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Thank you, and good morning, everyone. I'm going to talk about the process, which led to abolition and some of the consequences of abolition.

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Well, before I begin, I want to talk a little bit about paternalism.

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Paternalism is the nexus that defined the relationship between slave and slave master paternalism

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as a system of oppression that led to serious consequences for the black population in Bermuda.

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By paternalism, I refer to a system of oppression in which there was a one to one relationship between the slave and slave master.

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Bermuda, unlike many other Caribbean territories, did not have a plantation system.

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So you do not have the system of large numbers working collectively together in opposition to the elites.

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You had a series of small interactions on the on the ships and in the home.

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So you had a one on one relationship that led to what I call a collective weakness within the black community,

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a collective weakness vis-a-vis the white elite, the dominant group.

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You saw that reflected in the fact that so many of the planned slave escapes.

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There was always someone who informed the slave master of what was being planned.

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That's indicative of a collective weakness within the black community. So there was resistance, but there was weakness.

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Nevertheless, this collective weakness found its way into the system and it permeated the system.

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By the time you get to abolition, you saw a very interesting system develop.

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You saw the government pass legislation to diminish the black political representation.

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The the voting qualification was increased from 40 pounds to 100 pounds to run for,

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I mean to vote and the qualification for those who wanted to run for office

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increase from having a property valued at 100 pounds to a value of 400 pounds.

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It's a very significant increase in the voting rights that led to a diminution of power within the black community.

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That was reflective of the change that took place at the same time you had a system whereby the white minority,

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non-white minority, as others have spoken to, attempted to diminish the black population.

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You saw that as to the editor saying to the black community, Oh, you should leave.

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You can find a better opportunity in Africa or elsewhere. And they would encourage people to leave the island.

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That was a symptom of the white elite attempting to diminish the black population.

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There was also an effort made in 1842 to pass a law entitled An Act to encourage the white people to come to Bermuda from England.

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So the very clear manifestation of the racialized policies these racialized policies continued in existence right up until,

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well, the 1960s and 70s, because you saw the efforts in the 1920s,

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early 19th, early 20th century, in 1920,

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where they brought in West Indian workers to work the dry docks up and dockyard and whenever they brought in someone.

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They will always say that they wanted them to leave, whereas the whites who came in, they would encourage them to stay.

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So the very clear racial bias with the immigration policy, which is long standing and that's a significant factor for me to experience.

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We saw this reflected in the 1920s and 30s, and it goes right up until the 1950s, and now we're getting ahead of myself.

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But the 1950s was a period of great transformation in regard to immigration policy.

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You saw the 1950s and 60s great change in the nineteen fifties.

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You had a net migrant population of about 700 people coming to the island 1960 to 1970.

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You had net growth of eight eight thousand people,

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and most of these people were able to vote after being here for three years because we changed the legislation to allow

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anyone who had lived on the island with the British Commonwealth citizen the right to vote after three years of residence.

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And so there was a clear policy to orchestrate the immigration policy for political purposes right up until that time.

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And that's the reality they we had to face. It was a very clear cold reality.

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But immigration policy has been a symptom of the racialized policies of Bermuda.

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That's what we witnessed in our in our period of time. That was the reality of it.

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And that's what we had to deal with, the racialised policies continue to permeate the island and it led to some resistance.

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But in the 19 in 1830, there was no resistance. That was a reflection of the collective weakness in the black community,

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where the parliament the law was changed to grant blacks reduced voting rights and power.

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There was very little resistance to it. And that was suggestive of a weakness in the black community.

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Thank you. The families left.

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Yes. The issue of immigration is a significant one in the 1920s.

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You saw the population shifting to what bringing investing in workers.

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And that created a certain set of challenges that led to attempts to marginalise

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Marshall the black population into into discontent within the black community.

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You saw attempts to divide the black population amongst the best in the population.

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There were reports in the House of Assembly where they talked about the good workers being the median black community workers,

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the bad workers being the best in the workforce. So there was clear attempts to divide and conquer the population.

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There was an effort made that was almost successful because they have helped to create divisions within the black population.

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The rest of the population were a population that was much more resistant to the status quo.

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They challenge the elites much more so those who worked at the dry docks and they always the more actively involved in civil disobedience.

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That was in contrast to the more placid nature of the black commuting population.

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And so that led to a series of challenges. So that's what we have before us.

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Okay, thank you very much. Okay.