Bernard Coard
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Winston Bernard Coard (born 10 August 1945) is a Grenadian politician who was Deputy Prime Minister in the
People's Revolutionary Government The People's Revolutionary Government (PRG) was proclaimed on 13 March 1979 after the Marxist–Leninist New Jewel Movement overthrew the government of Grenada in a revolution, making Grenada the only socialist state within the Commonwealth. T ...
of the
New Jewel Movement The New Joint Endeavor for Welfare, Education, and Liberation, or New JEWEL Movement (NJM), was a Marxist–Leninist vanguard party in the Caribbean island nation of Grenada that was led by Maurice Bishop. Established in 1973, the NJM issued its ...
. Coard launched a coup within the revolutionary government and took power for three days until he was himself deposed by General
Hudson Austin Hudson Austin (26 April 1938 – 24 September 2022) was a general in the People's Revolutionary Army of Grenada. After the killing of Maurice Bishop, he formed a military government with himself as chairman to rule Grenada. History Early life ...
.


Education

Bernard Coard, the son of Frederick McDermott Coard (1893–1978) and Flora Fleming (1907–2004), was born in
Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...
, Grenada, and is a first cousin of Hon. Mr Justice Dunbar Cenac, Registry of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court; Hon. Mr Justice Dunbar Cenac's late father, Francis (Kimby) Cenac and the late Flora Coard were biological children of the late Isabella Cenac (née Fletcher). Coard is also the nephew of the late Hon. Mr Justice Dennis Cenac, the last of Isabella Cenac's eight children. Coard was attending the
Grenada Boys' Secondary School The Grenada Boys' Secondary School (GBSS) is a secondary school in the island of Grenada. Origins The Grenada Boys’ Secondary School, initially known as the St. George's Grammar School officially, opened on 2 February 1885, at Mrs. Grey's prem ...
when he met
Maurice Bishop Maurice Rupert Bishop (29 May 1944 – 19 October 1983) was a Grenadian revolutionary and the leader of New Jewel Movement – a Marxist–Leninist party which sought to prioritise socio-economic development, education, and black liberation ...
, who was then attending Presentation Brothers' College. Coard and Bishop shared an interest in
left-wing politics Left-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political%20ideologies, political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically in ...
from an early age. They became friends and in 1962 they joined together to found the Grenada Assembly of Youth After Truth. Twice per month, the two would lead political debates in St. George's Central Market Place. Coard moved to the United States, where he studied sociology and economics at
Brandeis University , mottoeng = "Truth even unto its innermost parts" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = NECHE , president = Ronald D. Liebowitz , pro ...
and joined the
Communist Party USA The Communist Party USA, officially the Communist Party of the United States of America (CPUSA), is a communist party in the United States which was established in 1919 after a split in the Socialist Party of America following the Russian Revo ...
. In 1967, he moved to England and studied
political economy Political economy is the study of how Macroeconomics, economic systems (e.g. Marketplace, markets and Economy, national economies) and Politics, political systems (e.g. law, Institution, institutions, government) are linked. Widely studied ph ...
at the
University of Sussex , mottoeng = Be Still and Know , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £14.4 million (2020) , budget = £319.6 million (2019–20) , chancellor = Sanjeev Bhaskar , vice_chancellor = Sasha Roseneil , ...
. That year, he married his wife Phyllis while they were students in England, and Coard joined the
Communist Party of Great Britain The Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) was the largest communist organisation in Britain and was founded in 1920 through a merger of several smaller Marxist groups. Many miners joined the CPGB in the 1926 general strike. In 1930, the CPG ...
there.


Teaching career

He worked for two years as a schoolteacher in London and ran several
youth organisation The following is a list of youth organizations. A youth organization is a type of organization with a focus upon providing activities and socialization for minors. In this list, most organizations are international unless noted otherwise. 0 ...
s in
South London South London is the southern part of London, England, south of the River Thames. The region consists of the Districts of England, boroughs, in whole or in part, of London Borough of Bexley, Bexley, London Borough of Bromley, Bromley, London Borou ...
. In 1971 he published a 50-page book '' How the West Indian Child Is Made Educationally Sub-normal in the British School System: The Scandal of the Black Child in Schools in Britain''. The book explained that British schools had a pervasive bias toward treating white children as normal, which led to black children being labelled as "educationally subnormal" (learning-disabled). Coard wrote:
The
lack Lack may refer to: Places * Lack, County Fermanagh, a townland in Northern Ireland * Lack, Poland * Łąck, Poland * Lack Township, Juniata County, Pennsylvania, US Other uses * Lack (surname) * Lack (manque), a term in Lacan's psychoanalyti ...
children are therefore made neurotic about their race and culture. Some become behaviour problems as a result. They become resentful and bitter at being told their language is second-rate, and their history and culture is non-existent; that they hardly exist at all, except by the grace of whites.
Coard's thesis was widely cited, even long after his revolutionary career, as a summary of the role of
institutional racism Institutional racism, also known as systemic racism, is a form of racism that is embedded in the laws and regulations of a society or an organization. It manifests as discrimination in areas such as criminal justice, employment, housing, health ...
in the relationship between
race and intelligence Discussions of race and intelligence – specifically, claims of differences in intelligence along racial lines – have appeared in both popular science and academic research since the modern concept of Race (human categorization), race was fi ...
. In 2005, it was republished as the central article in the collection ''Tell it Like it is: How Our Schools Fail Black Children''. A 2021
BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...
documentary ''Subnormal: A British Scandal'' describes the events surrounding the racism of a leaked school report, leading to the publication of Coard's book. Produced/directed by Lyttanya Shannon, and executive produced by
Steve McQueen Terrence Stephen McQueen (March 24, 1930November 7, 1980) was an American actor. His antihero persona, emphasized during the height of the counterculture of the 1960s, made him a top box-office draw for his films of the late 1950s, 1960s, and 1 ...
, the film features interviews with people who were put into ESN schools, and activists, academics and psychologists and others who worked to expose the scandal at the time, such as
Gus John Augustine John (born 11 March 1945)Biography
, Gus John website.
is a Grenada, Grenadian-born writer, e ...
,
Waveney Bushell Waveney Bushell (born 1928) is a Guyanese-born teacher, activist and "arguably the first Black educational psychologist in the UK". She is most notable for her role in exposing racism and inequality in the British educational system. Early life ...
, as well as with Coard. He concluded that, 50 years after the ESN scandal was exposed, "the substance ... of the educational suppression of Caribbean-origin children remains". After completing his doctorate at Sussex, Coard moved to
Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...
, where he was a visiting lecturer at the Institute of International Relations at the
University of the West Indies The University of the West Indies (UWI), originally University College of the West Indies, is a public university system established to serve the higher education needs of the residents of 17 English-speaking countries and territories in th ...
at St. Augustine,
Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...
, from 1972 to 1974. He also lectured from 1974 to 1976 at the
Mona, Jamaica Mona is a neighbourhood in southeastern Saint Andrew Parish, Jamaica, Saint Andrew Parish, approximately eight kilometres from Kingston, Jamaica, Kingston, Jamaica. A former sugarcane Sugar plantations in the Caribbean, plantation, it is the sit ...
, campus of the University of the West Indies. During his stay in Jamaica, he joined the communist Worker's Liberation League and helped draft the League's
manifesto A manifesto is a published declaration of the intentions, motives, or views of the issuer, be it an individual, group, political party or government. A manifesto usually accepts a previously published opinion or public consensus or promotes a ...
.


Revolution

In 1976, Coard returned to Grenada, soon becoming active in Grenadian politics. Soon after returning home he joined the
New Jewel Movement The New Joint Endeavor for Welfare, Education, and Liberation, or New JEWEL Movement (NJM), was a Marxist–Leninist vanguard party in the Caribbean island nation of Grenada that was led by Maurice Bishop. Established in 1973, the NJM issued its ...
(NJM), his childhood friend's left-wing organisation, and ran for and won a parliamentary seat in St. George's in the 1976 elections. The NJM, led by
Maurice Bishop Maurice Rupert Bishop (29 May 1944 – 19 October 1983) was a Grenadian revolutionary and the leader of New Jewel Movement – a Marxist–Leninist party which sought to prioritise socio-economic development, education, and black liberation ...
, successfully led a bloodless coup against
Eric Gairy Sir Eric Matthew Gairy PC (18 February 192223 August 1997) was the first Prime Minister of Grenada, serving from his country's independence in 1974 until his overthrow in a coup by Maurice Bishop in 1979. Gairy also served as head of governme ...
's government on 13 March 1979. The radio station, military barracks and police stations were targeted. Before long, they had control of the entire island. The NJM then announced the temporary suspension of the constitution and parliamentary rule. Influenced by
Marxists Marxism is a left-wing to far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand class relations and social conflict and a dialectic ...
such as
Daniel Ortega José Daniel Ortega Saavedra (; born 11 November 1945) is a Nicaraguans, Nicaraguan revolutionary and politician serving as President of Nicaragua since 2007. Previously he was leader of Nicaragua from 1979 to 1990, first as coordinator of the ...
and
Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (; ; 13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban revolutionary and politician who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and president from 1976 to 200 ...
, Bishop's NJM established a revolutionary government in Grenada. Aid from Cuba allowed the NJM to build Point Salines International Airport, an international airport with a
runway According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and takeoff of aircraft". Runways may be a man-made surface (often asphalt concrete, as ...
in St. George's. In 1980, Coard was the head of a delegation to Moscow to formalise relations with the Soviet Union.


The removal of Bishop

Bernard Coard was serving as the revolutionary government's
Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...
, Trade and Industry, as well as the Deputy Prime Minister under Bishop. It is alleged that Coard ordered Bishop put under house arrest on 19 October 1983 and took control of the government. As word of Bishop's arrest spread, large demonstrations broke out in many places. A demonstration in the capital led to Bishop being freed from house arrest by the demonstrators. Bishop and seven others including cabinet ministers of the government were killed under unresolved circumstances. Just after
Marines Marines, or naval infantry, are typically a military force trained to operate in littoral zones in support of naval operations. Historically, tasks undertaken by marines have included helping maintain discipline and order aboard the ship (refle ...
landed in Grenada, Coard, along with his wife Phyllis, Selwyn Strachan, John Ventour, Liam James, and Keith Roberts were arrested.


Trial and prison

They were tried in August 1986 on charges of ordering the murder of Maurice Bishop and seven others. Coard was
sentenced to death Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...
, but this was commuted to
life imprisonment Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed term. Crimes for ...
in 1991. He served his sentence in
Richmond Hill Prison Richmond Hill Prison is a prison in Saint George's, Grenada, Saint George's, the capital of Grenada. Known officially as His Majesty's Prison, it is run by the Ministry of National Security (Grenada), Ministry of National Security. The prison gove ...
, where he was engaged in teaching and instructing fellow inmates in many subjects, including economics and sociology. In September 2004, the prison in which he was held was damaged by
Hurricane Ivan Hurricane Ivan was a large, long-lived, Cape Verde hurricane that caused widespread damage in the Caribbean and United States. The cyclone was the ninth named storm, the sixth hurricane and the fourth major hurricane of the active 2004 Atlan ...
and many inmates took the opportunity to flee, but Coard said he chose not to escape, saying he would not leave until his name was cleared.


Release

On 7 February 2007, the London-based
Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...
ordered a re-sentencing of Coard and the others convicted for the 1983 killing of Bishop and some of his cabinet colleagues. The re-sentencing hearing began on 18 June 2007. On 27 June, the judge gave Coard and his fellow defendants a 30-year sentence, which included the time already spent in prison. On 5 September 2009, Coard was released from prison. Upon release he said he did not want to be involved in politics again. Bernard Coard has three children.


See also

*
Invasion of Grenada The United States invasion of Grenada began at dawn on 25 October 1983. The United States and a coalition of six Caribbean nations invaded the island nation of Grenada, north of Venezuela. Codenamed Operation Urgent Fury by the U.S. military, ...
*
Reagan Doctrine The Reagan Doctrine was stated by United States President Ronald Reagan in his State of the Union address on February 6, 1985: "We must not break faith with those who are risking their lives—on every continent from Afghanistan to Nicaragua—to ...
*
Grenada 17 The Grenada 17 were the seventeen political, military and civilian figures convicted of various crimes associated with the 1983 overthrow of Maurice Bishop's government of Grenada and his subsequent murder. History In October 1983, various offi ...
*
Franklyn Harvey Franklyn Harvey (14 February 1943 – 16 May 2016) was a Grenadian academic, activist and professional, a founder of the New Jewel Movement (NJM) and principal author of their manifesto. He had a significant influence on the development of the Ca ...
*''
Education (film) ''Education'' is a 2020 drama film directed by Steve McQueen and co-written by McQueen and Alastair Siddons. The film was released as part of the anthology series '' Small Axe'' on BBC One on 13 December 2020, in the Netherlands on 16 December ...
'', a dramatization of the events surrounding Coard's critique of the British school system


References


External links


The Grenada Revolution OnlineThe Lost Bishop Photos
{{DEFAULTSORT:Coard, Bernard 1944 births Living people Alumni of the University of Sussex Communist Party of Great Britain members Finance ministers of Grenada Deputy Prime Ministers of Grenada Grenadian communists Brandeis University alumni University of the West Indies academics Grenadian prisoners sentenced to death Prisoners sentenced to death by Grenada Grenadian people convicted of murder People convicted of murder by Grenada New Jewel Movement politicians Anti-revisionists Grenadian schoolteachers Schoolteachers from London Grenadian expatriates in the United Kingdom Leaders who took power by coup Leaders ousted by a coup People from Saint Mark Parish, Grenada Grenadian male writers Heads of government who were later imprisoned 20th-century Grenadian politicians