Read the excerpt from Midsummer by Derek Walcott. The leaf stems tug at their chains, the branches bending like Boer cattle under Tory whips that drag every wagon nearer to apartheid. Based on the allusion to Tory whips, readers can infer that the speaker thinks that most people do not think about the racial tension in England. oppressive political groups are a thing of the past. there are many examples of oppression throughout history. the racial tension in England is not affected by past events.