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Racial polarization is the process whereby a population of individuals with different ancestry is divided into separate and distinct racial groups.
In Bermuda, around 55% of the population is identified as black, followed by 34% white (further subdivided into a British-descended majority and a Portuguese-descended minority), while the remainder are mixed or other (chiefly Asian). Politically, the territory's two political parties are often described along racial lines, the United Bermuda Party (UBP) being supported by Bermuda's white minority, while the Progressive Labour Party (PLP) is supported by the black majority. In terms of popular support, few whites would not vote for the UBP (an April 2009 poll found that some 85% of whites would vote for the party, while only 4% would vote PLP), while black voters favoured the PLP (in the aforementioned poll, 62% of blacks would vote PLP and 14% UBP). [1]
White rejection of the PLP is often linked to repeated racist rhetoric from the party, [2] aimed not only at whites but at black opponents who have been referred to as "house niggers" (race traitors). [3] The party has even been described as a "write-off" in terms of diversity by members of the Portuguese-Bermudian community, which is often regarded as a separate ethnic/racial group. [4] Black rejection of the UBP stems from associating the party with racial segregation and slavery; while formed in the 1960s, white old money that was involved in those institutions supports the party. Within the House of Assembly of Bermuda, there is negligible white presence, with only five white MPs (four UBP and one PLP) out of thirty-six (around 14%); in the appointed Senate of Bermuda, the white presence is three out of eleven (around 27%). Economically, the advantage lies in the white population, with whites holding higher positions and earning higher incomes; [5] these figures do not distinguish between Bermudians and temporary expatriate workers, leading to exaggerated figures stemming from the hire of executives from the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom (thus, typically white), and the hire of unskilled, poorly treated labourers from the Caribbean, Jamaica in particular, [6] (thus, typically black) and so leave their relevance unknown.
Sociologist Syed Farid Alatas observed: "We do not live according to the three principles for harmonious relations – recognising the multi-cultural origins of civilization, inter-religious encounters and showing respect and understanding the point of the other. We have little appreciation for each other’s religion and culture. Our education system does not inculcate these attitudes in us but instead tends to polarise us. We have little appreciation for each other’s religion and culture. In China, there is a strong interaction between Islam and Chinese culture." He also said: "Dialogue is a matter of national integration but the Malaysian education system does not inculcate the three pre-requisites for inter-religious cooperation and relations." [7]
When asked why this was so, Rais stated that in national schools, there is "too much religion, too much Islam. They became frightened. That is the big impediment to the races studying together under one roof." He then recommended to "[h]ave religious classes by all means. But keep away Islam from other aspects of life in the school. No doa (Muslim prayers) at the assembly, no doa in the classroom except during religious classes."
Bermuda is a British Overseas Territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. The closest land outside the territory is in the American state of North Carolina, about 1,035 km (643 mi) to the west-northwest.
This is a demography of the population of Bermuda including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population, including changes in the demographic make-up of Bermuda over the centuries of its permanent settlement.
Bermuda is the oldest British Overseas Territory, and the oldest self-governing British Overseas Territory, and has a great degree of internal autonomy through authority and roles of governance delegated to it by the national Government. Its parliament held its first session in 1620, making it the third-oldest continuous parliament in the world. As part of the British realm, King Charles III is head of state and is represented in Bermuda by a Governor, whom he appoints on the advice of the British Government. The Governor has special responsibilities in four areas: external affairs, defence, internal security, and policing.
The Free National Movement is a political party in the Bahamas formed in the early 1970s and led by Sir Cecil Wallace-Whitfield. The current leader of the party is Michael Pintard and the current deputy leader is Shanendon Cartwright.
Elections in the Bahamas take place in the framework of a parliamentary democracy. Since independence, voter turnout has been generally high in national elections, with a low of 87.9% in 1987 and a high of 98.5% in 1997. The current Prime Minister is The Hon. Philip Davis. The electorate is less than half of citizenry.
The United Bermuda Party (UBP) was a political party in Bermuda, which represented itself as centrist party with a moderate social and fiscal agenda. The party held power in Bermuda's House of Assembly continuously from 1968 to 1998, the 47-year-old party was dissolved on 30 June 2011 after the majority of its members joined the One Bermuda Alliance.
The Progressive Labour Party (PLP) is one of the three political parties in Bermuda. At the 18 July 2017 general election, the party won 24 of the 36 seats in the Bermudian House of Assembly to become the governing party. The party was founded in 1963, the first political party in Bermuda, and the oldest still active. It formed government from 1998 to 2012, and again since 2017.
The Gombey Liberation Movement (GLM), originally the Gombey Liberation Party, is a political organisation in Bermuda that contested the 2003 general election. The party did not contest the next election in 2007 and only ran its leader as a candidate in 2011. It eventually transformed itself into an organisation instead of a party having never attained a seat in the Bermuda Parliament.
Ewart Frederick Brown Jr. is a politician and physician who served as the ninth Premier of Bermuda and leader of the country's Progressive Labour Party (PLP) from 2006 to 2010. He represented Warwick South Central as a Member of Parliament from 1993 to 2010.
General elections were held in Bermuda on 18 December 2007 to elect all 36 members of the House of Assembly. The incumbent Progressive Labour Party (PLP) led by Ewart Brown was returned for a third term, with 22 of the 36 seats of the House of Assembly, with the opposition United Bermuda Party (UBP) winning the remaining 14 seats.
Hubert "Kim" E. Swan is a Bermudian professional golfer and politician. He was reelected for the Progressive Labour Party (PLP) in July 2017. He was a member of parliament from 2007 to 2012, where he was Leader of the Opposition of Bermuda from 21 January 2008 until 16 May 2011. He also served as a UBP Senator from 1998 to 2007.
Russell Dismont was from a respected black Bermudian family of the time. Despite racial discrimination typical of that period, his father Albert Hilgrove Dismont had become a successful businessman and was the first black man to own a property and business in the totally white-owned city of Hamilton, Bermuda's capital. In 1988, his other son Cecil became the first black Mayor of the city. In 2003, the road 'Dismont Drive' was named in his honour, in recognition of his service and the family's contribution to Bermuda.
The Bermuda Democratic Alliance (BDA) was a political party in Bermuda which lasted from its foundation in November 2009 until its merger into the One Bermuda Alliance in May 2011.
The United Bahamian Party (UBP) was a major political party in the Bahamas in the 1950s and 1960s. Representing the interests of the white oligarchy known as the Bay Street Boys, including Stafford Sands, it was the ruling party between 1958 and 1967. It was led by Roland Theodore Symonette.
The One Bermuda Alliance (OBA) is one of two political parties in Bermuda with elected members of the Bermuda's legislative assembly. It was created in May 2011 by the merger of most members of Bermuda's two non-Labour parties, the United Bermuda Party and the Bermuda Democratic Alliance. It won the 2012 election and governed until 2017. Since then, it has been the official opposition in Bermuda's House of Assembly.
An independence referendum was held in Bermuda on 16 August 1995 for voters to decide whether Bermuda should become an independent sovereign state or remain a British Dependent Territory. On a voter turnout of 59%, 74% voted against independence. Following the decisive result, Premier John Swan, who had been in favour of independence, resigned.
White Bermudians are Bermudians whose ancestry lies within the continent of Europe, most notably the British Isles and Portugal. At the 2016 census the number of Bermudians who identify as white was 19,466 or 31 percent of the total population.
Black Bermudians, African Bermudians, Afro-Bermudians or Bermudians of African descent, are Bermudians with any appreciable Black African ancestry. The population descends from Africans who arrived in Bermuda during the 17th century as indentured servants and slaves, mostly via Spanish, or former Spanish, territories or Spanish and other ships wrecked at Bermuda or captured by Bermuda-based privateers.
The 1928 United States presidential election in Florida was held on November 6, 1928, as part of the 1928 United States presidential election held throughout all contemporary forty-eight states. Florida voters chose six electors, or representatives to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
Barbara BallMRCS, LRCP, OBE was a Bermudian physician, politician and social activist. She was the first woman physician to practice in Bermuda and took both black and white patients, an unusual event in the 1950s. During the time that segregation was rigidly enforced, Ball actively ignored the social norms, actively fighting for the civil rights of black Bermudians. She served as a member of the Parliament of Bermuda and represented black workers through her work with the Bermuda Industrial Union. In 1963, at a United Nations meeting regarding colonialism, Ball brought the situation of black workers on the island to the table. In 2000, she was honoured as an officer of the Order of the British Empire.
