Racial Segregation in The Bahamas and in South Africa

A dramatic turn of a century 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 suppress the claims and legitimate aspirations of the majority of the country’s citizens† (Mandela and Williams 50). Both countries experienced discrimination, segregation where laws were implemented to enforce segregation, and political unrest. Discrimination has been prominent in both Bahamian and African societies for decades. Racial discrimination was evident in the work force as well as the church. For example, in the Bahamas the 1942 Burm a Road Riot occurred as a result of the airport construction project where black laborers demanded higher wages. At the initial stage of the project the laborers were expecting to gain a rate of at least twelve shillings a day which was equivalent to three dollars instead, semi and unskilled labors were given â€Å"the rate established in 1936† (Craton and Saunders 286) which was four shillings. This did not sit well with the black laborers as this was one tenth of what the white laborers were paid for doing the