Paul H. Williams, Gleaner Writer

This is the first of a three-part story on the fascinating life of Enrico Stennett, a biracial Jamaican, who was brought up on his white mother's relatives' properties in St James. He stowed away to Britain, where racism, which he also encountered in Jamaica, shattered his 'street-of-gold' image of the Motherland, and where he was a trade unionist, and a leading advocate for the rights of black people in the United Kingdom.

In 1926, when Enrico was born, it was still shameful and scandalous for white women, especially those of the landed gentry, to be romantically involved with black men, and even worse to bear them children. But Enrico's mother, who lived in Montego Bay at the time, apparently could not care less, for she had not one, but four mixed-race boys, Enrico being the third.

Enrico: "Going to bed with a black man was indeed the most hideous crime a white woman could commit. This brought such disgrace to the family that she was made an outcast. No one wanted anything to do with her and therefore she was disinherited in every possible way."

When Enrico was only six months old, his mother gave him to her cousin, Aunt Matilda, of Mount Carey, who soon after gave him to another cousin, Aunt Jane, of the Free Mountain estate. Then he was returned to Aunt Matilda. Between Mount Carey and Free Mountain, it was to be a privileged, but lonely and abusive life on huge properties, where he was brought up believing he was white, a 'buckra massa pickney'.

English gentleman

Enrico: "Aunt Matilda pretended to her black workers that I was white; she did not allow me to mix with any of the other children, so, therefore, I did not know anything of my black background ... I was trained and brought up not as a black person, but as a cultured well-bred English gentleman."

This young 'English gentleman' was regularly beaten for associating himself with blacks, who he thought were nice and gentle. He was constantly told bad things about them, such as, in Africa, Africans eat each other, and everything that was black was dark and evil. It was a life of fear, bedwetting, isolation and exclusion. "Throughout my childhood at Mount Carey I was taught to believe that I should not respect anyone who was black, not even the servants who were so kind to me."

But he could not hide his mixed heritage, and was thus caught up between two races, divided by skin colour, prejudice and subjugation.

Enrico: "The example shown by my white relatives was misleading; their proud arrogance and superior behaviour set an example, which I wanted to follow. Subconsciously I was pleased I was not black, and believed and behaved like white people."

At school, he was 'very bright', the envy of the white boys. He was a star elocutionist, always being selected to recite for the governor of Jamaica on his annual visits to his school. He knew his British history, of great writers and poets, heroes past and present. But he also learned something else.

Realised I was not white

Enrico: "It was at school that I began to realise I was not white; the real white boys made that clear to me, because they did not want to mix with me. I was called names and, for the first time in my life, I realised I was only partly white; the white children were emphatic in putting me in my place where they thought I belonged."

He complained about the treatment meted out to him, because he couldn't understand. But his aunt and uncle were not moved. It was the black servants who helped him to understand his variegated existence in life. "You see Master Henry you're only half like them, they are full buckra massa pickney, you are only half buckra massa pickney," he was told.

Half-buckra-massa-pickney's confusing and unhappy life at Mount Carey came to an abrupt end one day when he was 12. His brother, Percy, whom he met when he was about seven, turned up and told him he was going to take him to see his mother, who Enrico didn't know existed. He went along reluctantly after he was told he would be returned to Mount Carey.

When he arrived at his mother's in Maroon Town, he was shocked to see the appalling conditions in which she lived.

Enrico: "I could see as I entered the shack that she was very poor. She was not actually wearing rags, but was not clothed the way a white person would normally be clothed ... I cannot explain my emotions. There was no joy, and I could not say I was pleased to see her ... I was not happy to see her in these conditions."

For the three years he spent in Maroon Town, he learned many things about his mother's relatives and their properties, and how his mother came to be living in such an impoverished situation. His black father's connections were unknown, while his white side of the family owned numerous properties in the Maroon Town region, and elsewhere.

He was also to learn some more harsh realities of life, and to a certain extent it was another rude awakening for Enrico, who still believed he was privileged.

Enrico: "The children at the school did not like me; they did not like the way I spoke, or the way I had been brought up, and I would be bullied by everyone, including my own relatives who thought I was white, and that I thought myself above them."

Scarred by his mother

This hatred was not confined to school, because his own mother made it quite clear to him that she didn't like him, and the resentment turned violent.

Enrico: "I was beaten by my mother, even more than I was beaten in Mount Carey and Free Mountain, and worst of all, my mother did not hit me on my body; she would beat me on my head with a stick. There are scars on my head today where my mother beat me."

This was from a woman who was herself despised and ostracised "because she dared to reject the rules and regulations that reinforced the superiority of the white person over the black, and was condemned to a life of loneliness and poverty. She was not only a traitor to her white counterparts, but was seen as a loose woman, who had a tendency to loving black men".

So where was this black father of his?

"I once asked my mother about my father and all I got was a good hiding; after that I decided not to ask anymore."

After a while Enrico went to live with an Aunt Charlotte "in a big house on top of a hill". Life there was similar to that in Mount Carey, except there were no beatings. Yet, he was not very content.

Longing for the privileged education and life of Mount Carey, Enrico left Maroon Town one day without telling anyone, and got lost. After surviving on fruits and sugar cane for two weeks, he came upon a hut occupied by a tall, black woman. His young life was to take another intriguing turn.

Read about it, next week.

paul.williams@gleanerjm.com