Colored Races, Black Peoples, and Decolonization: Examining Anticolonial Cooperation through British Caribbean Decolonization

Within the long history of anticolonial struggle in the twentieth century, numerous activists and organizations worked to throw the chains of imperialism from the backs of colonial populations in Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean.  As various nationalist groups worked within their respective territories, pan-colonial coalitions also worked across borders to support parallel anticolonial movements.  In the process, several organizations proposed to work for the good of all colonized people, or for the good of an inclusive ‘colored race’ composed of all non-white populations.  Nevertheless, though several anticolonial movements asserted pan-colonial cooperation, the reality of such assertions was often limited and temporary at the expense of more prioritized racial or ethnic nationalisms.  In some cases, anticolonial collaboration was based more upon the old adage of “my enemy’s enemy is my friend” than in genuine efforts to move beyond racial politics.
This paper interrogates these issues through an examination of decolonization in the British Caribbean, especially demands for a federation of the colonies in this region.  Focusing on international support for federation from the 1930s-1950s, particularly within Black Diaspora Politics, this paper argues that while federation came to exist as an idea embodied with overt transracial appeals and support, it was also inherently a racialized project closely aligned with African and African American freedom struggles in ways that belie the reality of cooperation between colonial peoples at the expense of racial politics.  Therefore, although there was a certain level of cooperation amongst various anticolonial struggles and activists before and after World War II, it is misleading and somewhat dangerous to assume that common purpose flattened existing hierarchies of loyalty within the struggle of so-called “colored” people across the globe.