Béké

A Béké are the white Creoles descended from the early European, usually French, settlers mainly in Martinique, but also in Guadeloupe.

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.^[1] 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").^[2]

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 "What's up"), 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.^[3]

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.^[4]

The term Béké doesn't refer to all White people in the Antilles. In Guadeloupe the term Blan Péyi (French Blancs-Pays) and Blancs-créole are much broader terms used to talk about 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. The terms métro (from métropolitain) and Blancs-France are also both neutral terms used to describe White people from mainland France. Z’oreille (also zoreille) is a more mocking term for the mainland French that either live on or visit the island.^[5] 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.^[6][7] 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.^[8]

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.^[9]

The békés supported Marshall Philippe Pétain's Révolution nationale during Vichy France in 1940-1944.^[10]

The 2009 French Caribbean general strikes were to some degree aimed against the class difference that exists between the békés and the predominantly mixed Black and White majority population.^[9]

• Buckra
• Redleg
• Zoreilles