Open letter to Premier

May 11, 2009

Dear Sir,

This is an open letter to Premier Dr. Ewart Brown.

Dear Premier,

"And he answered, fear not, for they that be with us are more than they that be with them." (2 Kings 6:16 – King James Version)

MYRTLE DURHAM

Smith's

Tyre blow out help

May 12, 2009

Dear Sir,

At approximately 1 p.m. on May 7, I sustained a road traffic accident when the left front tyre of my car blew out opposite Turtle Island on Harrington Sound Road, Smith's.

A very kind gentleman stopped his vehicle, called the Police and waited with me until they came. Unfortunately, I did not take his name and through this medium I wish to thank him for his assistance.

In addition, two young ladies staying in an apartment overlooking the road saw the mishap, rendered first aid and stayed with me until my husband arrived.

Thank you all very much. Your help was greatly appreciated.

ROSEMARY KENDELL

Smith's

Don't be afraid

May 12, 2009

Dear Sir,

I am amazed at the number of "sources" being interviewed in the media who ask not to be named "for fear of retribution". What are they afraid of? That their tyres will be slashed, they will lose their jobs, their houses will be fire-bombed, their children will be kidnapped? Don't they know they have rights? Even if they do suffer some form of retribution, they are still entitled to full protection under the law. They should always remember that three of the most powerful words in the English language are WE THE PEOPLE.

Look at Southlands: Loud protests from an outraged public were solely responsible for the triumphant conclusion to that unacceptable situation. And if "we the people" want to put paid to the blatant cronyism, nepotism and delusions of grandeur that taint our leadership, then speak up without fear: write letters, go on the radio – and sign those petitions!

You can do it – but do it now, before it's too late.

JEAN HANNANT

Pembroke

You're not Obama

May 11, 2009

Dear Sir,

Did anyone in the PLP Government see The Royal Gazette today, Monday, May 11 which contained the quote from President Obama at the Annual White House Correspondent's Association dinner? After he praised journalists for holding government officials accountable he says: "A government without newspapers, a government without a tough and vibrant media of all sorts in not an option for the United States of America."

Please PLP, stop comparing yourselves to President Obama, the only thing you have in common with the Government of the United States of America is the fact that your leader is Black and so is theirs.

What you do not have in common is the fact that their leader has integrity, honesty and the capability of admitting his mistakes and correcting them.

Here's two thumbs up for Mr. Horton and Mr. Perinchief.

BERMUDIAN VOTER

Paget

Premier is not God

May 5,2009

Dear Sir,

Yesterday I was listening to Hott 107.5 FM radio talk show. A lady phoned in and talked at great length about people sending pictures to the Royal Gazette of the Premier being parked illegally all over Hamilton. She felt that he, as Premier, was entitled to park where he pleased at any time. Thao Dill, of course, agreed with her.

I know that the Premier thinks he is God but I would like to remind this lady that he is, in fact, just a human being like the rest of us and therefore should obey the laws of the land.

During this long conversation this lady put Thao Dill on hold and then revealed she worked somewhere on reception and had put the caller on hold so that she could continue the conversation.

If she were employed by me she would be fired on the spot.

DISGUSTED

St. George's

Blacks' Big Conversation

May 10, 2009

Dear Sir,

In an effort to encourage and urge others to read Dr. Christopher's "Random Walk through the Forest" I would like, first of all, to express my appreciation for his contribution to the discussion on the nature of the development of our society. I am also grateful for both much of the information in many aspects of his discussion and the context in which it is placed.

It often, inevitably, underscores Bermuda's determination to maintain the evil of white privilege in every detail of our society. His concern about Bermuda's desire for a new form of segregation is both an acknowledgement of human nature in general and a reflection of the need for a Big Conversation among blacks to understand the desire of some blacks to impose on other blacks the discrimination and injustice imposed upon all of us, as blacks, by whites and racism. It cannot be an accident that both the successfully integrated Technical Institute and Hotel School were dismantled, as they were. The Bermuda College has never been as integrated in the Student Body as was the Technical Institute.

We might well ask ourselves why is it that despite the fact that the Berkeley Institute had a much longer tradition of academic success than the Warwick Academy and a very much higher percentage of passes than the combined passes of the white schools as of 1959, as soon as they could, black folks, not only unabashed capitalist and businessman like Sir John Swan but that icon of the PLP who indulged in much socialist rhetoric, the late Dame Lois Browne Evans, promptly sent their children to private white schools, including Warwick Academy.

Why is it that not only under a UBP Government and the old overtly racist Governments of the past that all white schools, no matter how incompetent and inefficient, had governing bodies, while all black schools, no matter how competent, had no governing bodies but came directly under various Governments and, even today, with all of the changes and under a black Government and despite many recommendations the situation and distinction between the black and white communities remain the same.

Whites are respected sufficiently to run their own affairs but blacks are still considered, even by a black Government, so inferior and so incompetent, that they cannot be trusted to be involved in the education of their own children. The PLP is a product of the black community and reflects the same lack of racial self respect and a serious distrust of other blacks. If this is just another way in which the PLP has betrayed the black community, it is because we, collectively, continue to betray ourselves.

Another interesting publication was brought to my attention recently. It was the very colourful "Then and Now" by Theresa Airey. I found it attractive although the artists among the group of us who were skimming the book felt that all black and white photographs would have made it more effective – but I am not an artist.

Throughout the book the author is careful to show the same for Now as Then. Until we come to pages 146 and 147. That principle no longer applies. On page 146 we have a black-skinned Bermudian who would have made an excellent model for the Sambo caricature that was once so popular to represent those of us of African descent. But on page 147, it is as if she could not even find a modern day black skinned Bermudian! She shows the face of an intelligent, middle class individual with more white than black blood. It is as if she believes that in order to be intelligent and middle class one must have lots of white blood, so it would not have served her purpose to show an equally black skinned Bermudian of intelligence and successfully middleclass! If she had not been obsessed with leaving that image of black skinned Bermudians and had wanted to be factual in her representation of Bermudian "Onions" she would have been more honest and shown Bermudians of a variety of skin colour both Then and Now. There were mixed blood Bermudians Then just as there are intelligent successful black-skinned Bermudians Now. There are enough black-skinned Bermudians for all of us to find the implications of pages 146 and 147 insulting and offensive to all of us. When foreigners want to exploit Bermudians for their own financial gain, they should restrain their prejudice against the black skinned. We have enough prejudices of our own.

There are those who do not want to talk about race but the continuing impact of the philosophy of racism on the black community and the continuing manifestation of it by whites suggest that it is not enough for individual blacks to say "I have no inferiority complex, I do not feel inferior" without their considering how they feel about other black people.

Sometimes those blacks who profess to be without a personal sense of inferiority are the most likely to be contemptuous of other blacks. Theresa Airey's book is not meant for locals, it is meant for wealthy white tourists. But she lives among us and is spreading her poison just as surely as if she had meant it for locals. I can only repeat that both of these books underscore the need for blacks to have a "Big Conversation" among ourselves.

EVA N. HODGSON

Hamilton Parish