I am hoping to examine the history of interrelationships in Britain. Although the area has not seen a significant amount of study, I should be able to use case studies to show the development of interracial relationships over time. In my initial research, the themes of class, gender, identity, racist ideology and science have emerged. I plan to utilise autobiographies, personal correspondence, media, legalisation etc.
Primary sources
- Olaudah Equiano writings, such as The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, Or Gustavus Vassa, The African.
Gives an early account of individual black experience from the 18th Although he focuses on the abolitionist cause, not his own personal life with his white wife, it gives insight into racism and his view on interracial relationships.
- Edward Long’s writings, such as The History of Jamaica.
Long is considered to be the ‘father of English racism’. Important to understand how racist ideology developed in Britain and how it affected interracial relationships.
- Eugenics Society Archive, Wellcome Library https://wellcomelibrary.org/item/b19775179
Archive includes annual reports, press cuttings, leaflets etc. This will be necessary to consult to understand the scientific belief that races should not mix.
- 1914 British Nationality and Status of Aliens Act https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Geo5/4-5/17/enacted
An example of government documents that set out racial permeameters in relationships in a bid to deter interracial marriages.
- ‘White Women and Black Men’, Nottingham Evening Post, June 14, 1930 https://go-gale-com.ezproxy-s2.stir.ac.uk/ps/retrieve.do?tabID=Newspapers&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&searchResultsType=SingleTab&hitCount=9091&searchType=BasicSearchForm¤tPosition=18&docId=GALE%7CJE3232701055&docType=Article&sort=Relevance&contentSegment=ZBLF-MOD1&prodId=BNCN&pageNum=1&contentSet=GALE%7CJE3232701055&searchId=R12&userGroupName=unistirl&inPS=true
An example of newspaper articles that focus on the ‘social dangers’ of interracial relationships, mentioning low intelligence of mixed race children.
- Julian S. Huxley, C. Haddon A. M. Carr-Saunders. We Europeans : a survey of ‘racial’ problems. (1935). Wellcome Library https://wellcomecollection.org/works/rr2c6azf/items?canvas=174&langCode=eng&sierraId=b18031006&source=viewer%2Fpaginator
This primary source represents a welcomed shift in scientific belief- that we are all of mixed ancestry.
Secondary sources
- Caballero, Chamion and Aspinall, Peter J. Mixed Race Britain in the Twentieth Century. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2018.
This book may help form the basis of my research since it gives a broad overview on interracial relationships in 20th century Britain. It uses a range of first-hand accounts and archival material to compare ‘official’ accounts of racial mixing.
- Fryer, Peter. Staying Power: The History of Black People in Britain. London: Pluto press, 1984.
Considered a definitive history of black people in Britain. It sheds light on the experiences of racism and interracial relations before the 20th century.
- Caballero, Chamion. “Interraciality in Early Twentieth Century Britain: Challenging Traditional Conceptualisations through Accounts of ‘Ordinariness” Genealogy3(2):21 (2019)
This article examines first-hand accounts of interracial ‘ordinariness’—both presence and experiences—throughout the early decades of the twentieth century. As much of the study of interracial relationship is taken from an negative outsider perspective, it sheds light the ‘ordinariness’ reality that most experienced.
- Bland, Lucy. “White Women and Men of Colour: Miscegenation Fears in Britain after the Great War”. Gender & History Vol.17 (2005)
This article examines race relations following the Great War by looking at three dominant discourses: ‘that interracial relationships leads to violence between white and black men, that these relationships involve sexual immorality, and have ‘disastrous’ procreative consequences.’
- Christian, Mark. “The Fletcher Report 1930: A Historical Case Study of Contested Black Mixed Heritage” Journal of Historical Sociology Vol. 21 No. 2/3 (2008)
This article examines a controversial report that focused negatively on mixed heritage children born and raised in the city of Liverpool. The report was highly influential and would shape perceptions of mixed-race people and families for many years to come.
- Webster, Wendy. “Fit to Fight, Fit to Mix: Sexual Patriotism in Second World War” Britain Women’s History Review 22 (2013)
This article uses evidence from Home Intelligence, Mass-Observation and official policy making to explore the gendered nature of anxieties about a wide range of British women’s relationships—with white and black allies and with white enemies. It argues that World War Two Britain sees an important shift towards a multi-ethnic and multinational society.