as racist to me as Page 2 of the observer!!!!!!!!! and funny thing the gyal weh own Skkan me is a black gyal, but like she have a thing against downtown ppl and ppl of darker shade. Racism and classism is alive and well in Jamaica!!!!!!!
I love this! This is reality
Carolyn cooper carnival is nasty people business.
Ha! My friends from Tinidad now prefer Jamaica carnival bcus more locals jump as do the bajans.
Carnival was originally Started by slaves in other Caribbean countries and is a African thing as well. I don’t know if the slaves in Jamaica use to as the other countries. Anybody know ?
Jankoonu started by maroons during slavery .. This carnival was started As uptown nastiness
There is nothing real about your comment. First of all Jankono and Carnival did not start in Jamaica. These festivals are a mixbag of african traditions and celebrations, brought over during the Atlantic Slave Trade. Every black culture of resistance in the Caribbean, Latin America and the South (e.g. Creoles in New Orlean, Gullahs in the Carolinas and the Garifuna people from St.vincent and Belize) performed these ceremonies in part as a celebration and as part of their resistance. So, to claim something as solely belonging to one group and to refer to our resistance efforts as nastiness is tragic and has no basis in FACTS. Learn your manners and don’t disrespect the elders nuh matter where they ended up. I love Jamaica but everything is not Jamaica vs others. The real is, black people (decendants of the Atlantic slave trade) will one day find out who they are and, where they come from hopefully all this petty crap will end.
I stated that the maroons started it in Jamaica. I did not say it originated in Jamaica. I firmly stand by my opinion that the carnival in Jamaica is “nastiness”. Since you have started to read hopefully you can get your eyes on some authentic books. If you need help let me know.
The carnival that we see on social media is definitely portrayed as a brown or uptown event (like it or not). While carnival has gotten ‘blacker’ there is still a long way to go as far as true integration. If you look at certain social media outlets such as skkan or sleek, you will see that certain events tend to be lighter in complexion. As per usual, if you present this information to uptown/brown people they will likely hit you with the ‘Out of many one people’ argument and say that we need to stop focusing on race
All these revelries came out of the West African masquerades, and it all began with slaves trying to hold on to aspects of their culture in the new world. Mardi gras, Brazil carnival , Jonkonu, and soca carnival are all connected to masquerades.
@real dwrcl a real talk yuh mek uptown nastiness bcuz to them dancehall is disgusting and beneath them. Carnival brought out all kinds of freak. Not a fan, wasn’t a fan and will never be a fan. I love to look at the costumes though. I could never sit down and listen to soca music for an hr.
rightly so
there is an inner city Jankoonu band & some rural area Jankunu band..dnt really knw of maroon Jankunu band
but boy: dem ppl cant cover up alittle bit in de carnival?
even de Former Prime Minister of Trinidad Eric Williams daughter said to me dem revelers need to cover up more & wear decent costumes. dem ppl was nude!?
but de skin colour ting is all ova, from India, Australia, Africa to de Caribbean…skin bleach
rightly so
there is an inner city Jankoonu band & some rural area Jankunu band..dnt really knw of maroon Jankunu band
but boy: dem ppl cant cover up alittle bit in de carnival?
even de Former Prime Minister of Trinidad Eric Williams daughter said to me dem revelers need to cover up more & wear decent costumes. dem ppl was nude!?
Carnival is devil worship, it is coming from ancient times as when Moses went up to the mountain the people put up a golden calf and had a carnival around it dancing and singing praising a representative of the devil… Look at the word “carnivore” delighting in the flesh…All those who participate in this worship will face the consequences as when Moses returned from the mountain he cast the stones upon the false idol and the people who took part and they ALL perished…
Carnival is Idol worship
Same so canibalistic pleasure