Dear Sir,

The recent fiasco surrounding the infamous Royal Gazette sports story of Somerset Cup Match captain Jordan DeSilva by sportswriter Colin Thompson was irresponsible and somewhat disrespectful to his family. Some may even say the article had malicious intent.

Either way, it misrepresented the ethnicity of DeSilva unnecessarily. It caused the public to question or to be divided on racial lines over our top sporting event’s team leadership selection.

Although it can be looked at in many ways, if and when there is a white captain selected for Cup Match, it will be appropriate to speak to that individual first to confirm their ethnicity before printing a sports article about them, especially a negative one.

If you don’t know Jordan’s family ties and DNA, he like many Bermudians would to many appear to be Caucasian. So it can be said to be understandable for some to believe he is a white or a very light-skinned Bermudian. However, when it has to be reported with controversy attached to a sports story, one must do their homework or leave it alone.

Personally, the latter would suit me as I don’t feel it matters whether the Cup Match captain from any team is black or white. The question should be, are they the best man for the job?

Although I have no doubt that some of Jordan’s good looks come from his mother, and that bat and ball co-ordination is inherited from his golf-playing Portuguese dad, further research would have led you to some interesting facts on the black side of his DNA. Jordan descends from the Bean and Butterfield family of Radnor Road, Shelly Bay, whom many know from their affiliation with the Bethel AME Church in Hamilton Parish.

His mother’s aunt, Jennifer Bean-Sterling (then Fisher) was the Bermuda 800 metres record-holder for many years, won a CAC cross-country championship and dominated local road and track races in the 1980s and 1990s in Bermuda. Further research would lead you to his great-great-great-great-uncle, Gerald Butterfield, who played for the St George’s Cup Match team from 1910 to 1913. He, like Jordan, also was a dynamic bowler.

Although no retraction has been seen from the Gazette over this article, Thompson has done the right thing and apologised to many personally involved. Unfortunately, because of some of the ill-thinking ways of many people in our community, this race-related argument will not easily go away without a response as such.

Historically, because of the inherent beliefs of the white communities in most societies that they were superior because of the colour of their skin, if you had or have some black blood in your DNA, you were or are considered a person of colour. Further exploration leads you to other descriptions, namely Coloured, mulatto, fair-skinned or just plain black. This has always been the case because you were not accepted in the white community for the most part.

Unfortunately, in some circles, this racial prejudice has not changed. In the case of Jordan Desilva, he has been accepted by both of his ethnic families — the Beans and the DeSilvas — who are very proud of him in every way, as it should be the case in Bermuda and the world we live in.

Lastly, it is amazing how people react to people of mixed race. If they look black, they better not dare act white, and if they look white, depending on the circumstance they better not act white or they are considered white. I am not so naive to believe that all white people in our society have changed and I do believe that some things in life require affirmative action because of the disenfranchisement of black people. It is for this reason that I love when I see my Bermudian people of colour achieving great accomplishments and being at the top.

However, it cannot be done at the expense of pushing aside all white people, as was the case against black people with white supremacy in the past.

Jordan is my stepson and, although the family his mother married into is 100 per cent blue-and-blue St George’s supporters and hope like hell that St George’s win the cup back, he still is our pride and joy, and has been adopted as one of us.

As for those who are black or white and cannot see past skin colour, or one’s outer appearance without regard for their contribution — if you are white and are looking for the next white hope or black and looking to reserve a black captain for Emancipation Day — sorry, you will have to wait a little longer.

Colour should be a problem only when racism is involved; not when individuals are supporting a black-organised event.

MIKE WATSON