Bermuda?s first black Commanding Officer of the Regiment claimed yesterday to have been the subject of racial slurs from people currently serving as MPs.

Eugene Raynor, who is Honorary Colonel of the Regiment which he headed from 1980-84, did not name those who allegedly made the derogatory comments.

He told a press conference: ?I have long been accused of being a house nigger and an Uncle Tom ? even though I have always lived and worked in the field ? and by some who are currently members of the House of Assembly.?

He was speaking at a press conference at which he was strongly critical of Government Minister Sen. David Burch over his comments about the Regiment.

Sen. Burch provoked a controversy when he used the phrase ?house niggers? after cutting off a caller on his Sunday evening Hott 107.5 FM call-in show last summer in an apparent reference to black members of the United Bermuda Party.

However, Col. Raynor later told he was not implying that the Senator had ever used this phrase towards him and that his reference was to those who sit in the House of Assembly only.