October 19, 2011Dear Sir,The other day I was in a restaurant when a white Bermudian whom I had met briefly waved at me. As a non-white foreigner, I immediately thought he was speaking to someone behind me, because although I have been married to a white Bermudian for many years, I have become used to being totally ignored by other white people who will carry on a conversation with my husband as though I am not there, and these are people that I have been introduced to over and over again. When I asked my husband why these people were so rude, he said: "They just don't look at someone who is not white, as they assume they don't know them".I have lived in many parts of the world with the same husband and never faced this type of behaviour before. I am also tired of the air kisses given to me by people who don't want to touch my face, but who feel obliged to “kiss” me because they kiss my husband. I would rather that they not go through the charade of pretending to kiss me. It is insulting in the extreme and I have plenty of genuine kisses from normal people so please just nod when we meet.Sadly I have no communication with the black Bermudians either because, although they will occasionally speak to me, it is hardly in a friendly way and I am tired of being asked by the supermarket clerk if I am together with my husband. Duh! Our groceries are in the same cart! Is this Mississippi or South Africa?I feel as though I have time travelled back to some awful age where the Hatfields and the Mc Coys run rampant. There is no communication between the two races in this country and since I am unable to communicate with either group I feel isolated and alien.Racist politics has made things even more polarized and now that hard times have hit the Bermudians, who used to flaunt their prosperity, they are getting really nasty and xenophobic with the guest workers who have been doing the jobs they have spurned for so long.It is my hope that a truly integrated political party will wash away the horrible separation that has plagued this country for too long. Things however will never improve unless all the citizens have a chance at an equal education or should I say, take advantage of the education available and try and find common interests and harbor less hate towards their own countrymen and visitors.STRANGER IN PARADISEPembroke