Submitted by Charles Knighton
Dr. Clive Landis, UWI
· Chronic Disease Research Centre
Minister of Culture, Sports and Youth, Stephen Lashley, has again stressed the importance of keeping aspects of Barbados’ heritage (traditions) and history in the forefront during the season of Emancipation, “so that both young people and adults can truly appreciate what is being celebrated.” A society that does not either understand or value its history and traditions is a society verging on suicide, for if you don’t know your history, then you don’t know anything. You are a leaf that doesn’t know it is part of a tree. And what is tradition if not the living faith of the dead?
In her article Tourism defenders (April 15 Advocate), Janelle Husbands leads with the adage that “good news travels fast and bad news even faster” before discussing the importance of the image we portray in attracting tourists to Barbados.
What image of Barbados was portrayed by the recent release of the findings of a study by Dr. Clive Landis that forty percent of Barbadian females’ first sexual experiences came about through coercion or by rape? Though males were not included in this study, with such a high percentage of females reporting such experiences, it seems safe to draw the inference that over half of all children in Barbados are victims of sexual abuse.
Ergo, far from being the isolated incidents of crime Ms. Husbands speaks of, such abominable behavior seems to be a cultural norm in Barbados. How many prospective tourists, particularly females, will be appalled enough at such a state of affairs to seek their vacations elsewhere, taking their partners or families with them?
While I have never been accused of being the brightest bulb in the box, and so am probably missing something, I absolutely can’t figure out what the BAMC has done to incur the wrath of Sir Roy Trotman and the BWU. That being said, Sir Roy’s demand for an apology from the BAMC brought to mind some very sage advice learned at the knee of my grandmother, to wit: “It is a good rule in life never to apologize. The right sort of people neither expect or want apologies, and the wrong sort take a mean advantage of them.”
This obviously means that we have large population of men, who are the perpetrators of this moral evil. But more importantly, we have examine with a strict scrutiny, the etiologies of this victimization being perpetrated by these men. Well, I just the social -scientists in Barbados have their work cut out for them because it appears as though we have a growing population of molesters/ sexual – predators in the small island of Barbados.
@Charles Knighton “It is a good rule in life never to apologize. The right sort of people neither expect or want apologies, and the wrong sort take a mean advantage of them.”
Your grandmother was arrogant, immoral and just plain wrong.
Jesus as usual was right in Matthew 5:24 it is written “Therefore if you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering. Make friends quickly with your opponent at law while you are with him on the way, so that your opponent may not hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the officer, and you be thrown into prison.”
@What image of Barbados was portrayed by the recent release of the findings of a study by Dr. Clive Landis that forty percent of Barbadian females’ first sexual experiences came about through coercion or by rape…How many prospective tourists, particularly females, will be appalled enough at such a state of affairs to seek their vacations elsewhere, taking their partners or families with them?”
This projects a very bad image of Bajan men, but worldwide rape is shockingly, nastily, heart breakingly common.
Many, many men are brutes.
And finally, this dysfunction behavior is interwoven
right into our social and cultural tapestry because I knew of police officers who were engaging sexual- intercourse with young girls, who were attending secondary school at the time.
Simple Simon
It appear as though you’re more concern about the economics the tourist industry brings to Barbados, than the emotional well- being of these women who have obviously been victimized? It sound rather insensitive by any standard of judgment brother. So what would you suggest be done with this report? Hide it under rug? Having a national discussion regarding this issue is the first step in dealing with it.
Simple Simon
The issue isn’t whether or not rape is on the escalation worldwide. Sir, we’re dealing with what concerns the small island of Barbados and the women who are being victimized there. And having four youngers sisters in Barbados; yes I am quite concern.
Jesus died over 2000 years ago.
Nobody has ever referred to HIM as the late Jesus,
Not even the heathens.
Nowhere in history.
Nowhere has HE ever been referred to in the past tense
HE ‘is’ the Living God!
Boy I can’t wait to the report comes out on male molestation in Barbados. On my way to Roebuct Boy Primary during the early 70’s, I had to fight off a plethora of bullers, just to make it back and forth from school.
Look! If we had our way 40% of Bajan men will be walking around without their significant member (castration) and without hands if this report is true. Certainly, it must be time to stop complaining and resort to the Islamic part of ‘our’ fictitious Judea-Christian-Islamic tradition to find a remedy. We argue for immediate public castration and dismemberments based on evidence that does not meet current requirements. Meaning, on a mere complaint of any woman, girl or boy, public and televised actions should ensue. Of course, we will have to find a remedy when a woman is the violator, too.
@Pacha
What are you advocating?
We are a civilized and educated people nevermind the study says otherwise.
@ David
We though we were fairly clear. We accept your words, in jest, for we have never found much civilizing about our existence. If people think they have some right to abuse women, in the manner described, we call for the stated remedies. Further, we call on the right thinking men in their women’s lives to rise up in the active defense of women. Here we are repeating our call for these appropriate remedies even if we have to use the principle of self defense, which every human can assert. We say public castrations and dismemberments for violations against our women.
Pacha……honestly, that is the only part of the Sharia laws i believe in, chop of their hands or their too active male appendages if their brains can’t control between their legs, but, in the muslim society raping young girls and young boys still remain a huge blight and problem on the society, it is epidemic, in other words, it is a societal problem worldwide where men still believe they have a right to victimize those who they perceive as physically and mentally weaker than they are and that these individuals exist solely for male sexual pleasure…….
Dompey…….i actually agree with you.
@ Well Well
Everything you said is right. We concur!
But it will never happen because in our Western way of doing things it is not an option. Isn’t there more value in debating what is possible?
The report speaks of rape and coercion.
First – what is the sample?
Second – what were the questions?
Third – by coercion do we mean ‘pressure’?
Fourth – by rape do we mean “I didn’t really want to do it’?
Fifth – how do you establish the link between first time sex (for a woman always traumatic, for a man invariably a disappointment) and tourist numbers? Sounds potty to me.
On ‘never apologize’ – John Wayne said it in, I think, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, on the ground it is a sign of weakness. They say ‘lovers should never apologize’ on the ground they shouldn’t have to. Yeah right.
On “If you don’t know your history you don’t know anything” – maybe ‘knowledge’ is part of the problem not a solution – is it to strap us and condition us? Do we turn ‘I think I know’ into ‘I know’? And whose history are we speaking of – from the perspective of a planter or a slave? And what is ‘history’ (see E H Carr’s book of that title) anyway? Was Jesus ‘history’ because something he’s supposed to have said is reported in St John’s Gospel 70 years or so after he ‘died’? Or anything else written in a book about the past? And what of the ‘whig fallacy’ – reading the past using the standards of the present?
@ David
You need not be so negative. Every Friday in Saudi there are public beheadings and that country is well within the Western fold. There is no perceived contradiction. In the USA there are weekly executions, sometimes even innocent people are killed, when we know that they are innocent – the operation of the law, they say. With our determination to actively protect our women the cowardly Bajan men will soon known how they are to behave towards our girls and women, etc.
@WW
In many Muslim countries there is NO need to rape young girls as they can marry them as young as 9 yrs in some places!!!
Bajan society has always been very sexual and many of these teenage girls probably want an experienced man to do the honours BUT may regret that decision once the act commences and he wont take NO/ STOP for an answer, its complicated and few men can control themselves when “understanding” is critical.
I was in that situation at age 13 with a 12 yr old girl and backed off because I felt the girl was young. Hard to accomplish but better than a bad conscience for me.
Grown men should know better than to indulge in young green fruits BUT loin lust is very powerful!
Money…….they will get a better understanding of loin lust once they no longer have anything to lust with…chop it off…….but as David said, it’s just wishful thinking in the western society.
Money…..BTW, i do believe the US and some other countries use chemical castration which did not even work in some culprits and they only use it in extreme cases, translation, when they have raped , killed and/or eaten as many as 20 boys, girls and female victims.
Money Brain
It isn’t what teenage Bajan girls want. It is what the law demands of those who ought to know better than engage in sexual intercourse with underage young girls. In Barbados, it is called indecent carnal knowledge and in the US it is called statutory- rape.
This post is becoming bizarre. Landis refers to 40% of women. The post writer turns this into 50% of children. MB speaks of a little boy/little girl non-event and then speaks of grown men. So what IS the scenario we are talking about and do we castrate 12 yo boys?
Robert Ross
As ever, your creative truth never fails to amaze.
In the US, the statutory rape of a child under of 16, carries a minimum sentence of 10 years in the federal penitentiary. And after you have served your sentence, you to have register with the state- police sexual offenders registry for life.
http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/gossip/bryan-singer-sex-abuse-accuser-piece-meat-article-1.1760565
It’s epidemic everywhere.
Well Well
The link is very interesting and raises all sorts of questions. One is whether we would categorize ‘party boys’ as ‘rent boys’ in the Wildean sense.
Obviously young boys are not to be castrated. The law should be there to deter grown men from errant behavior that can negatively afflict young women’s psychology for many years. Habitual sexual offenders who probably cant help themselves require the “assistance” available through intervention chemically or by the knife to reduce their imbalance and compulsion.
In the “West” we have become ridiculously liberal to the point of “excusing” all manners of recalcitrance. Why do we refuse to understand the very necessary and critical role of DISCIPLINE? Family life has deteriorated to the point where lil Johny/ Jane/ Latisha/ Jabbari can do NO wrong. SAD!
Good point Ross. I also wanted to know what age group did this study targeted. You have to also bear in mind that the author of the article said that, ” He drew the inference that over haft of all children in Barbados are victims of sexual abuse.”
@Domkey
Instead of writing why don’t you read Landis’ report AND then comment?
On Friday, 18 April 2014, Barbados Underground wrote:
>
Ross……..these kids were just looking for a way to break into show biz of which the slimy director and his lustful buddies were well aware, most kids have no idea how deceitful and devious adults can be when they want to exploit, sadly, most kids pay dearly mentally and physically to learn what adults are capable of when they believe the same adults are interested in their well-being or future development….guys like those go after kids who seem overly ambitious and they actually tell lies to the kids, anything to get their pants off, it also happens in the Caribbean on a much smaller scale.
Well Well
Yes I agree with you. The scenario is not uncommon. I wonder where the parents were. But of course, we don’t know how many got what they ‘paid’ for. And is it really that different, other than in terms of age, from those in ‘high place’ offering ‘care’ and ‘advancement’ to subordinates or outsiders – which we know takes place every day? I suppose sometimes the inducement is seriously meant.
David
You tell “Domkey” to read the report. Why him and not the rest of us? Is there a link?
Ross……..that’s another thing, i know parents have to work and the US particularly can be brutal to parents with children, but it is always possible to know where your children are and who they are interacting with at any given time,it also applies to the Caribbean, know who your children are interacting with, particularly when they interact with adults.
@David
Instead of writing why don’t you read Landis’ report AND then comment?
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Is there a link to the report? There is no doubt that males and females are being sexualized at earlier stages of their development and some people tend to remember their “first time” with varying degrees of regret simply because they weren’t ready. It would be interesting to know how the questions were framed as skilled researchers can get the answers they want by asking questions in slightly different ways throughout the survey process and I have seen several surveys where the same question appeared in a different section of the survey in an altered format or the real reason of the survey is hidden in the initial request.
Hormones don’t just start raging at 21, as boys and girls go through puberty the age of discovery begins and nothing short of Guinevere’s chastity belt will keep the parties from comingling. Barbados has always been a country where the males have been boastful about their sexual exploits and the females were reticent about theirs. Fast forward to a few years later the females may be lest revealing in their answers as they don’t want to appear to be promiscuous.
Perhaps one day there will be a Bajan “Kinsey” report.
@Sargeant
There is a hyperlink in the submission.
On Friday, 18 April 2014, Barbados Underground wrote:
>
@David
The only link I can see is the news article from the Advocate, when I clicked on the photo of the Professor I got a larger image of his smiling visage.
@Sargeant
Here is the link:
http://barbadosunderground.files.wordpress.com/2014/04/drakes-et-al-2013-bmc-womens-health.pdf
@Domkey
Apology extended to you, we were under the mistaken belief the link was embedded in the bog.
And many of these men walking among us are so called christians and preachers of redemption and salvation..
@acj
Dem supposedly religious types are THE MOST DANGEROUS! The old Bajanism about pumping Jesus into dem comes to memory.
anyhow how does the one connects tourism and the rape of barbadians woman and culture,,,,,,,,,i hope no one is implying that rape a a mental disorder carried out by a deranged person,,,,,is part of barbadian culture,,,,,,,,,,, as if our country does not have enough economic problems at its doorstep…..i am at loss to understand the connection as within most societies one would find that there are varying percentile of sick demented people,,,,,, but tying it to the people culture is asinine,,,,,,maybe if a report was done on the number of people in barbados who drinks ,,,it can well be assured that our country can be labelled a nation of alcoholics,,,,,,,
@ac
Many Tourist women coming here for SEX, no need to rape dem BUT they might get in some liquors and attempt to rape Bajan men! All we have to do is REDIRECT the sexual deviants troubling the young girls to the wanton tourises! That could lead to more Tourist females cumming hey! LOL
No Comment … less the stalker reappears ….!
David
Thanks for the link. It needs time for study BUT we are talking about responses of 26i juveniles/adults in the age range of 15-19 focusing in particular on ‘transactional sex’ (for money) and ‘inter-generational sex’ (male 10 years older). The survey avoids use of the word ‘rape’ but speaks of “forcible” sex and “pressure” to have sex. 6.9% of participants reported they “did not want to have sex” (but was this then non-consensual?); 30.8% reported “persuasion” to have sex. 31.8% reported having had sex before the age of 16. and 7.3% before 13.
Frankly I would have thought the attempted tie in with tourist levels is absurd and the wild talk about castration is to be seen as a well meaning but unduly sour not-so Good Friday response.
In my day girls were screwing from the time they were thirteen …. I could call some names if yah like …. ha ha … As fah de White girl community … pussy galore … for those with the right connections. I wonder if things have improved … ? Is there an age restriction to these fetes, dancehall skinouts raves, moon light picnics and drive in movies ….? 🙂
BTW Sarge … You know wah sex is …? Just askin’
BAF
It is still “your day” – yes?
MoneyBrain
You’re quite right, a lot of female tourist come to the Caribbean to have a good time.
But the sad reality is many of them are raped while vacationing here in Barbados.
As a young lad who grew up behind one of the major police station in Barbados.
I had the unfortunate pleasure of witnessing the many victims who were brought to the police station, in those days to reported these sexual-assaults.
And one such incident still plays out in my mind to this day: back in the 1970’s, these three guys from Bush Hall Yard Gap ( the criminal element of course) raped this blown hair young tourist lady repeatedly through the night.
This case never made the news because in those days it was common practice to cover such incidents up.
The reputation of the Barbados tourist industry was more important I guess, than heightening the public awareness to this moral evil?
If you only knew the Nepotism which intricately interlaced our system of governance, throughout the 7 0’s and well into the 90’s, you would be shocked out your socks.
As I have said early: I grew up just behind one of the major police station in Barbados and therefore, had a firsthand knowledge of its inner workings.
I saw how the powerful, privileged and well -connected were treated, when they broke the law. As well as the poor, disadvantaged and downtrodden, strata in our society.
The backdoor swung wide open for the powerful and well – connected, but narrow was the gate for the poor and downtrodden element. As as the Jamaican reggae artist tells us: ” It is a crime to be poor.” And I know that deep within the hearts of many poor people in Barbados, there is a sense that the DLP got they back.
MB you are correct many fat unappealing tourists come to Barbados or as some women I know call it …the rent a buck store. But the reality is there isn’t enough to go around. So a plan must be put in place to stop the pressure on your females . May I suggest that all baby girls must be named Work instead of Julia or Mary etc , because most of these jokers don’t want to be anywhere near work. Or if you are caught with a child you have a large picture of roman polansky tattooed on your chest …in white ink.
Even though a recent Barbados survey suggests that 9 out of 10 people enjoy a gang bang, I will go out on a limb and say that most women just want to be left alone.
@Lawson
U tink I does be Pimping? Wha “your females” U referring too? Wuhloss!
I catch a lift wid 3 youngish American touristes one night and they axed me how come the local men so interested in dem, all the time.
Had to tell dem dat the Canadian and European girls cum down hey fa checkout the Big Big Bamboo! They were genuinely surprised that such a mission would be conducted. (I didnt mention a word about the sweeeeetnessss of the sugarcane) lol
@BAFBFP
BTW Sarge … You know wah sex is …? Just askin’
+++++++++++
Looka the time (2.02am), yuh killing dat bottle of see-tru. The ink hasn’t even dried on my submission about Bajan men boasting about how much sex they have had, but interspersed among the blabbermouths are the liars who love to embellish their minimal experience.
Ladies and gentlemen I present to you the master of the cock and bull tale “BAFBFP”.
Ross, of course it is still my day … But now I have access to a lot ah sweet middle aged women who losing their mates to twenty and thirty year olds … ha ha .. The life of a woman nah ..! A’right, aright, so alotta them got to familiarize themselves with KY Jelly, but wah … ha ha, no more messy red stuff … 🙂
MB you forgot to mention how emotional the Bajan male is …always crying during sex.. You should see if you can get that pepper spray banned. I am not surprised about the big bamboo thing since every time I see a group of you together there is at least one of you pulling on it. But all that aside women everywhere are not chattels and it has to be taught at an early age,
Wait .. But Sarge, seriously, I did not know that you knew me that well .. ha ha ha. Look man, you is a dangerous man .. HA HA. “Cock and Bull” ha ha, now that is cleaver, unless you have secret desires that unconsciously come to the fore from time to time .. ha ha ha .. You is a dangerous NCO … The military was never my thing, and maybe that was a good thing after all …”Cock and Bull ..” ha ha .. Georgie Porgie would have said Gallus and Bovine tale … HA HA HA
Always find that men who boast most about their numerous sexual encounters are the ones who are most sexual deprived as their in” bed performance is boring.. intolerable and lacking in creativy and great performance.i can name a few but i won.t
@lawson
You should know that I was not gifted the BB Bamboo but just a large sweeeet sugarcane! Not to mention a superior tongue for significant occassions!lol My crime??? Too white!!! I do reserve the right to pull on it anyway!
acj —-your comments are valid and that is why I refrain besides where fun is intended. I obey the Lady who sung “I want a man with a slow hand—easy touch” and I tell no tales! lol
Yes acj it’s the quiet, sneaky ones like me who have all the creative talent………err, should I have said that? Well someone’s gotta know. Lawson, wheel me to the next gang bang will you? Nearly time to resurrect I think.
I noticed that the incidence of oral sex in the Report was much greater than might be expected. Pity it didn’t say who did what and why and why not.
MB you white??? then you know that when it comes between your pay check and oral sex…white chicks will always blow your pay check.
@lawson
NOT my pay cheque! BUT probably a bunch of fellas pay cheques. Learnt at age 13 that girls like gifts but may not be loyal. Critical lesson which I have kept in mind. Always turn tables on the females—- they love confident guys that dont pay to play.
MB .you are the bomb seems like i gonna have to put YOU on my MOST WANTED list..
Money…….you are in business….lol
@acj and WW
Notice I did not bite on the bait as confident gents always make dem want to converse and pursue. lol
Happy Easter everyone
Happy Easter Ross…….and don’t worry about your appendage it’s safe with me.
We were just discussing these particular cretins recently.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/justice-story/serial-killer-jailhouse-artist-article-1.1762308
Sorry .. the only Christian day that I observe is Christmas … All of the others are just a waste of productive time … Barbados shuts down for four days … FOUR DAYS …. Foolishness ..!
BABFP
Find another day. Christ was not born on December 25th. You capitalist you. Workers need some rest.
I ain’ nah Capitalist Lemuel … Christmas for me is just a cultural thing, and yah could get nuff free drinks even from people that you’ve never met. 🙂 Four days for banks to be closed and supermarkets (well they open on Saturday) … At least the girls roun’ the Garrison could mek a li’l more money …
Happy Resurrection Sunday to all.
BAFBFP
I hear you loud and clear.
@Baffy
Happy Easter and thanks for pumping up the Bdos economy at the Garrison.lol (pumping up or pimping up???)
For a non Capitalist you seem to worry inordinately about time off for the workers.You closet Capitalist!
Closet Capitalist …? MoneyB, I claustrophobic … 🙂
MB or should I say “large sweet sugarcane” but enough about jailhouse nicknames…..you could teach BAFBFP about capitalism…..but what has he ever done to you
@Lawson
Baffy and I have been known to spar over ‘ISMS.(Commun/ Capital etc)
I do respect him in general and as a highly reputed rabble rouser! Some of his views are totally unbelievable, like how he claims to like the Nth Korean criminals that permitted millions to die of hunger!
If he went to Lodge I might forgive him for dat. (it was my second choice BUT then I knew I would not need it)
this must be the same 40% percent that did not VOTE.
the same 40% percent that had to, do what they did not want to do, for government housing , crooks , liars and scumbags
Money Brain there are two types of people that I do not argue with, Christians and moneybrains … Both are guilty of twisting logic to suit there causes, and both prefer to speak with the authority of the all knowing …
@BAFFY
Cudear, I did playing nice! wuhla
@BAFFY
I do not argue with, Christians and moneybrains … Both are guilty of twisting logic to suit there causes, and both prefer to speak with the authority of the all knowing …
BEHAVE
YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED
@ BAFBFP
One person I do not converse or argue with is BAFBFP. Talks nothing but BULLSHIT
COULD THIS PAST HISTORY OF RAPE AND SO BE THE CAUSE OF TODAYS THINKING ??????? I BELIEVE IT THE REASON.!
Between the years of 1652 to 1659 it is estimated that well over 50,000 men, women, and children of Irish descent were forcibly transported to British imperial colonies in Barbados and Virginia to serve as slave labor on plantations.
Other prisoners of war, as well as political dissenters, taken from conquered regions of England, Wales, and Scotland were also sent into permanent exile as slaves to Barbados. This essentially enabled Cromwell to purge the subject population of any perceived opposing elements, as well as to provide a lucrative source of profit through their sale to plantation owners. The extent to which White prisoners were transported to Barbados was so great, that by 1701, out of the roughly 25,000 slaves present on the island’s plantations, about 21,700 of them were of European descent. Later, as the African slave trade began to expand and flourish, the Irish slave population of Barbados began to drastically recede over time, due in part to the fact that many were worked to death early on in their arrival and also as a result of racial intermixing with Black slaves.
In stark contrast to the small number of White indentured servants present on Barbados, who could at least theoretically look forward to eventual freedom no matter how bad their temporary bondage may have been, White slaves possessed no such hope. Indeed, they were treated the same as slaves of African descent in every manner imaginable. Irish slaves in Barbados were regarded as property to be bought, sold, treated and mistreated in any way the slave-owner saw fit. Their children were born into hereditary slavery for life as well. Punitive violence, such as whippings, was liberally employed against Irish slaves, and was often used on them immediately upon their arrival in the colonies to brutally reinforce their enchained status, and as a warning against future disobedience. The dehumanizing and degrading cattle-like physical inspections used to assess and showcase the “qualities” of each captive for prospective buyers, which reached infamy with the Black slave markets, was also practiced upon both White slaves and indentured servants in the colonies of the West Indies and North America. Irish slaves were marked off from their free White kinsmen through a branding of the owner’s initials applied to the forearm for women and on the buttocks for men by a red-hot iron. Irish women, in particular were seen as a desirable commodity by White slave owners who purchased them as sexual concubines. Others found themselves sold off to local brothels. This degrading practice of sex slavery made Irish men, women and children potential victims to perverse whims of many unsavory buyers.
In reality, White slaves fared no better a fate as unwilling human property than did contemporary captive Africans. At times they were even treated worse then their Black counterparts due to economic considerations. This was especially true throughout most of the 17th century, as White captives were far more inexpensive on the slave market than their African counterparts, and hence were mistreated to a greater extent as they were seen as a conveniently disposable labor force. It was not until later that Black slaves became a cheaper commodity. An account dating back to 1667 grimly described the Irish of Barbados as “poor men, that are just permitted to live,… derided by the Negroes, and branded with the Epithite of white slaves.” A 1695 account written by the island’s governor frankly stated that they labored “in the parching sun without shirt, shoe, or stocking”, and were “domineered over and used like dogs.” It was common knowledge among the Irish of this era that to be deported, or “barbadosed”, to the West Indies meant a life of slavery. In many cases, it was actually common for White slaves in Barbados to be supervised by mulatto or Black overseers, who often treated captive Irish laborers with exceptional cruelty. Indeed:
The mulatto drivers enjoyed using the whip on whites. It gave them a sense of power and was also a protest against their white sires. White women in particular were singled out for punishment in the fields. Sometimes, to satisfy a perverted craving, the mulatto drivers forced the women to strip naked before commencing the flogging and then forced them to continue working all day under the blistering sun. While the women were weeding in the fields in that condition, the drivers often satisfied their lust by taking them from the rear.
Such instances of horrific rape and unwilling sexual union between Irish female slaves and Black slave-drivers, was actually implicitly encouraged by many of their White masters. Mulatto children, who resulted from such unions, both willing and unwilling, were seen by the plantation masters as a potentially unlimited breeding stock of future native-born slave labor, acquired free of charge and without the costs of transportation. Existing public records on Barbados reveal that some planters went as far as to systematize this process of miscegenation through the establishment of special “stud farms” for the specific purpose of breeding mixed-race slave children. White female slaves, often as young as 12, were used as “breeders” to be forcibly mated with Black men.
The enchained Irish of Barbados played a pivotal role as the instigators and leaders of various slave revolts on the island, which was an ever-present threat faced by the planter aristocracy. Such an uprising occurred in November 1655, when a group of Irish slaves and servants escaped along with several Blacks, and proceeded to attempt to spark a general rebellion among the enchained community against their masters. This was a serious enough threat to justify the deployment of militia, which eventually overcame them in a pitched battle. Before their demise they had wreaked considerable havoc upon the ruling planter class, having hacked several to pieces in brutal retribution for their bondage. They had not succeeded in their broader strategy of completely laying waste by fire, the sugar fields in which they had been forced to labor for the enrichment of their masters. Those taken prisoner were made examples of, as a grim warning to the rest of their kindred Irish, when they were burned alive and their heads were thereafter displayed on pikes throughout the market place.
As a result of a steep increase in Black slave labor migration to Barbados, compounded with high rates of Irish mortality and racial intermixing, White slaves, which had once constituted the majority of the population in 1629, were reduced to an increasingly dwindling minority by 1786. In the present era, there remains only a minuscule, yet significant community within the native Barbadian population comprised of the descendants of Scots-Irish slaves, who continue to bear testimony to the tragic legacy of their enchained Celtic forebears. This small minority within the predominantly Black island of Barbados is known locally as the “Red Legs” , which was originally a derogatory name, understood in similar context to the slur “redneck”, and was derived from the sun-burnt skin experienced by early White slaves who had been previously unadjusted to the tropical Caribbean climate. To this day, a community numbering approximately 400 still resides in the northeastern part of the island in the parish of St. John, and has vigorously resisted racially mixing with the larger Black population, despite living in abject poverty. Most make their living from subsistence farming and fishing, and indeed they are one of the most impoverished groups living in modern Barbados.