A debate last week by MPs on the origin of the phrase ?house Negro? and how it was first coined snowballed into a claim that Opposition politicians had expressed doubts about slavery.

Making a jump in perception Senator Walter Roban has suggested the United Bermuda Party had cast doubt on the historical truth of the slave trade.

He made his comments during a sitting of the Senate, referencing an observation made by Shadow Tourism Minister David Dodwell last week in the House of Assembly.

Controversy flared last summer after Housing Minister, Sen. David Burch disagreed with a caller to his radio talk show on Hott 107.5 and cut them off the air and fired the parting shot of ?house nigger? ? in reference to the caller?s pro-United Bermuda Party views.

And the controversial ?house nigger? comment made Sen. Burch last August is one of five broadcasting complaints made to the Ministry of Telecommunications during the past two years.

The Commission is still considering what actions it will take in regard to the violation.

Mr. Dodwell has pointed out his comment had been specific to a single aspect, namely the origin of the phrase ?house Negro,? and was not a judgment on the greater subject of the slave trade.

It was during a debate in Parliament last Friday that Deputy Premier Ewart Brown gave his view on where the phrase had come from and why it continued to cause such anguish in Bermudian society. He referenced a 1963 speech by activist Malcolm X to show the origins of the phrase.

In response Mr. Dodwell said that was one interpretation which may be right or wrong.

Sen. Roban said: ?It was reported that a comment associated with the Opposition would suggest that slavery is somehow due to some interpretation. This is an incredible statement for anyone to make. That the experience of slavery is due to some level of interpretation.

?We hear a comment that slavery, the experience of it, is open to some level of interpretation. I just don?t quite understand it how anyone can make such an insensitive comment and not apologise or retract it or anything. It just seems extraordinary.?

Speaking of the PLP Government?s steps since assuming power in 1998 to tackle issues of historical discrimination and disadvantage, he said gave a list of books that would enlighten people on the Island?s slave history, including Cyril Outerbridge Packwood?s Chained on the Rock.

Mr. Dodwell in reply said his point had been that Dr. Brown had gone back to look at the origin of the phrase ?house Negro? that was open to interpretation ?but it makes no difference because the thing is it is an offensive phrase to others as has been shown by a survey in the newspaper this week.?

And Mr. Dodwell?s colleague Senator Kim Swan said the UBP was a Party that included all segments for the community and he believed the PLP was ?grasping at election straws? to try to make something more out of comment for the sake of politicking.

He said: ?I represent a Party that is all inclusive, that would do all it can to bring the people of this country together. And the Government is grasping at election straws today.?

The number of complaints radio and TV broadcasts and the status of action taken in regard to them have been given in a written response to a parliamentary question asked by Shadow Attorney General Trevor Moniz.

The most recent complaint refers to ?alleged hostility, disrespectful resistance and refusal to interact with a caller on behalf of a talk-show host? which is said to have occurred on May 4 on the ZBM 1340 radio channel. Investigations into that complaint are ongoing.

Mr. Moniz also asked Telecommunications Minister Michael Scott how many broadcast tapes had been requested by the Broadcasting Commissioners from radio and television stations regarding the five complaints and how many had been provided.

In his reply Mr. Scott said there had been requests for three tapes, of which two had been provided.