Search

The article presents an assessment of notes generated by France's surveillance of African and Afro-Caribbean migrants during the interwar years to analyze how black men made use of racial terms such as nègre and mulâtre. It is suggested that this racial language was infused with new political, social, and cultural meaning after World War I. How workers and intellectuals developed a race awareness that was both a response to colonialism and as a reaction against those who did not appear anti-imperial enough in their politics is discussed. It is argued that racial language expressed the nuances of black political and ideological stances with respect to the French Empire. The meanings granted to race are traced through organizations such as the Union des Travailleurs Nègres.