Dear Sir,

Bermuda has been a colony of Britain for more than 400 years.

This has already been far too long. A colony is like a child who does not want to grow up, so it chooses instead to remain tied to its mother’s apron strings. Well, mother countries have always appointed colonial overlords, otherwise known as governors.

The present Governor of Bermuda has made it clear in his public actions that Britain intends to pull those apron strings so tight that near-autonomous Bermuda will be choked to death. We do not know what he has been up to behind the scenes until most recently.

The Governor has succeeded in filling key public service positions such as the Director of Public Prosecutions, Pati director and the commanding officer of the Royal Bermuda Regiment with non-Bermudians, although qualified Bermudians applied for the job.

The Governor relented this last time, though, on the appointment of the most recent DPP. Maybe the newly appointed Bermudian DPP has more to do with the protests on “the Hill” in March than the Governor’s change of mind. Bermudians are tired of being disregarded and taken for fools in the political skulduggery that has re-emerged since 2012.

Now the Governor has just announced his proposals to change how top civil servants will be evaluated on their job performances.

He wants to give this responsibility to the Public Service Commission.

Bermuda’s Constitution does not provide for such a change without a constitutional conference between Britain and Bermuda but this governor is intent on doing so before he leaves office by his own hand without such a conference. Such a power is not his under the existing constitution.

Remember, the PSC also must give its stamp of approval for the filling of top positions, with the Governor signing off on appointees. What happens if the Governor succeeds with his underhanded and ill-motivated action?

Here it is.

The Governor appoints the PSC. Will his unconstitutional initiative allow him or his predecessor to make non-Bermudian appointments to the PSC? Will we have non-Bermudians judging the competency of Bermudians who hold senior positions and run the risk of the hiring of foreigners for top positions in Bermuda’s public sector?

Anyone over 50 years old will remember the days when Bermuda was run by non-Bermudians. Do we want to run the risk of going back to a situation where civil disobedience was the only route open to bring about positive change for Bermudians?

We do ourselves and our ancestors a great injustice if we let this go unchallenged. This is a direct attack against black Bermudians who mainly hold key senior civil service jobs.

It seems evident that our colonial masters in Britain have determined that we black Bermudians need to be put back in a place of inferiority and key positions must be given to the unemployed persons within the mother country or their friends. If we allow this to happen, the pathway to anti-Bermudian laws will be free of obstacles.

The White Paper of 1998 warned us that if we chose to remain a British colony, we would be treated accordingly; namely, a territory in which our children and grandchildren would have few prospects for a life of promise, progress and fulfilment as a global citizen with sovereign rights.

Independence is the only way to avoid Bermuda’s degeneration back to the 1940s. The psychological chains that bind our minds must be broken if our future generations are to be free. Nothing is worse than psychological slavery, which is what our country now struggles with.

I am 60-plus years old and I have noticed those racist attitudes re-emerging. We thought things had changed. I am angry that my grandchildren will have to fight those same battles all over again.

Wake up, Bermuda. Don’t wait until it is too late.

LEONA SCOTT

Sandys