Act Like Us, Dress Like Us, But You'll Never Really Be Us

      Actual death might have been better. And so all this fuss over empire-what went wrong here,      
      what for I can say to them what went wrong: they should never have left their precious
      England, a place they loved so much, a place they had to leave but could never forget.
      And so everywhere they went they turned it into England; and everybody they met
      they turned English. But no place could ever really be England, and nobody who
      did not look exactly like them would ever be English, so you could imagine the
      destruction of people and land that came from that.
                                                (Kincaid 24)

    This passage speaks to the nature of Empire and what it leaves behind. Contrary to the "you" that Kincaid uses throughout her short autobiography, she is using "they" here. She uses "they" to make the "you" understand the impact colonialism had over "a small place" that is only ever looked upon for leisure. The tourist doesn't understand the complex history in the small places they visit, rather they look at the present, enjoy the present, and overlook the difference problems that a complex history has left behind in that so-called "paradise". However, the colonialism that took place had a violent and racist history that now lies as remnants on street signs and a reliance on the tourist industry.
    Many of those who were wealthy Englishmen were former slave owners, their profit originated out of violence, and yet they were the ones at the top of society. There is a constant emphasis on "getting over the past", yet the past is also a part of the present. The names in Antigua, such as the name of the bank, is a relic of slaveholders (Barclay's Bank). A bank is at the center of profit, and by having a bank named after slaveholders it is a reminder of that profit and violence made off of human beings. However, a tourist would simply see "the name" and not "the history" in it.
     The English attempted to take away their language and to try to "turn everyone English", yet paradoxically those who attempted to "be English" would never be "English". "They" took the profit of the country and left their names behind. What England left behind was violence, destruction, racism, and a country that had to built itself back up economically through the evils of tourism, the "you" who does not understand the relevance of these violences. The Antiguans' are still forced into servitude through tourism. They are the "subordinate" who were never English, and now rely an industry that still is centered around "service".