Dear Sir,It’s been just over three years since the Progressive Labour Party lost the General Election. In those three years, the same message, whether it is a direct reference or an underlying tone, goes back to race as a basis of its argument for everything that the One Bermuda Alliance does.Why does everything have to come down to race with the PLP? Has it no other card to play? Does it for one second actually believe that the OBA just wants to line the pockets of a few “select few white men” and not perform its civic duty to Bermuda? I can understand to a degree its scepticism, given that this was the practice of the previous government. It is probably prudent to point out a few hard truths because it is becoming increasingly evident that the PLP just simply doesn’t get it. We’re a rock in the middle of nowhere, we have no exports, we import everything in order to survive. That includes food for our children, energy to power our homes, fuel for our cars and, believe it or not, workers to educate our children, workers to cook and serve food in restaurants, and a workforce to maintain our position as a leader in the insurance and reinsurance marketplace. All of these workers contribute to buying groceries, fees at schools, food and drink in restaurants and, most importantly for Bermudians, rent. It should come as no surprise that a lot of Bermudians are struggling in recent years, not just because of job losses, but more significantly because a large portion of their income is or was based on rent from properties that have been passed down through generations. When you have 4,000-plus foreigners leaving an island that relies on all of this, then you have a significant impact on the population and economy. To suggest that “foreigners” are taking away jobs from Bermudians is highly irrational. If that were to be the case, then surely we can assume that there would be 4,000-plus more Bermudians in employment since all those foreigners left, right? Wrong. Without the foreign workforce here, we have already seen the significant negative impact it has. It’s not rocket science, it’s not based on race; it is based on simple economics for a country such as Bermuda to function. For the PLP to keep referring to it as a racial issue is weak, degrading to those workers and insulting to the majority of Bermudians. Walton Brown has been at the forefront of this in recent weeks by suggesting upheaval and disruption, while also authoring comments such as, “Any sensible government will have a series of quotas in place on people coming into a country”. So now the PLP is suggesting that we quota people based on race?Because that is what is implied when it comments that this reform is just a “special privilege for white men”. That’s an interesting human rights path to wander down, especially given the history of Bermuda. Let’s remember for one moment where everyone in Bermuda is derived from. I’ve yet to meet someone who can trace their roots back to before these islands were discovered by a Spanish man and settled by an Englishman.I look around and see all sorts of people from varying backgrounds, cultures, colour and countries — all contributing to Bermuda in some shape or form. If we never let in any foreigners who have contributed to Bermuda, we would not have the history that we have. That includes each and every one of us now and those who passed before.We all came from somewhere else and those foreigners that have contributed to Bermuda for the past 15 or more years deserve to be recognised for their part. They have given back and shown their commitment to Bermuda for a considerable period of time and deserve to be treated equally, whatever colour their skin may be.RK