80th Anniversary of the 1937 Barbados Riots

I wrote this piece on my individuality1977 blog ten years ago.  It was about the 70th anniversary of the 1937 riots.  I thought I would reproduce it again with today being the 80th anniversary.  Sadly, in the ten years since, the state of affairs on the island have worsened and I shudder when I think about Barbados' future.

"70th Anniversary of the 1937 Barbados Riots- What Future for the Island?

July 26th, 1937- today is 70 years since the Barbados riots. Compared to rebellions, riots and revolutions that have played out in various parts of the world throughout history, these riots were negligible in terms of size and scale. They however had a considerable impact on the modern history of Barbados and helped to shape the island as we know it today.

Barbados in 1937 was a country sharply divided along the lines of race, with a small white elite holding economic and political power and a majority black population largely employed in the agricultural sector and suffering from poverty, lack of opportunity, unemployment, dismal labour conditions and general social and economic malaise. The racial structure that permeated the social, economic and political landscape rigidly reinforced these conditions. The economy was dominated by sugar and land ownership policies and patterns that promoted peasant agriculture and made it impossible to address poverty. The same open economy also made it difficult to redress poverty through wages and employment-related benefits. Barbados was a country still dominated by the plantation a hundred years after the abolition of slavery.

In any situation where people are oppressed, courageous men and women speak out and agitate for change and it was no different in Barbados. Men like Clennel Wickham and Charles Duncan O’neal were followed by a Trinidadian of Barbadian parentage, Clement Payne, who stood up for the working people of Barbados and advocated labour reform and the formation of trade unions.

Payne was able to inspire the common man and such was his influence that the Barbadian authorities deported him to Trinidad on July 26th, 1937. Crowds gathered at the news of his deportation and the anger and frustration that had built up erupted into riots that lasted for four days. The immediate result of the riots was 14 dead, 47 wounded, 500 arrests and millions of dollars worth of damage. The long-term consequences were far reaching.

The British Royal Commission of Inquiry headed by Lord Moyne was appointed in 1938 to investigate disturbances and unrest in the British West Indies and it recommended in its 1939 report that Britain invest in development and provision of social services.

The years following the riots would witness significant social and political reform in Barbados as black Barbadians emerged to rule a country where they were a majority. Payne, who died in 1941, did not live to see his dreams realised but his bravery in rebelling against the status quo was not in vain as generations of Bajans have benefited from his actions. Payne along with O’Neal are National Heroes of Barbados, an honour many also believe should be accorded to Clennel Wickham.

70 years to the day the riots began, Barbados is at a crossroads, with a widening gap between the rich and poor, extremely high cost of living, dissatisfaction among the population over widespread sale of land to foreigners and the inability of normal Barbadians to afford land and a lack of opportunity for the youth. I often wonder what Barbados will look like in 10-15 years time and I think I have a clear picture. It saddens me. I cannot imagine what it will look like in 70 years!"

Articles about Climate Change and the Environment

These are some interesting articles I read recently about climate change, big oil and oppression of earth defenders:

Hopes of Mild Climate Change Dashed by New Research
“Planet could heat up far more than hoped as new work shows temperature rises measured over recent decades don’t fully reflect global warming already in the pipeline.”

With at Least 200 Killed, 2016 Was Deadliest Year Ever for Earth Defenders
"New report finds 'activists are being murdered, attacked, and criminalized by the very people who are supposed to protect them'"

Jerry Brown's Climate Plan Just Another 'Handout to Big Oil,' Green Groups Say
“Gov. Brown's legislation "doesn't do enough to protect vulnerable communities or to achieve California's ambitious targets for reducing carbon pollution," argued 350.org's Masada Disenhouse”

What Possessed Barbados to Withhold Support for a UN Treaty Prohibiting Nuclear Weapons?

Today, July 7th, a majority of the world’s nations voted at the United Nations to approve a treaty banning nuclear weapons.  Officially called the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, it aims for the ultimate destruction of all nuclear weapons and the prohibition forever of their use.  The treaty will open for signature in September and once fifty countries have signed on, it will enter into force.  The negotiations on the treaty had been taking place for many months, culminating this week in New York.  The nine nuclear armed countries and some of their allies had boycotted the talks arguing that nuclear weapons were a necessary deterrent required by international security concerns.  

Disarmament issues were one of the areas under my portfolio when I represented Barbados at the United Nations and I still have former colleagues involved in disarmament matters.  Some of them posted on social media today expressing their happiness at the successful conclusion of the negotiations and there were even some photos taken of the voting board.  The vote had been passed with 122 countries voting in favour, 1 against and 1 abstention.  Imagine my shock when I saw nothing next to the name of Barbados.  Barbados had chosen not to vote!  Yes Barbados had chosen not to join most of the world’s countries in an international effort to rid humanity of a weapon of mass destruction capable of destroying countless people in one strike. 

For the life of me, I cannot fathom why Barbados chose not to support the treaty.  First, as a small island developing nation we are more vulnerable than most countries to the threats facing the world, whether environmental, economic or security.  Any use of a nuclear weapon in our region would devastate us and our neighbours with our small land masses and dependence on the sea around us.  Nuclear weapons are an existential threat and as a country we have always opposed them.  Why would we suddenly change our stance? Second, this recognition of the severity of the threat posed by nuclear weapons led to the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean establishing the Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean (Treaty of Tlatelolco) in the 1960s.  The Treaty resulted in the establishment of the world’s first nuclear weapons free zone (NWFZ).  Barbados is a party to that Treaty and I fail to grasp how we can adopt an antagonistic position on a universal treaty with similar disarmament intent. Barbados, Dominica and Nicaragua were the only three countries from the 33 Latin American and Caribbean countries party to the Treaty of Tlatelolco to not vote.  I am unaware why Dominica and Nicaragua did not vote but what interests me most is ascertaining why Barbados opted to act like it did.

Five years ago in 2012, Barbados also chose to vote in a contrary manner to most of the world.  On that occasion it was the UN General Assembly vote on Palestinian statehood, a course of action that lacked in principle and betrayed all the comments successive Barbadian administrations have made about self-determination.  While I remain fundamentally opposed to how Barbados voted then and the justification offered by the Prime Minister for its vote was nonsensical, I understood why it was done.  The Zionist pressure on his government was not something he or his Foreign Minister could resist, especially when a prominent Christian Zionist holds much sway with their party.  Political and economic expediency trumps principle every time when it comes to politicians.  On this instance though, I am at a loss to comprehend why Barbados would have a problem with an international treaty banning nuclear weapons.