Bring back Tech

December 5, 2008

Dear Sir,

Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme! It never ceases to amaze me how doubtless well-meaning people can surface with some new brilliant idea re some particular aspects of education.

In this instance I refer to the column in The Royal Gazette edition of the 4th December 2008, P13; which, in turn referred to: I quote: "how to get students ready for industry". We have been through all this before and much money will doubtless be spent on researching this proposal project! With your permission I would like to take this opportunity to enlighten the people concerned with the project what happened in the past as regards the subject under review.

Quite a number of years ago, I was appointed Head of the Electrical Department at the then Bermuda Technical Institute, Friswell's Hill.

This was a boys' secondary school which not only provided an excellent general education; but as the boys progressed through the years, also gave instruction in motor vehicle engineering, electrical installation, carpentry and construction and general mechanical engineering. It was a small school, but with a dedicated staff, divided between Bermudians and expats. It gives me great pleasure to recall some of them. Messrs. Guishard, Carey, Maxwell, Foggo, Castle, Alvarez, Henderson, Molyneaux, Barn, Smith and myself. The Institute was based on the Technical High School concept existing in the UK and had been introduced by the excellent principal, Mr. Ted Crawford. In my case I taught some technical drawings and science with the additional subject, electrical installation, etc.

When I arrived there were no external students except at evening classes; but as time went on I insisted that we recruited trainees from the rapidly burgeoning industrial field. Consequently we were able to start "day-release" classes for trainees from firms such as Masters, Belco, HWP, Universal, Canber, etc. and the Telephone Company. I further insisted that they sat external examinations such as City and Guilds of London and U.L.C.I. installation exams. We also began courses in air-conditioning/refrigeration and basic electronics.

Alas, after almost nine years of dedicated work by the staff, disaster overtook the Technical work. A certain UN "expert", Dr. Ford, was introduced to speed up the work of integrating the Hotel School (Prospect), the B.T.I. and the Fifth Form Centre to form the Bermuda College. His opening gambit was: "I don't believe in City and Guilds examinations." More of which later, but the integration led to the virtual demise of specialist technical training in Bermuda.

It further led to my services no longer being required (sic) and I very reluctantly had to leave Bermuda, eventually being posted to Africa. (Note: There I discovered that a certain U.N. official was ejected from Lusaka because he was threatening to ruin the technical education there!)

Since that time there have been a number of attempts to resurrect technical training in Bermuda, although one "training officer" resorted to sending his charges to a technical college in the UK. Perhaps Mr. Burland and his colleagues will have some success with his suggested project, although I feel that his diversification is too widespread. I note, too, that someone has mooted the idea of a university in Bermuda. Instead, why not reconstitute a proper unit specialising in craft and technical subjects, to replace the late, lamented Technical Institute? One stipulation I should make would be that exams were external.

R. BRACEWELL

Hamilton Parish

What racism thrives off

December 15, 2008

Dear Sir,

Racism is not a static thing. It is not located solely in the past. If 'playing the race card' means critically responding to racist cartoons; then it's my turn. On December 12 a cartoon printed in this newspaper depicted a gorilla looking rather uncomfortable in his suit, sitting brutishly in what looked to be furniture from the House of Assembly. Above and below the graphic were captions, of which the bottom one said it all.

Mr. Woolcock, in drawing this cartoon, was mocking a physical attribute of Premier Dr. Ewart Brown – his black skin. It is not OK to refer to a black man as a gorilla. In referring to him, or any other black person as a gorilla, in imagining him and then imaging him with physical attributes that have nothing to do with his (in) competency as a Premier, you unveiled a racist presupposition.

I am quite aware that art and cartoons are open to interpretation. But with this cartoon, Mr. Woolcock enlisted the use of captions to advise as to how we should interpret the image. In attempt to justify and also detract from the equation of a black man with a gorilla, Mr. Woolcock informs Royal Gazette readers by quotation that Ms Paula Cox referred to an abstract gorilla sitting in the room during a recent sitting of the House during which time race was discussed. The saying of there being elephants, or "gorillas" in "rooms" is not new. Usually people employ the saying to convey that there is a major issue that is not being talked about or dealt with. This makes sense.

What wasn't believable is that Mr. Woolcock took this one comment by a respected Member of the House, and ran with it – in the wrong direction. Underneath the gorilla graphic is the wording: "And how exactly do we get rid of him? It has to start at the top." This refers to a specific individual as the gorilla (a purposely ambiguous "him"), while Ms Cox was referring to "race" as the figurative gorilla.

The first wrong committed in the creation and subsequent printing of this cartoon is the historical and now present context. The underlying principle of racism and white supremacy is that black and other non-white peoples are not fully equal as human beings with white people. That there are stages of humanness, and black people are not on the same 'level' as whites. This fallacious principle based on Evolutionary Stage Theory was used to justify the colonisation of indigenous peoples who occupied the continents beyond Europe, and slavery of forcibly transplanted Africans in the Americas. In particular, since black people were considered at an adolescent or degenerate stage, they were not rationally thinking beings, but a close ape-like relative. Whites were associated with achievement of the mind; blacks (and animals, by relation) were incapable. In short, these principles form the bases of colonialism. The prejudices that inform such thinking are still very present, and take on many different forms.

That brings us to the second detail that is 'wrong' with this cartoon. Failing the 'stage test' means you will be illegitimated. Hence Mr. Woolcock asserting that "we must get rid of him from the top" concurs with those principles. The "him" (Ewart Brown) fails the test of humanity, being not only black, but also one who at least questions some white supremacist and racist aspects of our society, and thus, is rendered as like an animal – a gorilla – to be exact. Solely because of his blackness, and as such, not as human as Mr. Woolcock and the whites and blacks that think like him, he should be gotten "rid" of.

Racism, as a legacy of colonial relationships and institutions like slavery, is still very present. Evolving, it seems, into cleverly situated cartoons such as this one. This is the present form of racism, masked in complicated and ambiguous captions in order to achieve some degree of political correctness and general acceptance; upholding white supremacy simultaneously. It is disgusting that some not only fail to see the mechanics of racism at work in the production of cartoons such as these, but would go far enough to defend it because Ms Cox brought up the word "gorilla", instead of seeing it as the opportunistic white supremacist production that it is. Excuses like those are exactly what racism thrives off of. They are what racism needs to survive in our supposedly intellectually advancing day in age and they allow for the continued oppression of black peoples, built upon the lie of inhumanity. Charles Darwin would be proud.

AKILAH BECKLES

Smith's

Access for all

November 29, 2008

Dear Sir,

This letter is to appeal to all shop owners who have steps, two or more, to have at least one hand rail for elderly people to pull themselves up to go into the shops. It is extremely scary to go into the shops that only have the glass window to hold on to. — Marks & Spencer, Strands are among these places on Reid Street. If you are a little unsteady about coming down or going up, it's frightening.

A couple of years ago Gibbons new renovation building had no rail and I wrote to Mr. Gibbons who wrote me back a letter. Thanking me and he had a rail put up right away on the men's entrance. So merchants, take notice of your entrance and see that they are safe to go up and come down. I hope this letter will bring results, because I know lots of elderly are nervous about taking the chance. I will not go into a shop if it does not have a rail. I'll walk around till I find an elevator even if it takes a while. A fall can be very dangerous to old people.

AN ELDERLY PERSON

Devonshire

Why I voted for Swan

December 6, 2008

Dear Sir,

I read the remarks attributed to Zane DeSilva, in connection with the recent by-election in Southampton purporting to demonstrate that whites vote en-bloc for the UBP. I am a white Southampton voter, who belongs to no political party who put his mark against Charlie Swan — Why? I know Mrs. Marjorie Swan, and knew her late husband Mr. Charles F. B. Swan Sr., the parents of "young" Charlie. They demonstrated integrity, honesty, principles, a sense of fair play and they worked hard in their business. These are important characteristics that they passed on to their sons. I have known "young" Charlie for about 30 years and he follows the ideals of his parents.

I do not know Marc Bean, have never met him during the pre-election process, either in this bye-election or the previous General Election. In fact the last PLP representatives that visited me was Terry Lister, and that was a number of years ago.

The outpouring, after the bye-election, is indicative of party politics, where scoring cheap political points are more important than dealing with the long term problems that Bermuda is facing and the reason why some good potential political candidates, of both racial groups, refuse to get involved with the local political process. Fortunately, the voters of Southampton are not persuaded by these outpourings and can identify a candidate worthy of our vote. Well done Charlie — enough said!

JOHN CAREY

Southampton