Truly divided
January 4, 2013
Dear Sir,
There had been repeated assertions during the lead-up to the recent election that the local community must forget past divisions and work together to improve the future. These assertions appear to have continued after the election in statements made by both the Premier and the Opposition leader. I am not certain what the persons who made those statements intended their listeners to understand by their assertions. It is my position that the community needs to be conscious of the implications of two documents released during the past year by the Bermuda Department of Statistics. These documents highlight the continuing divisions in our community as evidenced below.
The first five statements below are extracted from data in the document Population Census 2011 prepared by the Bermuda Department of Statistics (note that the census document uses the term non-black rather than white)
1. 60 percent of the total population is black
2. 74 percent of the Bermuda-born population is black
3. 29 percent of the population is foreign-born
4. 26 percent of the foreign-born population is black
5. 42 percent of the non-blacks are Bermuda-born
6. Conclusion. Bermuda-born non-blacks constitute a minority group within the minority group of the population
Increase in income of various subgroups from 2000 to 2010 is reported below as extracted from the document Personal and Household Income 2012 prepared by the Bermuda Department of Statistics
1. Black 41 percent
2. White 54 percent
3. Bermudian 41 percent
4. Non-Bermudian 49 percent
5. Conclusion. Non-Bermudian whites constitute the greatest beneficiaries of the local economy
The question that our parliament needs to address is whether the objective data reported in these documents is acceptable in terms of the relative welfare of the various subgroups in Bermuda. Alternatively, if it is not acceptable what actions will the parliament take to improve this situation while maintaining a co-operative relationship within the community?
JT CHRISTOPHER
Warwick
Need to
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