White Jamaicans

By W. F. Twyman, Jr.

Aug 10, 2024

While watching an early episode of Star Trek (Original Series), it occurred to me that an unexamined life is an uninformed life. Curiosity is the best gateway for understanding reality beyond dogma and slogan words. For example, most people think of Jamaicans as black. Resort workers in Fiji might think of Americans as white but we all know that would be lazy thinking. America does not equal white. Similarly, Jamaica does not equal black.

Jamaicans can be black. Bob Marley may be the most famous Jamaican in history. One of my favorite soulful songs of all time is No Woman No Cry. I am playing No Woman No Cry right now. Sweet divinity. In this great future, you can’t forget your past. The Genius of the Man Great powerful music can lead us astray, however, as we understand a people, a nationality. There is more to Jamaica than Blackness. Even Marley himself was the son of an Englishman who loved Black women. Norval Sinclair Marley was the name of Bob Marley’s Dad.

Why do we not associate Whiteness and Jamaica in the common imagination?

Let’s explore notable white men, and women, from Jamaica. Maybe, we can balance the popular conception somewhat.

Let’s begin with the raw demographics. According to Wikipedia (which doesn’t hyperlink to Bob Marley’s Dad/what is that about?), Jamaica is 76.3% Black and 3.2% White. These are rough estimates as people on the island by and large do not identify themselves by race as we do on the mainland. Ask someone on the island his race or ethnic group and he/she is likely to say “Jamaican.” The emphasis is on the nation, not the race. Although not relevant to this essay about White Jamaica, maybe 15% of the population is mixed (African and something else) and 3.4% would be East Indian.

My first exposure to a famous Jamaican was through Ebony Magazine in the early 1970s. I remember reading about the fourth prime minister of Jamaica, Michael Manley (1924 - 1997) Michael Manley looked white to my Chester, Virginia eyes but tell me what you see, a White man, A Black man, A Brown man or a Jamaican?

Prime Minister Michael Manley

Curious at an early age, I wanted to learn more about the powerful Manley family in Jamaica. I came across Norman Washington Manley (1893 - 1969), the first and only Premier of Jamaica. I saw a White man but I was young and not experienced. Do you see a White man too at first glance?

Premier Norman Washington Manley

I did not learn Jamaica was a Black country until I discovered Bob Marley. And even Marley’s Dad was an Englishman.

Edna Manley (1900 - 1987) is a fascinating part of the white Jamaican community. Edna married her cousin, Norman Manley, and their son was Michael. What a Jamaican family! To her credit, Edna appeared White but she embraced her full ancestry, including distant black ancestors. Kudos to Edna.

Edna’s family was none too happy. The family was supposed to forget the inconvenient black ancestors in the past. Do your eyes see a White Woman, a Black Woman, a Brown Woman or a Jamaican when you see Edna, wife of a premier and mother of a prime minister?

Edna Manley

Edna’s father was white. Her mother was mixed Jamaican. “Edna Manley was described as incredibly independent, rebellious and spirited, exemplified in the uproar and unrest she caused among her own family as she embraced her 'coloured' ancestry from her mother's side. This ancestry had been swept under the rug due to the possible repercussions it would have had on not only her parents but the whole family during the racially tense times of the early twentieth century.^{” — Wikipedia entry on Edna}

Let’s try Edward Seaga (1930 - 2019). Elected the fifth prime minister of Jamaica, Seaga was truly a united nations in his ancestry. He was part Lebanese, Jamaican, African, Scottish and Indian. To those at home on the island, this native of Boston and graduate of Harvard in 1952 was Jamaican. Does Seaga present as a Black Man on the mainland?

Prime Minister Edward Seaga

Let’s try the first Prime Minister of Jamaica, none other than Alexander Bustamante (1884 -1977). A first cousin of Prime Minister Norman Washington Manley. Bustamante was the grandson of a white Irish Catholic planter in Blenheim, Hanover. There are not very many whites in Jamaica but, boy, did the few whites make their presence known at the highest levels of Jamaican government. Once again as a thought experiment, would your eyes perceive a Black man if you walked past Bustamante on the street in downtown San Diego?

Prime Minister Alexander Bustamante

Conclusion: There is more to Jamaican culture and consciousness than Bob Marley. There is more to Jamaica than Blackness. There is no better place to conclude this essay of racial revelation than with an image of the man who fathered Bob Marley, Captain Norval Sinclair Marley.

Good evening and remain curious about life!