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.
Well, before I begin, I want to talk a little bit about paternalism.
Paternalism is the nexus that defined the relationship between slave and slave master paternalism
as a system of oppression that led to serious consequences for the black population in Bermuda.
By paternalism, I refer to a system of oppression in which there was a one to one relationship between the slave and slave master.
Bermuda, unlike many other Caribbean territories, did not have a plantation system.
So you do not have the system of large numbers working collectively together in opposition to the elites.
You had a series of small interactions on the on the ships and in the home.
So you had a one on one relationship that led to what I call a collective weakness within the black community,
a collective weakness vis-a-vis the white elite, the dominant group.
You saw that reflected in the fact that so many of the planned slave escapes.
There was always someone who informed the slave master of what was being planned.
That's indicative of a collective weakness within the black community. So there was resistance, but there was weakness.
Nevertheless, this collective weakness found its way into the system and it permeated the system.
By the time you get to abolition, you saw a very interesting system develop.
You saw the government pass legislation to diminish the black political representation.
The the voting qualification was increased from 40 pounds to 100 pounds to run for,
I mean to vote and the qualification for those who wanted to run for office
increase from having a property valued at 100 pounds to a value of 400 pounds.
It's a very significant increase in the voting rights that led to a diminution of power within the black community.
That was reflective of the change that took place at the same time you had a system whereby the white minority,
non-white minority, as others have spoken to, attempted to diminish the black population.
You saw that as to the editor saying to the black community, Oh, you should leave.
You can find a better opportunity in Africa or elsewhere. And they would encourage people to leave the island.
That was a symptom of the white elite attempting to diminish the black population.
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.
So the very clear manifestation of the racialized policies these racialized policies continued in existence right up until,
well, the 1960s and 70s, because you saw the efforts in the 1920s,
early 19th, early 20th century, in 1920,
where they brought in West Indian workers to work the dry docks up and dockyard and whenever they brought in someone.
They will always say that they wanted them to leave, whereas the whites who came in, they would encourage them to stay.
So the very clear racial bias with the immigration policy, which is long standing and that's a significant factor for me to experience.
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.
But the 1950s was a period of great transformation in regard to immigration policy.
You saw the 1950s and 60s great change in the nineteen fifties.
You had a net migrant population of about 700 people coming to the island 1960 to 1970.
You had net growth of eight eight thousand people,
and most of these people were able to vote after being here for three years because we changed the legislation to allow
anyone who had lived on the island with the British Commonwealth citizen the right to vote after three years of residence.
And so there was a clear policy to orchestrate the immigration policy for political purposes right up until that time.
And that's the reality they we had to face. It was a very clear cold reality.
But immigration policy has been a symptom of the racialized policies of Bermuda.
That's what we witnessed in our in our period of time. That was the reality of it.
And that's what we had to deal with, the racialised policies continue to permeate the island and it led to some resistance.
But in the 19 in 1830, there was no resistance. That was a reflection of the collective weakness in the black community,
where the parliament the law was changed to grant blacks reduced voting rights and power.
There was very little resistance to it. And that was suggestive of a weakness in the black community.
Thank you. The families left.
Yes. The issue of immigration is a significant one in the 1920s.
You saw the population shifting to what bringing investing in workers.
And that created a certain set of challenges that led to attempts to marginalise
Marshall the black population into into discontent within the black community.
You saw attempts to divide the black population amongst the best in the population.
There were reports in the House of Assembly where they talked about the good workers being the median black community workers,
the bad workers being the best in the workforce. So there was clear attempts to divide and conquer the population.
There was an effort made that was almost successful because they have helped to create divisions within the black population.
The rest of the population were a population that was much more resistant to the status quo.
They challenge the elites much more so those who worked at the dry docks and they always the more actively involved in civil disobedience.
That was in contrast to the more placid nature of the black commuting population.
And so that led to a series of challenges. So that's what we have before us.
Okay, thank you very much. Okay.