Ethnic Pride and Racial Prejudice in Victorian Cape Town

by Vivian Bickford-Smith

Nineteenth-century Cape Town, the capital of the British Cape Colony, was conventionally regarded as a liberal oasis in an otherwise racist South Africa. Longstanding British influence was thought to mitigate the racism of the Dutch settlers and foster the development of a sophisticated and colour-blind English merchant class. Vivian Bickford-Smith skilfully interweaves political, economic and social analysis to show that the English merchant class, far from being liberal, were generally as racist as Afrikaner farmers. Theirs was, however, a peculiarly English discourse of race, mobilised around a 'Clean Party' obsessed with sanitation and the dangers posed by 'un-English' Capetonians in a period of rapid urbanisation brought about by the discovery of diamonds and gold in the interior. This original contribution to South African urban history draws on comparative material from other colonial port towns and on relevant studies of the Victorian city.

310 pages, Hardcover

First published March 31, 1995

Reviews

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

A not quite riveting account of South African racism in the Cape before the African war. Very depressing reading, on many levels. Sometimes it seemed as persons of color actually had a chance to achieve some better level of justice, but for every gain, it was two steps back soon after. I was especially interested in the development of segregation, the loss of the franchise, the divisions between "clean" English-descended Cape citizens and "dirty," Dutch-descended, and how these differences were used, to divide and conquer persons of color. In many respects a plodding book full of too. many names and places and dates to keep track of. At the same time, a very helpful window on Cape Town. I'm writing a historical novel that takes place (in part) here, and on that level, a great book for making sure that I wasn't making any egregious errors!