Ruimveldt Riots (1905)

The Ruimveldt Riots took place in British Guiana (today Guyana) in 1905. It reflected the widespread dissatisfaction among workers with their standards of living.{{citation needed|date=December 2014}} The uprising began in late November 1905 when the stevedores – dockworkers – of the capital Georgetown went on strike and demanded higher wages. The strike grew, with many workers joining in an alliance. On 1 December 1905 – today known as "Black Friday" – the situation came to a head. At the Plantation Ruimveldt, not far from Georgetown, a large crowd of porters refused a demand by the police and a detachment of artillery to disperse. The colonial forces opened fire, and four workers were seriously injured.{{cite news |last=Westmaas |first=Nigel |date=19 December 2011 |title=Knowing Our Past: Current demonstrations and histories of public protest in Guyana |url=http://www.stabroeknews.com/2011/features/in-the-diaspora/12/19/knowing-our-past-current-demonstrations-and-histories-of-public-protest-in-guyana/ |newspaper=Stabroek News |location=Georgetown |accessdate=11 December 2014 }}{{cite book |last=Sirvaitis |first=Karen |date=2009 |title=Guyana in Pictures |publisher=Twenty-First Century Books |pages=[https://archive.org/details/guyanainpictures0000sirv/page/29 29–30] |isbn=978-157-505-963-1 |url=https://archive.org/details/guyanainpictures0000sirv/page/29 }}

News spread quickly through the capital, causing unrest on the streets. Several buildings were captured by protesters. The violence killed seven people, and injured seventeen badly. After a request from the colonial administration Britain sent troops, who soon quelled the uprising. Although the initial strike wasn't successful, the riots began the growth of an organized trade union movement.{{cite book |authorlink=Odeen Ishmael |last=Ishmael |first=Odeen |date=2013 |title=The Guyana Story: From Earliest Times to Independence |publisher=Xlibris |pages=306–308 |isbn=978-147-979-590-1 }}{{Self-published inline|certain=yes|date=December 2017}}

Ethnically, mainly Afro-Guyanese workers – dockworkers, factory hands, cane-cutters and gold miners, among others – went on strike, while the Indo-Guyanese sugar industry workers stayed in their homes. Some were also brought in to replace African-origin workers who had left their work. This has been described as a successful use of ethnic divisions to prevent solidarity between segments of the working class.{{cite book |last=Chand Jain |first=Prakash |date=1990 |title=Racial Discrimination Against Overseas Indians: A Class Analysis |url=https://archive.org/details/racialdiscrimina0000jain |url-access=registration |publisher=Concept Publishing Company |page=[https://archive.org/details/racialdiscrimina0000jain/page/65 65] |isbn=817-022-288-5 }}