One of the leaders of the 1959 Theatre Boycott believes Premier Ewart Brown was right to break the Constitution by bringing Guantánamo Bay detainees to the Island without permission from the UK.

Clifford Maxwell yesterday said Bermuda needs to challenge Britain when it is morally correct to do so — in the same way his Progressive Group stood up to segregation 50 years ago.

Dr. Maxwell, a strong supporter of Independence, told The Royal Gazette: "Sometimes you have to challenge things and say sorry afterwards."

The Premier has repeatedly come under fire from wide sections of the community — including many Progressive Labour Party MPs — for the secrecy behind his Guantánamo move.

Dr. Brown says he consulted only with Immigration Minister David Burch as he thought it was an immigration issue; Governor Sir Richard Gozney argues it was a matter of security which should have been a UK decision.

Hundreds of furious protesters, a large proportion of whom have been white, have since waged demonstrations against Dr. Brown. He claims their anger reflects their loss of white privilege.

Yesterday, Dr. Maxwell said he believed whites feel threatened by a black Government, while his wife Florenz, a fellow Progressive Group member, said she picked out about five white crowd members from last month's protests who also vociferously opposed desegregation five decades ago.

Speaking about the Guantánamo move, Dr. Maxwell said: "Any humanitarian person would see nothing wrong with this. It's only four people.

"We should all have been proud of the fact that Bermuda did it. Instead, they are going on about it breaking the Constitution. Of course it goes against the Constitution: the Constitution imposed by the British.

"I believe Britain should be challenged if we know that Britain is doing something wrong. If we know that's wrong, why shouldn't we, as a small nation, do something about it?

"It might be wrong to challenge the Constitution, but you should use the excuse that it's an immigration thing. Then you say sorry. Why should we follow Britain's lead because of the Constitution?"

Tomorrow marks the 50th anniversary of the end of the two-week theatre boycott, which saw hundreds of people take part in peaceful rallies outside theatres, campaigning against the fact blacks were only allowed in certain parts of the building.

Its success also led to desegregation in other establishments including restaurants, hotels and schools.

Reflecting on last month's protests, Dr. Maxwell said: "Fifty years ago we demonstrated to bring about integration. It was 98 percent black who were involved in it, although there was a number of white supporters," he said.

"Even then there was a political situation going on. Now, in a democracy, the majority are supposed to win. There is what appears to be a black Government and the whites are protesting against the black Government. The whole thing has turned around."

He said people are using Dr. Brown as an excuse for their protests.

"It's a case of feeling threatened," he continued. "Things appear to be becoming more and more black. They may think: are they going to treat us the way we treated them?

"We have to reach a stage where we can think of each other as not another black person, not another white person; and recognise Bermuda doesn't have a white majority. Bermuda has a black majority."

Mrs. Maxwell said: "This particular evening I was watching the TV. I couldn't believe the cameras zeroed in on a bunch of white people. I saw faces who had been 'down' with us 50 years ago. I don't believe they were doing it out of a principle. They were the same faces with the same expressions.

"I was just flabbergasted that they were the same faces. The camera zeroed in on this bunch of whites. The faces were older by 50 years, but their mouths and expressions were the same. The more things change, the more they remain the same.

"Fifty years ago, they weren't in a bunch like that. But we knew the whites who were against desegregation and they wouldn't hesitate to say how they felt."

Dr. Brown supporter LaVerne Furbert has described the crowd as a lynch mob.

Mrs. Maxwell said: "I wouldn't have called them that, but it was close to being an angry mob."

Dr. Maxwell added: "I suppose some would have said the same thing about us. It was a generational thing."

l A response from Janice Battersbee, the co-organiser of the recent protests against Dr. Brown, to the views expressed appears in a separate story above.

l A news feature on four of the key members of the Progressive Group and their recollections of the Theatre Boycott will appear in tomorrow's Royal Gazette.