Marginalized dominating white minority in decolonizing Barbados

―Narratives on perceived whites, privilege, anti-racism and white accountability―

Abstract

　This paper explores questions of white identity, defined as European-descended whites, in the former British colony, Barbados. Specifically, this research examines how European-descended whites perceive their difference from the non-white “others” and the nature of the relationships they establish with these “others”. In August 2016 and 2017, oral history interviews were conducted in Barbados, with adult participants who consider themselves white and who are considered white by other whites. Follow-up online interviews were conducted in 2021 and 2022. As stated, these persons are aware of differences in skin colour before school age, and come to realize their own whiteness and racial boundaries through daily interactions with non-white others. The narratives reveal their disapproval of white supremacy and privilege that encourage social inequalities based on skin colour. A sense of entitlement envelops whites’ accountability and guilt over the norm of social inequalities that connect deeply to systemic racism. At the same time, a young man completely rejected the very idea of white superiority and any associated social privilege, only on account of him being white.