It is true, as Mary wrote of her first visit to London as a young girl, that she and her companion had been poked fun at by the London street boys. But then London street boys would poke fun at anyone of their age who was not a London street boy.
Mary of course was no stranger to racial prejudice, having been exposed to it from US Nationals during her time in Columbia. As a result she unfairly but understandably disliked all white Americans. It is hard to believe that she would have opted to make her home base in London if she had experienced any such racial prejudice there.
Once in the Crimea, Mary's colour and background actually worked in her favour. If she had been English, Irish, Scottish or Welsh, she would have been feted by her home nation soldiery, the rest would have felt less able to relate totally to her. The other great divisive factor at the time was class, still apparent in the UK to this day, with acknowledgement to the famous sketch featuring John Cleese and the Two Ronnies, "I know my place." Mary, a Jamaican Creole from a family of hoteliers - middle class - with close ties to British officers and their families - upper class - and at the same time treating sick soldiers - lower class - was unclassifiable, and this allowed her warm generous and caring nature to break down class barriers and to be regarded as the surrogate mother of the entire British Army, regardless of rank or background.
The sceptics may argue that Mary's long positive association with the British armed forces in Jamaica allowed her reputation to precede her and ensured her instant acceptability. Without that would she have been received as well as a white woman running the hotel might have been?
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