Brown Babies tells the story of people who, like Denny, have been denied their birthright because they are of mixed race. In almost every case, the experiences and circumstances of these children are a result of racial prejudice inflicted on both their parents, for which they can take no responsibility.
The film follows several men and women currently involved in the quest to find their parents, their lost families and their identities, chronicling their frustrations, anxieties, fears, disappointments and emotional reconciliations along the way. Through their powerful and engaging stories, the forgotten wartime experiences of the black American soldiers and their white sweethearts unfolds.
The black GIs
However, when the white GIs arrived, they were adamant that black American
soldiers should be treated in Britain exactly as they had been in the
United States. US troops imposed their segregationist views as if it were a
condition of their supporting the allied war effort. For instance, the
United States of America Visiting Forces Act, enacted by the US Congress in
August 1942, stipulated that black soldiers abroad were subject to the same
restrictions and racial segregation as in their home country. So the
luggage of racism was transported across to Britain as if part of American
military supplies.
Black soldiers in uniform were only allowed to marry white British women
with the permission of their commanding officers (and this permission was
almost always withheld), were forbidden from entering official whites-only
areas in public places and were subjected to a host of other racial bans
which British society had never encountered before. Towns near US army
bases - and many of their black British residents - can attest to the
heightening of racial tension caused by the arrival of the American GIs.
Some of the white soldiers told credulous English country-folk that black
men had tails, and others victimised their black comrades-in-arms - one
group of paratroopers roamed the streets assaulting any black soldier they
could find.
The American brand of racism did not come naturally to British civilians.
Many had welcomed the blacks and were adamant that all soldiers - black and
white - fighting for European liberty should be treated the same. When
rioting between black and white soldiers broke out in a city centre and
military police waded in, some British locals lined up alongside the black
GIs.
From May 1942 until the end of World War II, some 130,000 black GIs came to
Britain. Most contemporary accounts tell how they felt completely liberated
in Britain compared to their restricted lives in the United States. Many
were at first astonished and then delighted to find a white society that
actually showed them hospitality and then respect.
White women and Tan Yanks
At the same time, with most eligible white men away in the services and few
black women available, the 'Tan Yank' was a hit with many local white
women. They found the black troops fascinating and appreciated their
attentiveness and good manners. To them, the black GI was less bombastic
and complaining than his white counterpart. Numerous contemporary surveys
and pieces of research support the opinion of one 20-year-old girl, who
said at the time that the blacks were 'marvellous - treat you as if you are
something rare and precious - don't take you for granted as Englishmen do.'
The fact that the black soldiers were in England at all was against the wishes of some prominent British politicians, who feared that the GIs' presence in the country would lead to all kinds of problems. And as time wore on, in a situation fuelled by prejudice and jealousy, the British began to be swayed by American opinion. It was not long before official fears were voiced at the prospect of British women having sexual liaisons with the black soldiers, resulting in mixed-race marriages and mixed-race babies. Over the months, public disapproval regarding sexual relations between black GIs and white girls became increasingly strong.
Women accused of 'chasing' black soldiers were ostracised by the Americans and branded as prostitutes. Consequently many British girls were forced, under pressure, to drop their boyfriends. For those who didn't and were determined not to allow racism to get in the way of their love, their romances were curtailed when the soldiers were sent away. Marriage was usually out of the question - white officers almost invariably refused permission.
The brown babies
Three solutions to the 'problem' were suggested:
The problem was slightly different for the mothers who were already
married. Their husbands - fighting abroad - were usually oblivious of the
illicit romances that had taken place at home, and the babies that were the
result of these liaisons were very obviously not theirs. For many of the
wives, the price of reconciliation with their returning husbands was the
removal of their babies; for others, there was no reconciliation at all. In
the spring of 1945, an American Red Cross worker in Britain noted in his
diary that he had had a 'Funny case today - a woman came - wanted us to
help her - seems her husband is divorcing her - she just had a baby and it
is a dear little thing - but colored!'
Single mothers also experienced great pressures. A few marriages to black
GIs did take place, but they were complicated by the fact that such
marriages were illegal in many American states because of
anti-miscegenation laws, even if the marriages had been contracted abroad.
Many of the unmarried women did keep their babies, though financial
constraints made it difficult. There was no money coming from the US Army
or State Department, and paternity suits were not permissible in many
states either. Furthermore, the prospect of these women meeting and
marrying (white British) men who would accept their brown offspring seemed
remote.
The public stigma and attendant social pressures involved in bringing up a
mixed-race child made the situation even worse. Many of the mothers were
quite young and, for some, life became unbearable. One women describes how
she was shunned by her whole village: 'The inspector for the National
Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children told my friend to keep
her children away from my house ... as didn't she know that I had two
coloured illegitimate babies? Isn't there anywhere I can go where my
children will not get pushed around?' There were a few reports of mothers
trying to hide their babies, while in Shrewsbury, one woman abandoned her
four-month-old brown baby in a public toilet. However, in many instances,
the mother's parents or another family member came to the rescue.
There were numerous black GI fathers who wanted their children to be sent
to the US. However, under British law, children were only allowed to be
sent abroad to live with British subjects. Some people also had moral
objections against sending the children out of the UK, because of the
discrimination against black people in many parts of the United States.
An estimated 2,000 illegitimate mixed-race - brown - babies were born to
white English mothers. An increase in the incidence of illegitimate
children was nothing new in wartime. So what was the 'brown baby problem'?
Not only were these children illegitimate, but they were also
'coffee-coloured', and thus their absorption into society was hardly
straightforward. Harold Moody, the black doctor who founded the League of
Coloured Peoples in England in the 1930s, summed up the situation nicely:
'When what public opinion regards as the taint of illegitimacy is added to
the disadvantage of mixed race, the chances of these children having a fair
opportunity for development and service are much reduced.'
The fate of the children
For some of the 'brown babies', it was not until they were in their late
teens and early 20s that they were able to deal with the combined issues of
race and illegitimacy which had caused them such torment as children.
However, most simply did not know where they belonged.
As many of them have grown up, suffering prejudice and identity crises,
they have become increasingly curious about their roots. Only some of the
children can pinpoint the exact moment when they learned about the
circumstances of their births. There are those who can ask their mothers
and hope that they will be forthcoming. However, many mothers refuse to
give any information about their children's fathers, for fear of opening
old wounds.
The children who have tried to find out about their fathers have met with
mixed success. Some have searched fruitlessly for 30 years before finally
giving up, while others have discovered all they want to know about their
fathers and their families on the other side of the Atlantic after just a
few weeks. Still others have stopped midway through their quests for fear
of rejection. For many, the process of searching is the only way that they
can deal with their colour and the circumstances of their birth and
upbringing. So even if they don't find what they want, it is still a
worthwhile journey.
It seemed that, although a few were adopted when they were very small, the
majority of the children were destined to spend childhood and adolescence
in statutory or voluntary children's homes. They were 'pushed through the
system', being moved from home to home. While some may have had positive
experiences, others suffered miserably.