ISSUES OF MISCEGENATION AND RACIAL PURITY:

There was a general outrage at the concept of mixed race relations within colonial Europe, especially within Britain, who did not take the same line on the subject of assimilation as their French and especially Portuguese counterparts. Although mixed relationships between white males and coloured females were tolerated, similar such relationships concerning white women were not, as this raised imperial issues of race theory and Darwinistic eugenics.

A prime example of this was the reaction to the engagement of the son of the recently subjugated leader of the Ndebele to a Miss Kitty Jewell, an English woman. Indeed, "The proposed marriage seems to have been a trigger for a spate of articles raising, overtly now, the thorny issue of miscegenation". The controversy surrounding this inter-racial union was accentuated by the fact that not only did this take place in England itself, but also the fact that the African in question had been an exhibit at the 'Savage South Africa' exposition. This accentuated the fears that formed the basis for the paranoia concerning 'yellow' and e

In an attempt reduce the possibility of inter-racial relations, and thus protect the purity of the race, exhibitions and dramatic re-enactments were often used within Britain to re-affirm racial boundaries.

5) " Chronicle of the World" D. Mercer (1996)

The basis of the idea of the 'black peril' was the fear of sexual assault of white women by the native peoples of the European colonies, which stemmed from the theory that black men could not contain their sexual urges. This theory re-affirmed racially motivated 'scientific' ideas that the colonising Europeans were both evolutionary and culturally superior to their Imperial subjects, due to their conquering of their sexual instincts. This assertion that blacks were unable to control their sexuality animalised them, and thus served to confirm the theories of racial science which legitimised the presence of their European conquerors, who saw themselves as civilising the 'dark continent' . This coincides with theories that women's sexuality was evolutionary inferior to men's, and the concept of colonial women's vulnerability to sexual assault from black men re-confirms male superiority. Thus European men were able to use the 'black peril' scares as a method of cementing the existing sexual, social and racial boundaries which nineteenth century European culture had established.

In the early years of European Imperial involvement within Africa, the idea of a male white settler having sexual relations with a native woman (this was later to become known as the 'yellow peril') was considered to be perfectly acceptable, even in Britain. In some cases this was sanctioned to the degree that it virtually became part of Imperial policy, and the early stages of empire became a stage for sexual adventurers ( although not to the extent that many publications of the time would have us believe!). Indeed, the colonial Portuguese promoted the ideal of 'lusotropicalism', the Belgian administration accepted widespread concubinage and all the main colonial powers sanctioned Imperial brothels.

Some common words found in the essay are:
European Imperial, South Africa', Rhodesia Kenya, EUROPE Middle, RACIAL PURITY, Rhodesia Europe's, Africa Dutch, Jewell English, Protection Ordinance, , white women, 'black peril', 'yellow peril', sexual assault, white women black, concerning racial, sexual contact, sexual attacks, white female, white settlers, 'black' 'yellow' perils, mixed child born, 'black peril' scares, white males,
Approximate Word count = 1832
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)