Disrespectful and hateful

December 4, 2006

Dear Sir,

The shameful performance of Premier Ewart Brown on the floor of the House of Parliament during the Motion to Adjourn was in my estimation the most profane, disrespectful and hateful tirade I have ever heard during my tenure in the House of Parliament. What makes this debacle even the more egregious was that the utterances came from the mouth of the leader of the country, the individual entrusted with the task of speaking responsibly and giving direction to all the people of the country.

The Premier?s performance was more reminiscent of a brawl ? a mauling of the ?man?; a tactic now long outdated by history, community progress and the growth of consciousness among all our people. This does not mean that we have faced and addressed all of our historical challenges in which racial segregation was the law of the land up to 1965, but it does mean that we as a community are progressing towards greater levels of understanding, tolerance, respect, equity and social justice. The great proof of this is that today we have a predominantly black political party as the government of the day. The current leader of the country is a black man.

During the recent Throne Speech where we were led to believe that there would be a more sustained and measured discussion on the issue of race and racism in our country, I took encouragement from the fact that we would now, without apology and discord, confront the many-headed hydra of the remnants of racism in our beautiful community. For the greater good for the sustained peace and prosperity of all Bermudians, we must sustain a meaningful dialogue on this crucial aspect of Bermuda life in which race appears to play a role in denying economic opportunities, impeding our progress and stature as a country. The recent empirical data collected by CURE appears to supports this position.

I do not believe that any right-thinking Bermudian will deny the pervasiveness of race and white privilege in our community. Dr. Peggy McIntosh has done a great deal of work intellectually in helping to identify white privilege and has shared the belief that ?whites are taught to think of their lives as morally neutral, normative and average, and also ideal, so that when we work to benefit others, this is seen as work that will allow ?them? to be more like ?us?. Dr. McIntosh further stated that whites are carefully taught not to recognise white privilege, just as males are taught not to recognise male privilege.

In her ground-breaking article ?White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack?, Dr. McIntosh went on to delineate 50 conditions which are specific to the notion of white privilege and I encourage your readers to go to this article on the Internet. Earlier this year CURE, the Government department, and NARC, a group dealing with national reconciliation, brought in a white male speaker who conducted public sessions and encouraged public debate dealing with the notion of white privilege. The session conducted at the St. Paul?s auditorium, which I attended was particularly thought-provoking and compelling.

If we are to deal collectively with fighting the abuses and myths of our past in which the distinctive of race played such a prominent part, we must approach this with courage and mutual respect. The pressure to avoid the discussion is great, for in facing it, we must give up the myth of meritocracy, the belief that one group has more benefits than another for no other reason than because of their hard work, risk-taking and due diligence alone. If we are honest in our pursuit of truth, understanding and healing in our community, we may have to articulate programmes which have the effect of redressing, where we can, some of the inequities of the past. This is not reverse discrimination, as sometimes charged, but rather is an attempt in social justice, healing and community reconciliation.

In listening to the distasteful remarks of the Premier in the House of Assembly, he, in my view, has disqualified himself as a sponsor champion and integrity broker in commencing the crucial work of community healing and development. We need a level of leadership which will involve all of us in the dialogue about race and its impacts on our community, not one which articulates hate and division. For my part I will continue to do all that I can to engage our community in healing, social justice and nation-building.

NEVILLE E. DARRELL JP, MP

United Bermuda Party

Abusive exchange

December 4, 2006

Dear Sir,

Surely I cannot be the only person reading the report from ?the? House in Saturday?s Royal Gazette, and cringing? Is this value for privilege, power and those whopping salaries?

Since returning home, I have practised as a veterinary surgeon for almost 25 years in an area of Hamilton now (shortly before an election) deemed worthy of empowerment, and even in this area I have never heard of someone referring to another in abusive terms as ?a racist dog?.

Had this type of abusive exchange taken place in my surgery, I would have ejected the offending individual, minus any animal having the misfortune to be compelled to share his/her life with someone harbouring such an offensive view of his fellow creatures, who by the way, have every right to live on this Island alongside the dominant human primate without becoming designated as a species to be officially sanctioned as reviled by the Premier.

If there is something I have learned in those many, many years working in the ?Back of Town?, it is that man?s inhumanity to man indeed begins with man?s inhumanity to animals; and man?s attitudes to animals and the rest of the living world around dictate how caring and connected he feels about himself, his community and environment. In other words his attitude to animals is an excellent gauge of his humanity.

Clearly the Premier is of the opinion that the amount of melanin in one?s skin dictates how one feels about ?castration? and that such an intervention can only hearken back to slavery. As a doctor of medicine he should know better. As he well knows many doctors of the primate species will have used or advocated this procedure (chemical or surgical) to save a person?s life.

Little more than 100 years ago (long after the abolition of slavery), young Caucasian boys from Europe were routinely castrated in order to preserve their divine and cherub-like voices: the castrati were singing their way to a Catholic heaven, and their parents delivered them unto the ?papal? knife willingly, for both the ?divine honour? and more significantly the guaranteed escape from hunger and poverty.

The civilisation of a nation can be measured by its collective attitude to children and animals:

If this is the example set from the top, we do have a very, very long way to go, irrespective of all the trappings of money, wealth, privilege and power. Strike an adult in Bermuda, and you will be sent to jail. Hit a child and you are likely to find praise for ?not sparing the rod?. Abuse a dog, physically (striking, choking, tying out on material embedded in the neck, stabbing, burning) or emotionally (restraint in a location remote from the ?owner?, never or seldom interacting with or exercising a dog) and the very instance entrusted with protecting the animal may well ? and apparently with sanction ? do precisely the reverse.

The unconditional loyalty, devotion and love of canines makes many a human life bearable, not to mention the tremendous service of working dogs: guide dogs, tracking dogs, rescue dogs, shepherd dogs, drug-and explosives-detecting dogs.

Why would any newly qualified Bermudian veterinary professional of quality education want to come back home to all this purulence oozing from ?the? House?

What was the credo in George Orwell?s ?Animal Farm?? ?Four legs are better than two!?

DR. A. M. WARE M.R.C.V.S.

Pembroke

P.s. And in my view (if this Government?s modus vivendi remains true to form, a view about to suffer a renewed barrage of spiteful discrediting), there is a duty of disclosure to the public and to the press if we are supposed to believe we the citizens and the press are living under a free and open government! No one donates large sums of money to political parties without expecting return favours. Tainted money ? as we have recently seen ? taints all of us whether we like it or not. And what of Bermuda?s future reputation? Does a handful of individuals have the right to squander it in order to secure power?

Shameful performance

December 5, 2006

Dear Sir,

?Who should be ashamed??

I feel the need to correct Patricia Gordon-Pamplin on her Letter to the Editor on December 5. It is not we as people of Bermuda who should be ashamed, but our Premier, at how he conducted himself while supposedly doing the country?s business in Parliament.

The incident reported, clearly shows that he has areas to work on, concerning his perceptions of differing racial groups. I hope that CURE and the HRC take time to meet with the Premier to help him understand the difference between prejudice and fact, so he can learn how to express his views with sensitivity and civility.

The people of Bermuda deserve an explanation about this incident from the Premier, as well as a publicly posted transcript of the entire exchange so we can better understand who is leading our country and where he is leading it.

SURVIVOR

Paget

No less cruel

November 20, 2006

Dear Sir,

Slavery was, and still is the owning of labour and carries with it the care of the labourers. GTE Europeans planned the freeing of slaves not out of their concern for their slaves, but out of their love of money.

The bankers then, who are capital money lenders, decided they could control labour by controlling wages as the bankers do today; so the freeing of salves, but to retain slavery through wages which worked out successfully in Bermuda. Therefore black and white slaves in Bermuda were reduced to a condition of serfdom.

While whites in Bermuda may boast on noble deeds, they are careful to conceal the ugly fact that by our iniquitous system the establishment has nationalised a system of oppression which though more refined, is no less cruel than the old system of chattel slavery.

RAYMOND RUSSELL

Pembroke

Thanks for the help

November 29, 2006

Dear Sir,

On behalf of Crazy Days Summer Camp, I would like to thank the Bermuda Public Transportation Board for all of your assistance. From the efficiency and helpfulness in the offices, to the kind faces who greeted us when we loaded all of our children onto the bus! Thank you for your patience and genuine consideration for the children. It did not go unnoticed, to everyone who assisted us. Thank you!

ROBYN DESILVA

City of Hamilton

Looking for an article

November 29, 2006

Dear Sir,

Almost two weeks ago I tuned into the radio and caught the last part of a speech by backbencher Renee Webb who was talking about the importance and need for personal responsibility and accountability, not just in the ranks of the Government and politicians, but in each of our lives. Unfortunately I missed much of her speech so made a point to look for a full report in the daily newspaper. I may be mistaken but I don?t believe that (to date) such a report has actually been made in print.

I find this disappointing on two counts: first because I think that what she was saying is absolutely key to most of our social ills and second because I am concerned that the newspaper isn?t playing the role it could be in providing constructive journalism.

I would like to appeal here and now to the Editor of The Royal Gazette to (i) interview Renee Webb and get her position statement in regard to the point she was making and (ii) commit, from January 1, 2007 onwards, to set a standard and a vision for your publications toward making a real contribution to this community through responsible and beneficial journalism.

KIM SMITH

Pembroke

Expensive photo

November 24, 2006

Dear Sir,

Wow, $25,000 for a photo op with the premier. How will I ever resist? Quite easily, actually.

NORTHERN SOUL

Smith?s Parish

Homecoming correction

November 20, 2006

Dear Sir,

The November 16, 2006 edition of The Royal Gazette contained an article on Bermuda College?s first Homecoming. In it, communications director Evelyn James-Barnett was reported as saying that the primary aim of the event was to establish the ?first ever? Alumni Association. This statement is inaccurate.

I spearheaded the establishment of the first such association in the early 1980s with Mr. Richard Smith as President, and Mr. Desmond Greyson, Ms Sandra Woolridge, and Mr. John Lee on its executive. Then, during the late 1980s, with Rev. Leonard Santucci, I assisted in the re-activation of the same body with Mr. Thad Hollis as President and Mr. Peter Sousa as Treasurer.

DR. SEAN O?CONNELL

Hamilton Parish

Destroying our prosperity

November 20, 2006

Dear Sir,

Drug addicts generally fall within the same quadrant of emotional dysfunctions. Surprising this emotional dysfunction expresses a gravitating effect in the directions of drugs as an external medium for gratifications.

Bermuda is a breeding ground for this strange anomaly, or strain of humans who carry the tendency for drug addiction based on an emotionally characteristic that thrives on the same form of external qualification.

Increased police visibility, tougher laws, stronger penalties for offenders will not deter what must inevitably surface as a result of this condition, yet if can be brought into cessation by a specifically outlined method of treatment, I am one of the success stores of such treatment.

Short of a person being reborn again, (not religiously speaking) prison and the usual rehabilitative forces will not help realign this malignacy. The government and private corporations have the resources necessary to implement such a programme, that in five years could be a self-sufficient entity with a continuous momentum in successfully treating this disease, that in time will destroy our Island?s shared humanity and prosperity.

BRUCE GIBBONS

Devonshire

Hire them ? or else

November 29, 2006

Dear Sir,

What is the mystery here in Bermuda regarding the employment of foreign workers?

The simple fact is, that most Bermudians don?t get the jobs because they don?t have the qualifications to do the job. Your fault, my fault? Their fault? What does it matter, it?s a fact.

It?s too late for now, unless the six-year contract can be revoked.

Why would anyone with high technical skills want to come here for just six years?

The big danger here is, that the large companies are being blackmailed to employ these unqualified Bermudians ?or else?. God forbid that they take the ?or else? into their own hands.

Arrogance is one thing socially, but economically a disaster for Bermuda. Education, education, education is the key.

DIANA WILLIAMS

Pembroke

Marijuana shortage

December 4, 2006

Dear Sir,

Bermuda?s drug laws are creating crack and heroin addicts. Currently it is almost impossible to purchase marijuana in Bermuda but crack and heroin are readily available 24 hours a day.

Crack and heroin are now sold in the same areas as marijuana. Many people, after a few frustrating weeks failing to purchase marijuana, will be tempted to try the harder drugs. Bermuda is breeding more drug addicts and less marijuana smokers.

HOW BIZARRE

Southampton