Protests against the closure of West End Primary School, which holds special significance for the Somerset community, have a personal ring for David Jones.

Mr Jones remembers being the first Black student enrolled at Somerset Primary, the school earmarked to remain in use if West End’s closing goes through.

“Everybody in Somerset called it the White school,” the 64-year-old recalled. “I was the only Black boy there for three years.

“It was hard. When you’re young, you do not know the colour issue. When they teased me, I didn’t know.”

Mr Jones shared his story against the backdrop of February as Black History Month, with the fate of West End Primary School yet to be settled, saying he hoped it would remain open.

Tall for his age and gifted at sport, Mr Jones was eventually able to win over his White classmates at the other primary school — but remembers taunts such as “my daddy said you guys eat out of the trash”.

All his friends attended West End, the Black school under the racial segregation that began to change only in 1965 — the same year Mr Jones enrolled at Sandys Grammar School, now Somerset Primary, after the area MP interceded on his family’s behalf.

“I couldn’t get into West End or Boaz Island or Southampton Glebe, and my mom didn’t have the type of money to send me to town or somewhere else. Money was very tight.”

Mr Jones said he supported preserving West End Primary, telling The Royal Gazette: “West End should not close.

“West End has the history when it comes to that neighbourhood — put it that way.”

The closure of West End Primary, which has been bitterly disputed since 2021, was put on hold last year for a fresh evaluation for all parishes with more than one primary school.

Under the scoring system underpinning the reforms, Somerset Primary would remain as the lone public primary school in Sandys.

The reprieve for West End came after a pressure group, the West End Warriors, repeatedly campaigned for a rethink.

Bermuda’s dual system for schools fell under the Education Act 1971, which made it illegal for any of the island’s schools to base admission on race.

Sandys Grammar School, meanwhile, acquired its modern name after it was merged with Boaz Island School.

At age 5, however, Mr Jones was warned by his parents: “Don’t worry about what they say. You’re going to get some.”

The school had eight Black students by the time he left.

“I broke the barrier. It wasn’t easy, but I did it.”

Mr Jones said that from 1965 to 1970, he “really found out the racial situation”.

Previously, all he knew was “Blacks didn’t hang out with Whites”.

He added: “It was not the children. It was the parents. I would sit and watch the children come in. The parents would check me out.”

Mr Jones endured teasing and name-calling from White students, the majority of whom came from the island’s American and Canadian military bases, but was able to make friends.

“The first year was the hardest, the second got a little easier. I got to know some friends, but when I first went, I had none.

“I’d go sit on the bench and wait until the bell rang to go to class. At recess, I’d go sit on the bench again.

“I had one teacher who more or less looked out for me. When I was crying from them calling me too many names, she called me into the classroom and explained, ‘You’re only kids — they do not know what they are saying’.”

Bermudian pupils of Portuguese descent passed for White, and Mr Jones remembers several befriending him.

Making friendships with White foreign children, who nicknamed him “Ace”, still came with risks.

“I got to go to birthday parties on the [US Naval] Base,” he said.

“But sometimes I was rejected because the kid who said I could come didn’t tell his parents I was a Black person.”

Mr Jones said a lot of it “didn’t mean much to me” and that he believed teachers at the school came in on his side, encouraging others to treat him kindly.

Because he was tall, he was looked upon as an older student, and sports roles such as becoming captain of the school football team helped him to become accepted.

He added: “It’s free now. Bermuda has changed, and for young kids it’s easier. You’re just going to school because your mom sent you.

“I just wanted to go to West End where all my friends were.”