Béké

A Béké are the white Creoles descended from the first European, usually French, settlers and planters mainly in Martinique, but also in Guadeloupe. The Békés are less than one percent of the population on both islands, numbering 3,000 on Martinique and 2,000 on Guadeloupe yet they control much of the local industry.^[1]

The term is possibly derived from Martinican Creole, through an African language. Berbice Dutch had a similar word bɛkɛ which also referred to a European or white person.^[2] The origin of the term is unclear, although it is attested to in colonial documents from as early as the first decade of the eighteenth century. Some possible origins for the word include from Kalabari ̣bekín ̣bọ (“white person, European”) or Ashanti m’béké ("man in power").^[3]

It may also derive from Igbo phrases that describe Europeans. One Caribbean tradition holds that it originated from the question « eh bé qué ? » (« eh bien quoi ? », similar to "Well, what?"), an expression picked up from the French settlers. Another explanation is that its origin lies in the term « blanc des quais » ("a White from the quay") as the White colonists and merchants controlled the ports.^[4]

William Balfour Baikie explored most of south east Nigeria and parts of cross rivers and Benue States. Ethnic groups in these areas also refer to a white person as 'ubekee' (Igede people in Benue State and parts of Cross Rivers State).

In Guadeloupe one theory speaks also of the "Blanc Créole" or "Blan Kréyol", abbreviated to BK, ergo Béké.^[5]

The term Béké doesn't refer to all White people in the Antilles. In Guadeloupe the term Blan Péyi (French Blancs-Pays) is more commonly used, but is much broader in the sense that includes the local Békés and the White people born in the Antilles that have adapted to the Creole life but are not descendants of the first settlers. Blancs-créole is another similar term. Béke goyave refers to a non-rich Béké and originated from a time when guava was considered a less lucrative crop to bananas.^[6] The terms métro (from métropolitain), Blancs-France, Béké-France (in Martinique) are neutral terms used to describe White people from mainland France. Z’oreille (also zoreille and zorey) is a more mocking term for the mainland French that either live on or visit the island.^[7]

A separate group of Whites known as Blancs-Matignons live in the Grands Fonds of Guadeloupe and are descended from a mix of impoverished Whites settlers, indentured laborers, and refugee aristocratic Whites that fled being guillotined during the Revolution. They number around 400 people and are a shrinking community that has become increasingly mixed-race.^[8][9]

The Îles des Saintes has a population that is primarily European, but they are distinct from Békés as they descended from modest settlers (petit-blancs) and have a seafaring culture that developed in isolation.^[10]

The first White settlers arrived to the Antilles in 1635 with Pierre Belain d'Esnambuc. Though Békés are known for being descended from nobility, the early settlers were a diverse group with nobility making up a small minority. Of the nobility that did come, they were the youngest sons from noble and bourgeois families who under the laws of the Ancien régime could not benefit from their father's wealth. This lesser nobility mainly started arriving between 1655 and 1665 and were granted 100 to 300 hectares of land.^[11][12]

The next group were the engagés, indentured servants who signed contracts to be transported and work on the islands. Most of them were rural workers and artisans. Another group were ex-convicts, who had nothing to lose by moving to the Antilles, as well as judicial exiles, people who were forcibly shipped out usually either because they had debts they couldn't pay off or they were beggars who were convicted of vagrancy. French women didn't start arriving in large numbers until 1680. These women were called envoyées du Roi and they were orphans mainly recruited from Paris. Larger groups of French aristocracy began to immigrate between 1751 and 1764 to invest in the plantations and set up sugar refineries.^[13] Though a majority of early settlers were French, other Europeans arrived as well, noticeably Madeirans and Dutch.

In 1794, when the French Revolution had abolished slavery and aristocracy, planters from Martinique and Guadeloupe had signed the Whitehall Accord with the British to maintain slavery on the islands in exchange for British occupation. Guadeloupe was invaded that year, but the British were defeated by the French led by Victor Hughes, who had the royalists and planters executed. 867 of them were shot and another 27 were guillotined.^[12]

The British were however more successful in being able to protect Martinique which was under British occupation until 1802. Because of this slavery survived on the island and the White population remained, with some refugees from Guadeloupe settling on Martinique. Today the Béke families of Guadeloupe are related to the ones in Martinique who much later in time would move there, especially in 1902 with the eruption of Mount Pelée.

• Buckra
• Redleg
• Zoreilles