The creation of the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) by “non-white” activists in 1953 ushered the Bahamas into the era of the political party.¹⁰ Despite the fact that more than 80 percent of the population was black, the country was governed by an elite white minority and they responded by combining their interests to form the United Bahamian Party (UBP) after the 1956 election.¹¹ It was a contentious period, and the ruling party began using the national radio station, Zephyr Nassau Sunshine (ZNS), more as a political propaganda tool.¹² PLP events were either ignored or given minimal and misleading coverage.¹³

Despite these efforts at propaganda, the general election of 1967 resulted in a dead heat between the PLP and the UBP and only the decision of independent black Member of Parliament, Randol Fawkes, who switched over to the side of the PLP, enabled the party to take control of the government.¹⁴ However, their position of power was far from secure. ¹⁵ After winning the elections, the black-led PLP moved quickly to convince the world that they were capable of running their own affairs and to secure their own power at home. Economically, tourism was the only leg they were able to stand on, it was the goose that laid the golden egg and its continued health was imperative to the viability of the fledgling black state.¹⁶

Ironically the political platform of black racial solidarity that the PLP employed to get elected backfired as many black Bahamians feeling the current of empowerment from their success at the ballot box realized that they had to return to jobs in the tourism sector.¹⁷ They were free from the white UBP politically but they had to return to cater to the whims of white American tourists who carried with their luggage and passports similar ideas of racial superiority. This was an untenable situation for many, and they resorted to bad service or outright abuse as a form of resistance to their continued dependence on the Yankee dollar.¹⁸

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