Burma Road Riot in the Bahamas - 1808 Words

The effects of the war were much more immediate and explosive than anyone in the government anticipated. Within a few weeks of Pearl Harbor, plans had been laid to make New Providence a major air base, for America, and upgrading the airport close to Nassau which Sir Harry Oakes had already donated to the government, and adding a even larger Satellite Field next to Lake Killarney at the western end of the island. The building contract was rewarded by the United States regime to the large Pleasantville Corporation. This brought in modern equipment and advertised for twenty-five hundred local laborers. This construction development assured a relative bonanza for the local jobless, a chance to sell their labor for something like the rates†¦show more content†¦Adderly gave a brief speech to the Satellite Field workers at their transportation point on West Bay Street, calling for a return to work to â€Å"preserve harmony†, but they refused to move. At Oakes Field, where m ore than a thousand workers had gathered, Dr. Walker was even less successful, the men refusing to clock in and calling out, â€Å"No Work Today!† Oblivious to the serious trouble brewing, the â€Å"labor representatives† left Oakes Field for their own workday. The crowd got larger and more excited, and the presence of Captain Sears and a police detachment made the matters worse. The crowd reached more than two thousand, and Sears sent for reinforcements. By that time, large groups of laborers, many equipped with sticks and machetes, had left the field and were marching north through the crowded Southern District towards downtown Nassau. As they went, they sand â€Å"patriotic† songs. More volatile and disorganized than the traditional parades descending on Bay Street from Over the Hill, the laborers and their family supporters were still merely looking for someone in authority to whom to express their grievances and whom they might obtain some kind of satisfaction. Hundreds gathered in front of the colonial secretary’s office, where, instead of Leslie Heape, they were addressed at 9 A.M. by the expatriate attorney general, Eric Hallinan. He began toShow MoreRelatedBurma Road Riot 1942 Essay2273 Words   |  10 PagesThe Burma Road Riot The 1942 riot in Nassau was a short-lived spontaneous outburst by a group of disgruntled labourers, and occurred against a background of narrow socio-economic and political policies. Quoted from The 1942 riot in Nassau: A demand for Change? by Gail Saunders.   The construction project promised a relative bonanza for the local unemployed, a chance to sell their labor for something like the rates they knew were normal on the mainland ... Unknown to them, however, the BahamasRead MoreRacial Segregation in The Bahamas and in South Africa2403 Words   |  10 Pagescentury for Black Bahamians and Black South Africans. There are many challenges that led to this dramatic turn as both societies underwent similar hardships. Both countries were under the yoke of colonized foreign systems where they were governed: the Bahamas under the British system and Africa under the English and Dutch. Similarly, both were dominated and suppressed by the white minority who ensured that the black majority remained in bondage. â€Å"History punishes those who resort to force and fraud to