Notes

Desmond Rolle Jr.
March 28th, 2020
History

Burma Road Riot
Questions.
1. Why was the Burma Road Riot the first shot in the Quiet Revolution?
Dame Doris Johnson, noted Bahamian politician, has argued that the 1942 riot was a watershed
event in the Bahamas’ political and racial history. That the June 1st and 2nd disturbances were
emblematic of a growing political consciousness within the Bahamas’ majority black community
and was the explosive start of what would ultimately be a relatively quiet revolution to usher in
black rule and independence in the former British colony. As Johnson recorded, as a
consequence of the riot ‚the first awakenings of a new political awareness began to be felt in the
hearts of black people < time, and the remarkable foresight, courage, and initiative of a few
dedicated members of that majority were all that were required to crystallize this awareness into
a mighty political force.‛1 Sir Randol Fawkes, labor leader and parliamentarian, has concurred.2
As they rightly point out, the riot was the first major collective labor action in the Bahamas with
political overtones.
2. Explain why historians have traditionally downplayed the importance of the Burma Road Riot?
Although the 1942 riot has been described as a key event in the political development of the
Bahamas, scholars have consistently downplayed its significance. Hughes, for instance, has
described the riot as ‚a momentary outburst of raw energy‛ that ‚provided martyrs and a heroic
moment‛ to Bahamian blacks ‚once a political movement had finally started.‛65 Similarly,
Saunders has suggested that ‚black anger < erupted spontaneously and then quickly died.‛66
The reason that they discount the significance of the riot, we believe, is because they focus too
intently of its immediate socio-economic and political consequences. Since little on the surface
changed in the aftermath of the riot, they concluded that the riot did not change much in the
Bahamas. In a sense, they are correct. The Bay Street oligarchs barely loosened their grip on
social, political and economic life in the country after the disturbance. And, it took two and a half
decades for the majority black Progressive Liberal Party to snatch political control from the Bay
Street merchant princes.
This preoccupation with immediate effects, however, obscures the true importance of the riot. In
our view, it can not be reduced to a ‚short lived spontaneous outburst by a group of disgruntled
labourers < *that+ occurred against a background of narrow socio-economic and political
policies.‛ 67 First, we see it as the opening skirmish in the battle for majority rule in the Bahamas.
The political awareness and willingness to take on the Bay Street oligarchs that Bahamian blacks
evidenced during the riot was rarely exhibited before the riot. After the riot, evidence of their
political awakening was quite obvious. Second, the anger vented by the rioters was reflective of
3. What were the effects of the Burma Road Riot?
Consequences of Burma Road Riot Project workers received a 25 per cent increase in pay plus free lunches. And a few weeks after that a House of Assembly committee led by Stafford Sands recommended compensation for the (mostly white) merchants whose stores had been damaged.