We need to talk with one another

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August 8, 2012

Dear Sir,

On The Royal Gazette website, I found myself “talking” one-on-one with Cordell Riley of Citizens Uprooting Racism in Bermuda (CURB), which is a lovely thing for anyone to do — Cordell is one of the good guys. He gave me much to think about regarding what I would call a perceived stalemate within our community. My premise is we Bermudians have been talking at each other for far too long and what’s worse, we’ve been talking in circles. Without the statistics and using only observation, I would say that a healthy number of white Bermudians and foreigners are (and have been for years) very anxious to assist — to participate — to offer their services wherever they might be needed. Whatever their reasons — altruistic, repentant or self interest, they should be used. The Spirit of Bermuda is a good example and there are many others. But, it hasn’t been all roses. In many quarters, white participation has been viewed and treated with hostility and resentment.

In my electronic conversation with Cordell, he referred a few times to the various Royal Commission Reports where the writers urged Bermudians to use “moral reasoning” rather than “racial reasoning”. Those Commissions all came about under UBP governments — we should all remember the reasons for the Commissions. The various United Bermuda Party Governments took the reports — grudgingly thanked the Commissioners and stuck them in a drawer. They didn’t like what the reports told them about themselves and, in my view, they either didn’t understand the ramifications or they didn’t care. I used to write these sorts of letters about them, too. Yes! The past Governments caused the problems — they go back to the days well before party politics when it was not a government, it was an oligarchy. Yes, the past UBP Governments were white-business controlled. Yes, also to the fact that there was strong black participation in those UBP Governments but that participation only went so far — hence the need for Black Caucuses. Yes, to all of that. “Racial reasoning” was the order of the day. ‘The need for “Moral reasoning” came from the voices in the wilderness.

But, can we please, please stop harping on about it as though it happened yesterday and justifies what is going on in Government today? In my naivete, I expected the new Progressive Labour Party Government to know and recognise that “racial reasoning” is not reasonable — that “racial reasoning” is an exercise in nonsense. I thought that they, of all people, would know and understand this. I thought this because they had been the victims — it didn’t occur to me that they would simply switch the racial reasons from white to black — that they would reason it was okay for them to do what the others did, because the others did it to them. (If you get my drift). I thought they were smarter than that. But, as I wrote the other day, the PLP Government isn’t using its smart people — probably because they don’t like what their smart people tell them.

Cordell pointed to the statistics of white registration in private schools. He clearly feels strongly that more whites ought to send their children to public schools and I’d like to know why does that matter? I think I know why he feels this way, but, I’d like him to articulate the reasons for his assertion. I think we would all learn something important if CURB told us exactly why it thinks whites should be sending their children to the public schools. (I’m not saying he’s wrong.)

Anecdotally, we are told what goes on in those public schools — particularly at the secondary level. I have heard that the black children of foreigners are first in line for bullying and/or harassment. Second in line, of course, are the white children. Therefore, any parent, black, white or foreign, will naturally move heaven and earth to enrol their children in the private schools. But, before an organisation such as CURB points a finger and says, “More whites should send their children to public schools”, it should be determined why they are not sending their children to the public schools and why it would be a good thing if they did. I don’t profess to know what the answer is for education. It is such a huge, almost overwhelming problem and it’s growing worse by the day. If “money” and “race” combined are the factors, then we come back to square one — education. I do know that we as a people have to learn how to talk with one another. Maybe, if we did — we would start doing the right things for the right reasons?

KATH BELL

Paget

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