Circumstances

Caryl Phillips wrote his essay in 1998 and included it in a 2001 book titled A New World Order: Selected Essays.

As the title of the essay announces, “The Pioneers: Fifty Years of Caribbean Migration to Britain” was written on the occasion of the 50-year anniversary of the arrival of the first Caribbean migrants to Britain. This circumstantial aspect is also mentioned several times in the essay: “So fifty years after the SS Empire Windrush unloaded 492 Jamaicans at Tilbury docks…” (p. 31, ll. 1-2); “Fifty years ago the SS Empire Windrush dropped anchor at Tilbury docks and discharged 492 Jamaicans.” (p. 33, ll. 21-22)

The essay also functions as a review of how British society changed in those 50 years to become multicultural and more inclusive. The writer mentions the xenophobic attitudes that prevailed in Britain in the 1960s and 1970s when the slogan “Keep Britain White” (p. 31, ll. 26-27) was popular.

However, he also mentions more recent events to suggest that, although Britain has changed, there are still some problems with racism. For example, he cites the recent occasion when conservative politician Norman Tebbit argued against multiculturalism: “Should this happen we will once again find ourselves surrounded by people...