If it wants to win, OBA must address racism — Hodgson
The One Bermuda Alliance will struggle to get votes from blacks even though the Progressive Labour Party is governing badly, unless it begins addressing racism in the white community, according to activist Eva Hodgson.Dr Hodgson warned the new Opposition party it’s doomed to failure if it just focuses on trying to recruit blacks, a policy many believe cost the United Bermuda Party dearly over the years.She told The Royal Gazette she’s continuing to witness racist behaviour from whites while blacks carry the baggage of institutionalised racism.She noted one white woman had ranted at her over the phone after she organised meetings for the black community, and highlighted an attitude built on white privilege by refusing to allow Dr Hodgson to respond.“The OBA needs to begin by addressing the racism within the white community rather than simply trying to get black people to join the OBA,” said Dr Hodgson.“Because that kind of togetherness is not a solution to the very deep division that still exists, particularly the economic division and the psychological division that’s been made.“I’m sure there are some people who are joining the OBA. I don’t know about the numbers, but I do know they are not likely to make headway until some effort is made in racial attitude of whites.“A lot of blacks are not prepared to put up with that kind of racist experience, regardless of the fact of how badly the PLP may govern.“The PLP has done so badly with all this money they spent, and people out of jobs, it wouldn’t surprise me if a lot of people didn’t vote for the PLP. I’m sure the OBA will get some votes.“But the issue of the racist behaviour that continues is not likely to make the immediate future of the OBA very productive.“How do they want a change when they didn’t even want the equality bill? The PLP couldn’t even get the equality bill, which is a nothing bill, through the House. They seem to think that one or two successful people are all that black people need.”In recent weeks, Dr Hodgson has organised a series of meetings for blacks to discuss the idea of internalised racism.She explained: “I have spent most of my life challenging white racism. The last few years, partly because of the PLP Government, I have become more aware of and more concerned about black internalised racism.“The internalised racism is really a response to and taking on the values of the oppressor so that black people are what white people have said about them.“That is obviously a destructive predicament for black people as they are turning it on themselves.“I have had several discussions on how do blacks themselves help to support and perpetuate racism. When the advert first came out, there was a lot of negative responses on the blogs.“The irony of this criticism is that black functions are always pretty segregated: you don’t find white people at black functions.“For example, Dale Butler’s Angle Street festival was very successful, but among the people there were one or two white politicians and that was all. The Shelly Bay gombey event on the same day: there were no white people there.“So why do white people get so upset when someone calls for a meeting of black people? They wouldn’t be coming anyhow.”She said one woman called her and began by asking how she defines a black Bermudian.“I said I did not define black Bermudians, the white power structure defined it in 1834 when they decided who was going to be segregated against,” said Dr Hodgson.“When I began to talk about what segregation and policies had been, to the extent that black children couldn’t play on the same tennis courts as white children, not even on the same day, she interrupted me very angrily and said, ‘I know my history.’“My question is, if she knew her history, why would she take up the telephone and ask me to define black Bermudians? She knew who history had discriminated against and exploited.“When I tried to open my mouth to say something else, she went into a very long rant, her primary point being that I was talking about blacks and making the situation worse.“She ended up saying, ‘You must have been terribly hurt by somebody,’ and slammed the phone down.“She really felt that white privilege gave her this right to call me up and then slam the phone in my face.”Dr Hodgson said the woman told her she must have been badly hurt at some point, which ignored the fact that the entire black community has been hurt by decades of racism.“Certainly, I’m badly hurt and the entire black community is badly hurt when they look around and see enormous disparity between the two races and how that manifests itself in other social problems,” she said.Pointing to an encounter on the streets in recent days, she added: “What’s equally frustrating is when a white Bermudian former politician tells me that when I talk about race I’m carrying a lot of baggage.“That’s why I’m talking. It’s because the black community is carrying a lot of baggage. That comes from racist policies that have segregated them, demeaned them and resulted in a current economic disparity that’s never been addressed.“When he said, ‘You are still carrying a lot of baggage,’ it struck me that white people have not come to recognise the baggage that racism has placed on black people.“All of us have been badly hurt. Why they should want us to be silent in the face of that is completely incredible to me.”