I’m not afraid to admit when I’m wrong. I made a statement stating how I hated how Americans are using the protests as an excuse to steal but then I began reading into the Burma Road riots today and remembered that sometimes you have to go to the extreme to get a point across. Bahamian men were not being paid as much as their foreign and white counterparts. They marched Bay Street, protesting and looting the stores. Britain got a whiff of the unrest in the Bahamas.
Claudius Walker, representing the Bahamas Labour Federation, met with the Duke of Windsor informing him of the true Bahamian lifestyle in 1942. A life filled with overworked men in poverty struggling to provide for their families. A life where the majority live like a minority.
A week later, the worker received a pay increase and the Duke sent a commission of inquiry to look into the Bahamas. A commission that led to many changes in our country such as new laws and trade unions, local government on out islands, reduction of parliamentary life from 7 years to 5 years, tax raises on the wealthy and one ballot per man voting system.
With that being said, on the anniversary of the Burma Road Riots and the day after the anniversary of two young Bahamian men who were murdered in Turin, Italy, continue to speak out until a change comes.
Concerned Citizen