Dear Editor,
There is an interesting historical backdrop to the present discussion and debate in the press on the treatment of Guyanese in Barbados. It comes from the pen of the late Walter Rodney. In a little known piece, ‘Barbadian Immigration into British Guiana 1863-1924,’ delivered at a conference of Caribbean historians in 1977, Rodney provides a sympathetic but scholarly analysis of Barbadian arrival, treatment and contribution in British Guiana in the period. The thirty-one page document addresses various aspects of the Barbadian immigration experience and should be of great interest to readers. At the outset, for one thing, he provides a clear indication of the phases in Barbados immigration:
“There were in effect three distinct periods of recorded Barbados immigration into British Guiana: namely 1835-1846, 1863-1886 and 1920-1928. These can be juxtaposed with Indian immigration which was virtually continuous between 1845 and 1917.”
In another section Rodney observes of the early Barbadian immigration:
“On arrival, Barbadians were treated with indifference by the Immigration Department. The standard practice for Indian immigrants was that they were afforded food, shelter and medical attention during the interim period before they moved onto their assigned estates. These facilities were not extended to Barbadians during the 1860s and 1870s. In seeking to remedy this state of affairs, the Immigration Department was concerned that a policy of self-neglect might well be self-defeating.”
He also refers to the contract issue at the time:
“Barbadians are frequently introduced without contracts of service and thereby fall outside of the purview of a department which was concerned primarily with indentured immigrants… lack of contracts also meant that Barbadians were not repatriated at government expense and under official scrutiny, so the data deficiencies are marked with regard to the movements of those who returned home. Some fresh Barbadian arrivals were also overlooked, especially over any span of years when the movement was neither substantial nor continuous… Immigration into British Guiana has been comprehensively and reliably tabulated by many scholars. Their figures indicate that the Barbadian component was numerically more significant than that from China or from the Portuguese dependencies of Madeira and the Azores, even though it was seldom that Barbados immigration could rival in importance that from India.”
Rodney spent a great deal of time on the key subject of labour and employment of Barbadians. This extract is typical:
“Planters expressed differing views on the efficacy of Barbadian labour and the wisdom of spending public funds as well as their own resources to promote this aspect of immigration. Foremost amongst the reservations held against Barbadians was the complaint that they arrived without contract and they did not necessarily work on the sugar estates… the charge that they refrained from working on the estates was clearly exaggerated. Barbadian immigration continued for as long as it did because it served the purposes of the sugar estates… Barbadian labour had certain qualitative advantages: it was seasoned agricultural labour, specifically experienced in the cultivation of sugar cane. As such, Barbadians were preferred to Portuguese immigrants who often arrived without an agricultural background; and West Indian sugar workers were also more valuable than Indians who were strangers to the sugar industry.”
Rodney also addresses the reaction of other working groups at the point in time to Barbadian immigration:
“The Royal Gazette reported in February 1868 that Creoles on the lower East Coast Demerara were threatening Barbadians ‘because the latter work more and at a lower rate than they do.’ Interestingly enough, even Indians felt that their opposition on the estates was undermined by Barbadians, and this grievance contributed to a series of disturbances in West Demerara in 1873.”
What we witness in these extracts are the human and practical aspects of immigration. Given the current conditions faced by Guyanese in Barbados, is this Rodney piece on Barbados immigration into British Guiana a piece of historical irony?
Yours faithfully,
Nigel Westmaas
This is quite interesting and I will definitely be seeking after these writings in their entirety.
All gone.Only passing memories. Defunct as of now.So do not waster your efforts meditating over what could have been. Wake up Gabriel.
Interesting piece.It points out bajan migration was during the colonial era and not during self government, so the Govt and people of Guyana cannot take claim or boast of helping bajans. You were all subjects of the colonial authorties and had NO power to say who come and go and too Westmass points out that you were hostile to bajans. Bajans owe Guyanese nothing, period!
Bajans big immigration happened under the colonial authorities, you understand that Pres Jagdeo and Guyanese. The West Indies and Caribbean were under British RULE. The PNC or PPP played NO part in bajan immigration as Guyanese want to boast of and insult bajans over.
Those illegal immigrants who failed to listen to Thompson and get their status regularise must be put on the first plane out. If they know they did not sort out their status they cannot insist time be given to them to pack up. Guyanese behaving wrong and strong. And your media and government are aiding and abetting the lawlessness. Pray, don’t let this lawlessness spread to Barbados.
it is not surprising that u can not see beyond the fact that we in british GUYANA an dem in bajan was “colonials” but on de ground in GUYANA we was ,,, is,,, an goh bloine will always be different to the small minded bajans ! since iz we ancestors at that particular time in our history ,, that helped de bajans wah bin come to british GUYANA nat de colonial masters !
i remember a mr. Lord ,, fum bajan livin in a storage shed in my grandfathers yard ,, he was so content to live there knowing he din had to pay rent ,, he got his meals fum either our home or Pappy’s in coburg st, new amsterdam ,, berbice in GUYANA !……. wen he passed ,, his burial was covered by my Pappy ,, and it was only after ,, we found out he was occupying space with a camoudie ,,, some 15′ long !……
dis is a small anecdote of the bajans who were like de Jews in de desert ! lookin fuh manna !
gwan suh ,, yuh like de british barn bajan PM wah now cum fuh mek u look stupid !….
Is it not interesting that Rodney, and by extension Westmaas, two great men, have admitted that being characterized as Barbadian, at least back then was to be anything but Indian? Possibly black?
Historical irony, yes. but can we compare what transpired under colonial rule with what’s happening today, in independent countries. Different circumstances.
Clearly some of us are ignorant of W.I. history. Tammy seems to fit into this category. She’s quite hasty in her assessment on intra-regional migration. Westmaas drawing on Rodney speaks to particular periods of Barbadian immigration into British Guiana. This does not translate to an absence of post-independence immigration from Barbados to Guyana. Indeed, nowhere in this letter does Westmaas claim all the ground. I leave it to schooled historians to address the other wave of Barbadian immigration to Guyana.
Rodneyite, don’t wait for historians to speak about the post immigration wave of bajans to Guyana, you can find that out easy. It never happened
I think Guyanese sound childish when they carry on about what Guyanese did for Bajans decades ago. People don’t want to hear about what happened in the past. People want to know what you can do for them now. Thousands of Guyanese live in Barbados. Most are living much better than they were living in Guyana. What if a twenty something year old Bajan man said he wanted to move to Guyana and a Guyanese said, “There is nothing for you in Guyana, but we helped your great grandfather, so that should suffice.” How would that play out? The Bajan man wouldn’t be able to pay his bills with the knowledge that Guyanese helped his ancestor. Get real.
Guyanese (or I should say some) are mired in the past. It is the reason that this current government’s inadequacy is allowed to continue. It hasn’t been 28 years since they’ve been in power so there is no basis for comparison.
When I was in school in the early sixties,,I often heard strange accents in class. Upon inquiring, the persons alluded to were pointed out as recent arrivals,Barbadians.They came, were aforded free schooling, when we went for ID cards, they were give IDs’ as Gyanese.No problem at all was faced by these people in Guyana.
That piece of historical perspective aside, Barbadians individually, including the prime minister and immigration chief,,should take in all undocumented Guyanese in their homes,as an act of kindness,in return for all the hospitality and kind welcome given to Barbadians who emigrated to British Guiana.They all got a free pass.
I have often wondered why Barbados is called “Little England”. I think that I now know the answer.
It is called Little England because the locals,isolated, alone in the open seas,see no one else to imitate than their colonial master.However, their treatment of those foreigners who contributed to Barbados’ development, can parallel the Englishman’s refusal to give residence to families of Gurkhas, who for over a hundred years,fought and died for England.