What about the war?

February 9, 2004

Dear Sir,

There was a big uproar in the US this past week because artist Janet Jackson bared her breast on television. The shock, the horror, the outrage.

Yet the silence is deafening over the way the US was misled into war through ‘intelligence failure', resulting in the death of over 10,000 innocent men, women and children in Iraq.

Isn't it great to know that Americans have their priorities right?

WAKE UP!

Hamilton Parish

Write shorter, save trees

February 6, 2004

Dear Sir,

I'd like to congratulate Dr. Ware-Cieters for her letter of January 30, 2004 which and for once didn't exceed the editorial word limit or contain the usual voluminous ranting we've come to expect.

I fully subscribe to her right to express opinions and concerns and applaud her for expressing them concisely for once.

Not only does a brief essay get one's opinions expressed, it saves your readers form trying to wade through reams of diatribe just to decipher the good doctor's point.

Finally shorter letters mean less print, therefore less paper, which saves trees. Such an avid supporter of animal life must surely care about other aspects of the environment as well. Maybe all those pigeons the doctor wants to save should give thanks for the doctor saving some potential roosts!

M. OUTERBRIDGE

‘Anonymous' is naive

February 9, 2001

Dear Sir,

In response to Anonymous on February 9, may I remind him/her that slavery was imposed on a group of people by another group, not just individuals. Racial and economic segregation and exclusion was directed at an entire group by another, with Government support, not just an individual. In recent years a number of senior citizens have excused themselves to me for their actions of racism by saying “that is the way it was, I could not do otherwise”. Do not be naive! The group determines the actions and attitudes of the individual, with the rare exception of some courageous individual who often has to pay a price for his/her courage.

As for the Portuguese, the PLP addressed the issue of long term residents and implemented a policy on their behalf when the UBP for whom most of them voted, would not. The fact that they, the PLP never gets credit for showing more concern for the Portuguese than did the UBP is ironic since they have not yet come out with a policy directed at purely black issues.

As for the expatriates: They behave as white Bermudians tell them to do. In Barbados they behave differently. Anonymous certainly did not quote me correctly. I would never say that expatriates cause racism when I grew up in a rigidly segregated and racist society when there were no expatriates around.

EVA N. HODGSON

Crawl

Ps. I do not care whether whites join the PLP or not. I was pointing out to Mark Pettingill the reason that some blacks would never vote for the UBP. They do not believe that whites have the ability to change their racist attitude. Joining the PLP would suggest that perhaps they can. Concern about race is clearly not as deeply entrenched in the black community since some blacks do join the UBP.

Concerned about Island

January 28, 2004

Dear Sir,

I am deeply concerned about the future of Bermuda. From where I sit, I see a failing and falling Bermuda. This little Island has been greatly blessed by God in many of ways. Indeed Bermuda is today's land of milk and honey, but from whom? Certainly, not the average, every day, hard working Bermudian.

We are struggling as a people, working day and night just to make ends meet. We live in a society camouflaged with deceit, lies and hypocrisy. A society were it is almost impossible for the average Bermudian to buy his or her own home. It's becoming so that we have hell just trying to find a job paying a salary fit enough for survival. This should not be. This dehumanising factor and social ill must be addressed, and redressed. This particular problem is slowly, but surely shackling the souls, crippling the spirit, and destroying the social skills in many of us, especially the children of this land... our future Bermuda. For too long we've set down on our rear ends bickering and complaining about the double standards, social immaturity, high cost of living and homelessness. Those days must come to an end. We cannot afford to wait for another General Election, hoping for true change. We cannot and must not wait another year, month, week, day, hour, minutes, or second! The time is now! Now, Mr. Editor. Now is the time that we the people of this land, (whether we be white, black, or Portuguese) step up, stand strong, and address these crucial issues! We must come together and find solutions to these problems.

The bible tells me, and I quote; “Where there is no vision, the people will perish.” We have been a people without vision for far too long. God... God has called me out of my own squandering hell, and has placed a burning passion in my heart to see the justification of the people of this land. Therefore, I am compelled to write this letter. I write not as one greater or less than anyone, but as your deeply and genuinely concerned fellow countrymen. If we don't act now, it will be the children of this ‘our' land whom will suffer the greater consequence... and with their blood on our hands.

Like the great late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., I too have a dream, and I see a Bermuda for the Bermudian people. A Bermuda where the average Bermudian makes a living and is able to put some money away for savings, after he/she has paid rent and bills. A Bermuda that plays a fear game on a level playing field! A Bermuda minus the small and large families sleeping in their car, tents, parks and bus shelters, due to homelessness! A Bermuda where the people, from the old men and women, down to the youngest of child, is not illiterate or ignorant to our national anthem! A Bermuda where the anthem is song with dignity and pride! I see a Bermuda where the people take a special pride in raising the Bermuda flag, whether it's waving in the wind on a pole in some proud Bermudian yard, or on the antennas of the cars on a traffic jamming Monday morning on ‘East Broadway'. I see a new Bermuda! A proud Bermuda were humanity has blossomed into the level of maturity God has predestined!

Not too long ago, I sat in my prison cell watching the news. What I observed turned my stomach, angered me, and saddened me greatly all at once. You see, I was watching a group of young teenage Bermudians who were in a foreign land representing Bermuda in a sport event. Now when these youngsters were asked to sing the Bermuda national anthem, they stood there looking humiliated. Not one of them knew the anthem. We were and still are the only people who know not their own national anthem. I don't know just how that makes you feel, but as far as I am concerned, it is intolerable! What are you teaching my child in school? Perhaps I need to stand up and be accounted for. I should have taken the initiative to teach the song to my child, but how am I to teach it to them until I learn it for myself?

We have little or none, when it comes to Bermudian pride. With pride comes dignity, and dignity begets a sense of will. A black bone and an aching hunger to see the wrongs in your path made right. Without a sense of Bermuda pride we will continue down the dysfunctional path we are on. Without Bermuda pride, we have no go to and no come from. No sense of worth as a people. Therefore Bermuda pride must be advocated, for the element of such a pride is the very foundation we as a people need. Upon this foundation we can and will come together and build Bermuda into the home land, and I emphasise home.

RODDELLE E. LIGHTBOURNE

Westgate Correctional Facility

Year-round experience

February 11, 2004

Dear Sir,

I would like to congratulate the Minister of Tourism for the spectacular tourism drive recently presented to the United Kingdom. This clearly is something that has never been tried to such an extent and scale and it was refreshing to watch.

Unfortunately what did not seem to come across was the fact that Bermuda has a winter albeit not to the scale and intensity of other countries. As a Bermudian living and working in Bermuda I find our winters and spring to be a refreshing change to the hot and humid summers that grace our shores between the months of June and September and my social schedule changes accordingly.

It is unfortunate to think that there is a concept in Bermuda that tourists will come in the winter to enjoy our recent advertising because our winters are much better than those of the countries that we are trying to attract. I believe that this concept perceived by many Bermudians no longer plays any part in the world market of tourism. We cannot sell Bermuda winters with the type of advertising recently presented in London and other UK cities without being brutally honest with ourselves. It is no longer acceptable to pretend that we are a year round destination for sun and sand unless we tell tourists to bring a wet suit and a warm coat at certain times of the year.

We need to be able to present Bermuda as a true year-round experience but we need to advertise winter and spring alternatives in a truthful manner. It is no longer acceptable to say to a tourist that the cool and stormy weather in January and February is very unusual for this time of year because quite honestly it is not.

HONESTY

City of Hamilton