ABSTRACT
The Coloured Alien Seamen Order of 1925 is notorious for being the first attempt by a British government to restrict the employment of black workers. This chapter argues that the policy of exclusion was initiated by officials of the Board of Trade and the Home Office in Cardiff and South Shields. The ‘standard view’ conforms with the conventions of analysis of the political processes of social democracies, wherein government policies appear as the negotiated outcome of proposais emerging from within the body of civil society. The problem of finding workable rules for British officials in the designated ports was rooted in the prior practical problem of accurately assigning ‘nationality’ to Arabic speakers. West Indians and black Americans became familiar figures aboard British sailing ships in the second half of the nineteenth century, were paid the same wages as Europeans and were highly regarded for their ability.
