Butterfield has class!

February 28, 2008

Dear Sir,

I write today to express my appreciation and gratitude to Jim Butterfield; a man not only large in stature but also in character — he has class! The cement business that he worked so hard to keep was handed to others who he simply wished well. I want to also thank him for giving the downtrodden a hand up through the job market; many of them would not have stood a chance elsewhere.

He submitted himself to race relation meetings, only to be verbally abused for no fault of his own — other than being white — "Blacks, it's time to stop"!

I happen to be a black person who is concerned about the appalling way that this family has been treated. I would like to let them know that some black people appreciate their contribution and their generosity.

With respect to education, the Butterfield family has been at the forefront in providing scholarship funds and physical education facilities throughout Bermuda. It would be fair to say that black children have benefited from their generosity. "Don't lose heart Jim"; the Lord has put you here for a good reason. We continue to pray and uphold your family before the throne of grace.

LINDA RUSSELL

Devonshire

Tell the victims' story

March 4, 2008

Dear Sir,

Please allow me some space to express my sincerest congratulations to Ms Ceola Wilson-Bell and her team for producing that first class programme on Sunday night. It was both interesting and informative and as far as I am concerned it rivalled anything that 60 Minutes or 48 Hours have produced.

If Bermuda awarded 'Emmys' it would be a 'shoo-in'. However I must confess that I feel Ms. Bell short-changed us in one respect and it is this – we never really got to see the story from the murder victim's family's side. I would suggest that Ms Bell consider producing a Part II from their perspective.

RECMAN

Devonshire

Slavery's history

February 29, 2008

Dear Sir,

I have spent some time of late reading about slavery. As a white guy I am conditioned to accept that slavery is not only my fault but also the fault of my 'as yet unborn child'. I am also advised frequently through Letters to the Editor that because I am white, I was born with a silver spoon in my mouth; a notion I find difficult to grasp given my circumstances. Do I understand slavery and the ongoing blame of white people? Maybe I don't understand because of childhood conditioning? Maybe it is simply because I am white and just don't see it – much like Julian Hall's lady who thought race relations were "better years ago". Maybe I can't understand because slavery is not in my background?

Then again, maybe slavery is in my background.

I was only partly surprised to find that slavery never has been (and never will be) solely a black problem. I did have my suspicions. Enslaving people has been around since the 6th millennium BC and has impacted on just about every civilization, race, colour, class and creed of humanity since then, both consistently and continuously.

With regards to white slavery in particular, according to the Doomsday Book census in 1086, ten percent of England's population was enslaved. Fairly recently, Robert Davis, professor of History at Ohio State University, estimates that between the C16th and C18th there were around 1.2 million white Christians enslaved in Africa, under Muslim domination. Davis states that from 1500 to 1650, when trans-Atlantic slaving was still in its infancy, more white Christian slaves were probably taken to Barbary than black African slaves to the Americas.

Davis says: "One of the things that both the public and many scholars have tended to take as given is that slavery was always racial in nature – that only blacks have been slaves. But that is not true. We cannot think of slavery as something that only white people did to black people."

During the time period Davis studied, he concluded that it was religion and ethnicity, as much as race, that determined who became slaves.

In 1807, the UK Parliament passed the Bill that abolished the trading of slaves. Between 1808 and 1860, action was taken against African leaders who refused to agree to British treaties to outlaw the trade, for example against "the usurping King of Lagos", deposed in 1851. Anti-slavery treaties were signed with over 50 African rulers.

The King of Bonny (now in Nigeria) was horrified at the conclusion of the practice. He said:

"We think this trade must go on. That is the verdict of our oracle and the priests. They say that your country, however great, can never stop a trade ordained by God himself."

But, what of today you might ask. The situation is no better than it was. If anything, it is worse as we (the human race) have (yet again) not learned from the past. Crude estimates put the number of people enslaved in the world at large today at 27 million; the biggest number in the history of mankind.

Robert Green Ingersoll said: "As soon as our ancestors began to get free they began to enslave others. With an inconsistency that defies explanation, they practiced upon others the same outrages that had been perpetrated upon them. As soon as white slavery began to be abolished, black slavery commenced. In this infamous traffic nearly every nation of Europe embarked. Fortunes were quickly realised; the avarice and cupidity of Europe were excited; all ideas of justice were discarded; pity fled from the human breast a few good, brave men recited the horrors of the trade; avarice was deaf; religion refused to hear; the trade went on; the governments of Europe upheld it in the name of commerce, in the name of civilization and religion." (Robert Green Ingersoll, "Centennial Oration," 1876)

His words fell on deaf ears, given our current state of play. Slavery in Mauritania (NW Africa) legally abolished by laws passed in the 20th Century, yet there is still slavery. In Niger (West Africa), a study has found that more than 800,000 people are still slaves; almost eight percent of the population. Descent-based slavery, where generations of the same family are born into bondage, is traditionally practiced by at least four of Niger's eight ethnic groups. The trading of children is reported in modern-day Nigeria and Benin. In parts of Ghana, a family may be punished for an offence by having to turn over a virgin female to serve as a sex slave within the offended family. The list goes on.

I wish I could take up more space to talk about the role of the Church and the views of the Bible with regards to slavery over the centuries. It is both a fascinating and horrifying area of study and perhaps worth another letter later. At the very least, one can conclude that it is not just the Anglican Church that needs to pay reparations!

At the end of the day, it may well be that my family came from slaves. It looks more probable than ever that I might not have been born with that proverbial silver spoon in my mouth; an outcome, to be honest, that sits more comfortably with my circumstances.

In the final analysis, none of us can be proud of our heritage. It is clear from my reading that all of us were and, worse still, some of us continue to be guilty of enslaving others. That blacks should have enslaved others and that the Church took varying views of slavery are the two main surprises from my study. Maybe it's time to put slavery into perspective rather than just on the back of whites. Either that, or I will be seeking reparations from black people – and justifiably so.

SMITH'S

Confused by land law

March 3, 2008

Dear Sir,

As a real estate agent, I found last week's article about the amendments to the Immigration Act, 1956, less than illuminating. Firstly, the whole newspaper could have been devoted to this topic and still not begin to clarify, justify, rectify, vilify or just plain explain this convoluted and confusing piece of legislation. The article raised more questions than it answered. I am certain Dr. Brewer's inbox was jammed with e-mails!

I recently advised a client, trying to sell their condo privately, on suggested wording for her ad in the paper. She was challenged on how to word it so that she did not attract people not qualified to purchase it from her: "Mixed status couple selling condo available only to unrestricted unmixed Bermudians and absolutely not available to previously unrestricted restricted PRC's".

Seriously, perhaps the Department of Immigration should consider hiring a consultant to explain the explanations so the public is not confused.

Lastly and specifically regarding mixed status couples inheriting property jointly, Dr. Brewer was quoted as saying " The Bermudian could buy out the non-Bermudian spouse's equity in the land; but how likely is it that a Bermudian and the non-Bermudian spouse will inherit jointly? If this scenario is unlikely why is there a need to legislate to prevent it?

MIXED-UP BERMUDIAN

Paget

In defence of Bishop

@$:March 6, 2008

Dear Sir,

@$:I watched with amazement at the Minister of Culture and Social Rehabilitation Dale Butler's almost hysterical diatribe against The Rt. Rev. Ewen Ratteray, the Anglican Bishop of Bermuda, on the TV news last night. The Minister took exception to the Bishop's response to his suggestion that the Anglican Church in Bermuda introduce scholarships in Bermuda to compensate for the church's role in slavery.

First of all, let me declare my full support for the Bishop's response. It is the Church's responsibility to decide how it fulfils the commitment made last year, not CURE's, not the Minister's or any other entity. That decision should be taken after a period of reflection and prayer. It is a decision that should be reflective of the Church as a whole, not a decision taken out of political expediency. If the Minister doesn't like the Bishop's decision, then tough. As the young people say, get over it.

I have had the distinct honour of knowing and working with Bishop Ratteray for the past seven years. His commitment to Bermuda is without question. I have sought his guidance and wisdom on many matters during that time. During his tenure, he has faced many difficult decisions and, as all good leaders have, he has made them in the best interests of the Anglican Church and Bermuda. Some of those decisions have rendered him open to the most personal criticism from members of the Church, but he has never shirked his responsibilities.

It may come as some surprise to Mr. Butler, accustomed as he is to politics, that some of us work quietly behind the scenes to effect change, and don't need or want publicity. I would suggest that the only person who questions the Bishop's commitment would be the Minister, perhaps because he couldn't have his own way.

The Minister stated that the Anglican Church is cash rich. I don't know which Anglican Church that Mr. Butler belongs to, but almost every Church Warden and Vestry Member that I speak with agonises over the constantly rising cost of operating and maintaining a parish church in Bermuda, and are constantly seeking new and innovative ways for funding.

Mr. Butler then went on to say, somewhat sinisterly, that "we have not put a figure or tax on the Anglican Church." Is he now planning to tax the Anglican or other churches in Bermuda, especially if they do not bend to his will? Perhaps Mr. Butler intended his "suggestion" of a scholarship as an order, politely worded. I found those comments interesting, especially coming from the Minister who threatened to "legislate the Corporation of Hamilton out of existence" over the BSoA affair.

In closing, I want to restate my support for Bishop Ratteray, a man I have come to know, admire and respect over the past few years. Our church has been well served by him during these turbulent times. The Minister's remarks were unfair and undeserved. I will however, as much as I disagree with Mr. Butler, continue to include him in my prayers.

SEAN M. PITCHER

St. David's