FORMER Government MP and Senator Calvin Smith has come under fire after condemning Asians as unfriendly.

And Mr. Smith's observations have also been described as "divisive" by the Opposition United Bermuda Party, which blasted Government for creating an environment in which Bermudians feel displaced.

In a column in Monday's , Mr. Smith claimed that Bermudians had been indoctrinated with an unjust fear of anything Caribbean.

And he implied that the conclusion of this ignorance ? an influx of Asians into the island ? was regrettable.

In his guest column, headlined 'Some black history I had forgotten', Mr. Smith wrote: "Today, if one listens to talk radio, one hears an outpouring of disgust and contempt for the PLP Government that is based upon nothing more than a carefully calculated attempt to exploit the inferiority feelings that continue in the psyche of many black Bermudians as a result of successful past attempts to implant such feelings.

"For instance, the continuing negative attitudes that many Bermudians have towards people from the Caribbean was drilled into us by our rulers."

After listing a number of eminent and highly successful Bermudians who came from the Caribbean, Mr. Smith went on: "If we did not have such carefully developed fears of West Indians, we would not be flooded today with Asians who do not seem too anxious to befriend black Bermudians.

"Instead, we could be flooded with people who look like us and who share our common history and ancestry."

Yesterday Mr. Smith, who sat as a Progressive Labour Party MP in the 1970s before moving to the Senate in the 1990s, was criticised for making blanket statements.

One Asian guest worker, who is employed in the catering industry, said it was totally unfair to label all Asians as unfriendly.

"He's making derogatory generalisations about one particular ethnic group ? by anybody's definition, that's racism," the man, who did not wish to be named, said.

"It's not fair, and he certainly has no basis, to categorise people as 'those who look like us' or 'those who don't look like us'.

"Asian people are very hard-working, very family-oriented, and very respectful both of their own and other people's cultures."

The man stressed that Asians had been invited to come to work in Bermuda and contributed a great deal to the island.

Shadow Minister for Race and Economic Opportunity Jamahl Simmons also criticised the comments, but added that they were indicative of a wider problem ? that increased numbers of guest workers were making Bermudians feel left out.

"I would agree with Calvin Smith's comments about prejudice against West Indians ? my grandfather immigrated here from Jamaica and he often talked about the verbal abuse he was subjected to by black Bermudians," Mr. Simmons said.

"I think that Mr. Smith seeming to prefer Caribbean guest workers to Asians is a reflection of the current state of Bermuda. Many Bermudians feel displaced and left behind in their own country and in this environment it is easy to seek a scapegoat, in this case guest workers of Asian descent.

"What we need to preoccupy ourselves with is not the racial origin of our guest workers but the fact that under the PLP the number of guest workers has exploded to unprecedented numbers. This explosion has resulted in a rising tide of resentment among Bermudians who feel they are being pushed aside when it comes to housing, jobs and opportunities in their own country.

"There will always be people who will attempt to exploit divisiveness for political gain but as leaders we should strive to be about the business of uniting and making life better for our people. I, for one, could not care less about the racial make-up of those who come to Bermuda to work, I am more concerned about elevating our people, so that they have the skills to reach their full potential.

"If we succeed in doing that we will go a long way towards reducing our dependency on guest workers."

A copy of this story and a request for a response were e-mailed to Mr. Smith yesterday. He did not respond by press time last night.