{"id":535,"date":"2023-02-27T19:03:47","date_gmt":"2023-02-27T19:03:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iris.siue.edu\/texacowiki\/?page_id=535"},"modified":"2024-07-29T21:13:40","modified_gmt":"2024-07-29T21:13:40","slug":"bekes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iris.siue.edu\/texacowiki\/bekes\/","title":{"rendered":"B\u00e9k\u00e9s"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Introduction<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
Sugar-cane cutters in Jamaica with the b\u00e9k\u00e9<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

B\u00e9k\u00e9s are the white population of Martinique<\/a> who have been living there for generations (Bongie 225). As seen with Esternome\u2019s<\/a> early life stories, b\u00e9k\u00e9s were originally plantation owners and owned masses of enslaved people. The b\u00e9k\u00e9s\u2019 forces were harsh, and they continued to push the power discrepancies, which allowed themselves to continue to grow in power and wealth. Once slavery was abolished, the formerly enslaved still remained agricultural workers for the b\u00e9k\u00e9s while being paid poorly. The citizenship that was gained did not give true freedom to these people as they were forced to work under harsh conditions and little pay. The people versus b\u00e9k\u00e9 dynamic was not impacted too greatly as seen with Marie-Sophie\u2019s experiences with b\u00e9k\u00e9s. The hatred for b\u00e9k\u00e9s stayed consistent, and she is seen fighting b\u00e9k\u00e9s daily, which by the end of Texaco<\/em>, b\u00e9k\u00e9s are the ones in charge of businesses and companies and have a large impact on the local economy. The word b\u00e9k\u00e9 is a more generalized term now for white business owners who have a lot of power and control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

In History<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As seen in Texaco,<\/em> b\u00e9k\u00e9s are domineering authority figures who like to have all the power and enforce their prejudices. When the b\u00e9k\u00e9s arrived in the Caribbean, they made up approximately 10-15 percent of the population in Martinique, and today, they make up about 1 percent (McCusker 221). While only being a small population, they aspired to preserve their race to guarantee economic authority through racial uniformity, so they enforced a caste to ensure white dominance. They would prevent interbreeding between races, and if there were to come a mixed-race child, they would refuse to recognize it (McCusker 221). Since starting as plantation owners, their idea that colored people were lesser and the hatred they harbored for them were made clear. These b\u00e9k\u00e9s were seen as unjust and power-crazed owners. The control that the b\u00e9k\u00e9s had made it harder for anyone else to succeed, and even the majority of Martinique\u2019s laws were developed to benefit these b\u00e9k\u00e9s to also ensure economic control and wealth (Bongie 224). <\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

After hundreds of years of slavery, a free colored man named Cyrille Bissette became the advocate for freedom. He entered into an electoral alliance against a prominent b\u00e9k\u00e9, won in 1848, stirred the capitalist society, and played a major role in the Emancipation of 1848 (Bongie 225- 227). He is even known as the father of the abolition of slavery in Martinique (Bongie 224). Texaco<\/em> showcases the celebration of citizenship and the hardships that shortly come after. B\u00e9k\u00e9s were still very haunting and cruel to the former enslaved people, and the hatred for b\u00e9k\u00e9s never lessened. Some b\u00e9k\u00e9s moved to neighboring lands in hopes to regain their force. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The b\u00e9k\u00e9s that stayed, though, were resilient and shifted the economy from the plantation model to a \u201cconsumption driven import, tourist and service \u201d domination (McCusker 221-222). This way, the b\u00e9k\u00e9s were still in power even without enslaved people. They knew how to exploit their power and forced their workers to work under abusive conditions and little pay. The workers were left with no choice other than to work to survive. It\u2019s clear the wealth and control that these b\u00e9k\u00e9s have has come from their past of slavery (Bongie 224). Martinique still has a power control issue and poor working conditions for many workers to this day, and many problems have surfaced but were not taken care of, which is further seen with Marie-Sophie\u2019s struggles throughout life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

In Texaco<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Throughout Texaco, <\/em>b\u00e9k\u00e9s are hated among the people of color due to their torturous behavior and unjust power. The narrator, Marie-Sophie<\/a>, tells her story with her father, Esternome, who was originally an enslaved person living on a plantation owned by a b\u00e9k\u00e9. The b\u00e9k\u00e9s during these early times were ferocious and corrupt, and even after the abolition of slavery, their ways didn\u2019t change. It is explained that there were \u201ctwo ways to work for a b\u00e9k\u00e9. The salary way,\u201d which meant getting paid very little for each task, \u201cOr the cooperative way,\u201d which meant getting paid a share of the season\u2019s harvest after the b\u00e9k\u00e9 took his share, yet neither were \u201cgenerous\u201d (Chamoiseau 112). Both options didn\u2019t allow the workers to live comfortably. The power hungry b\u00e9k\u00e9s continued to use their cruel dominance for their own benefit, so strikes broke out, which gave the workers some more freedom against the b\u00e9k\u00e9s. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Equality did not come with this freedom, however. Though some b\u00e9k\u00e9s left the country, Esternome goes on to say that even without owning the workers, the b\u00e9k\u00e9 \u201cstood just the same old way\u201d (Chamoiseau 113). They continued to abuse their power and carefully watched over the work that they were in charge of as if citizenship didn\u2019t change anything. No government rules, strikes, or wars fix this imbalance and discrimination, and b\u00e9k\u00e9s carry on controlling those around them. Over time, the term b\u00e9k\u00e9 loosened up throughout the novel from purely the plantation owner to a more general term for business owners, and by the time Marie-Sophie is trying to make a city for herself, \u201cb\u00e9k\u00e9\u201d is often used for many of the white men who own businesses and have power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Works Cited<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Bongie, Chris. “A Street Named Bissette: Nostalgia, Memory, and the Cent-Cinquantenaire of the Abolition of Slavery in Martinique (1848-1998).” The South Atlantic Quarterly<\/em>, vol. 100 no. 1, 2001, p. 215-257.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chamoiseau, Patrick. Texaco<\/em>. Trans. Rose-Myriam R\u00e9jouis & Val Vinokurov. NY: Vintage, 1997.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

McCusker, Maeve. \u201cAll Creoles Now? B\u00e9k\u00e9 Identity and \u00c9loge de La Cr\u00e9olit\u00e9.\u201d Small axe\u202f: a journal of criticism<\/em> 52 (2017): 220\u2013232. Print.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Editorial Collective<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Jayme Greer, Payton Carrol, Angel Flores<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Introduction B\u00e9k\u00e9s are the white population of Martinique who have been living there for generations (Bongie 225). As seen with Esternome\u2019s early life stories, b\u00e9k\u00e9s were originally plantation owners and owned masses of enslaved people. The b\u00e9k\u00e9s\u2019 forces were harsh, and they continued to push the power discrepancies, which allowed themselves to continue to grow […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":240,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sb_is_suggestion_mode":false,"_sb_show_suggestion_boards":false,"_sb_show_comment_boards":false,"_sb_suggestion_history":"","_sb_update_block_changes":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[21,14,34,20,27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-535","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-capitalism","category-colonialism","category-power","category-race","category-slavery"],"yoast_head":"\nB\u00e9k\u00e9s - Texaco Wiki<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/iris.siue.edu\/texacowiki\/bekes\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"B\u00e9k\u00e9s - Texaco Wiki\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Introduction B\u00e9k\u00e9s are the white population of Martinique who have been living there for generations (Bongie 225). As seen with Esternome\u2019s early life stories, b\u00e9k\u00e9s were originally plantation owners and owned masses of enslaved people. The b\u00e9k\u00e9s\u2019 forces were harsh, and they continued to push the power discrepancies, which allowed themselves to continue to grow […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/iris.siue.edu\/texacowiki\/bekes\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Texaco Wiki\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-02-27T19:03:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-07-29T21:13:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/iris.siue.edu\/texacowiki\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/67\/2023\/03\/image-12-edited.png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Texaco Wiki\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Texaco Wiki\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iris.siue.edu\\\/texacowiki\\\/bekes\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iris.siue.edu\\\/texacowiki\\\/bekes\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Texaco Wiki\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iris.siue.edu\\\/texacowiki\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/9acdc0fccb0a20a8e167b59882f8e13f\"},\"headline\":\"B\u00e9k\u00e9s\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-02-27T19:03:47+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-07-29T21:13:40+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iris.siue.edu\\\/texacowiki\\\/bekes\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1003,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iris.siue.edu\\\/texacowiki\\\/bekes\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iris.siue.edu\\\/texacowiki\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/67\\\/2023\\\/03\\\/image-12-edited.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"Capitalism\",\"Colonialism\",\"Power\",\"Race\",\"Slavery\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iris.siue.edu\\\/texacowiki\\\/bekes\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iris.siue.edu\\\/texacowiki\\\/bekes\\\/\",\"name\":\"B\u00e9k\u00e9s - Texaco Wiki\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iris.siue.edu\\\/texacowiki\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iris.siue.edu\\\/texacowiki\\\/bekes\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iris.siue.edu\\\/texacowiki\\\/bekes\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iris.siue.edu\\\/texacowiki\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/67\\\/2023\\\/03\\\/image-12-edited.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-02-27T19:03:47+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-07-29T21:13:40+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iris.siue.edu\\\/texacowiki\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/9acdc0fccb0a20a8e167b59882f8e13f\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iris.siue.edu\\\/texacowiki\\\/bekes\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/iris.siue.edu\\\/texacowiki\\\/bekes\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iris.siue.edu\\\/texacowiki\\\/bekes\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iris.siue.edu\\\/texacowiki\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/67\\\/2023\\\/03\\\/image-12-edited.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iris.siue.edu\\\/texacowiki\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/67\\\/2023\\\/03\\\/image-12-edited.png\",\"width\":470,\"height\":359},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iris.siue.edu\\\/texacowiki\\\/bekes\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iris.siue.edu\\\/texacowiki\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"B\u00e9k\u00e9s\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iris.siue.edu\\\/texacowiki\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iris.siue.edu\\\/texacowiki\\\/\",\"name\":\"Texaco Wiki\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iris.siue.edu\\\/texacowiki\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iris.siue.edu\\\/texacowiki\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/9acdc0fccb0a20a8e167b59882f8e13f\",\"name\":\"Texaco Wiki\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/fda830fab7e9fe1c27fe20d856421defaeaaf6e6a038d1592b732064f6e993aa?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/fda830fab7e9fe1c27fe20d856421defaeaaf6e6a038d1592b732064f6e993aa?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/fda830fab7e9fe1c27fe20d856421defaeaaf6e6a038d1592b732064f6e993aa?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Texaco Wiki\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/iris.siue.edu\\\/texacowiki\\\/author\\\/jesshut\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"B\u00e9k\u00e9s - Texaco Wiki","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/iris.siue.edu\/texacowiki\/bekes\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"B\u00e9k\u00e9s - Texaco Wiki","og_description":"Introduction B\u00e9k\u00e9s are the white population of Martinique who have been living there for generations (Bongie 225). As seen with Esternome\u2019s early life stories, b\u00e9k\u00e9s were originally plantation owners and owned masses of enslaved people. The b\u00e9k\u00e9s\u2019 forces were harsh, and they continued to push the power discrepancies, which allowed themselves to continue to grow […]","og_url":"https:\/\/iris.siue.edu\/texacowiki\/bekes\/","og_site_name":"Texaco Wiki","article_published_time":"2023-02-27T19:03:47+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-07-29T21:13:40+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/iris.siue.edu\/texacowiki\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/67\/2023\/03\/image-12-edited.png","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Texaco Wiki","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Texaco Wiki","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/iris.siue.edu\/texacowiki\/bekes\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/iris.siue.edu\/texacowiki\/bekes\/"},"author":{"name":"Texaco Wiki","@id":"https:\/\/iris.siue.edu\/texacowiki\/#\/schema\/person\/9acdc0fccb0a20a8e167b59882f8e13f"},"headline":"B\u00e9k\u00e9s","datePublished":"2023-02-27T19:03:47+00:00","dateModified":"2024-07-29T21:13:40+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/iris.siue.edu\/texacowiki\/bekes\/"},"wordCount":1003,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/iris.siue.edu\/texacowiki\/bekes\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/iris.siue.edu\/texacowiki\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/67\/2023\/03\/image-12-edited.png","articleSection":["Capitalism","Colonialism","Power","Race","Slavery"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/iris.siue.edu\/texacowiki\/bekes\/","url":"https:\/\/iris.siue.edu\/texacowiki\/bekes\/","name":"B\u00e9k\u00e9s - Texaco Wiki","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/iris.siue.edu\/texacowiki\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/iris.siue.edu\/texacowiki\/bekes\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/iris.siue.edu\/texacowiki\/bekes\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/iris.siue.edu\/texacowiki\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/67\/2023\/03\/image-12-edited.png","datePublished":"2023-02-27T19:03:47+00:00","dateModified":"2024-07-29T21:13:40+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/iris.siue.edu\/texacowiki\/#\/schema\/person\/9acdc0fccb0a20a8e167b59882f8e13f"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/iris.siue.edu\/texacowiki\/bekes\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/iris.siue.edu\/texacowiki\/bekes\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/iris.siue.edu\/texacowiki\/bekes\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/iris.siue.edu\/texacowiki\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/67\/2023\/03\/image-12-edited.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/iris.siue.edu\/texacowiki\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/67\/2023\/03\/image-12-edited.png","width":470,"height":359},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/iris.siue.edu\/texacowiki\/bekes\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/iris.siue.edu\/texacowiki\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"B\u00e9k\u00e9s"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/iris.siue.edu\/texacowiki\/#website","url":"https:\/\/iris.siue.edu\/texacowiki\/","name":"Texaco Wiki","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/iris.siue.edu\/texacowiki\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/iris.siue.edu\/texacowiki\/#\/schema\/person\/9acdc0fccb0a20a8e167b59882f8e13f","name":"Texaco Wiki","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fda830fab7e9fe1c27fe20d856421defaeaaf6e6a038d1592b732064f6e993aa?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fda830fab7e9fe1c27fe20d856421defaeaaf6e6a038d1592b732064f6e993aa?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fda830fab7e9fe1c27fe20d856421defaeaaf6e6a038d1592b732064f6e993aa?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Texaco Wiki"},"url":"https:\/\/iris.siue.edu\/texacowiki\/author\/jesshut\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iris.siue.edu\/texacowiki\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/535","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iris.siue.edu\/texacowiki\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iris.siue.edu\/texacowiki\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iris.siue.edu\/texacowiki\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/240"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iris.siue.edu\/texacowiki\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=535"}],"version-history":[{"count":22,"href":"https:\/\/iris.siue.edu\/texacowiki\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/535\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1032,"href":"https:\/\/iris.siue.edu\/texacowiki\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/535\/revisions\/1032"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iris.siue.edu\/texacowiki\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=535"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iris.siue.edu\/texacowiki\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=535"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iris.siue.edu\/texacowiki\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=535"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}