“Black Bermudians feel under attack: rampant unemployment, fewer employment opportunities, redundancies, loved ones reluctantly being forced to emigrate to support their families and families living hand-to-mouth to survive.”— Curb

“The very real fears and concerns of black Bermudians must be listened to, a parliamentary review must occur and a national plan on immigration commenced, with full community consultation.”— Curb

Perhaps despite the best of intentions, Lynne Winfield’s latest Royal Gazette Opinion piece and comments on immigration reform have brought the credibility of Citizens Uprooting Racism in Bermuda into question (once again).

By any chance, did Curb conduct a poll about how black Bermudians feel about the One Bermuda Alliance’s immigration reform proposals? Did they go door-to-door asking us how we feel? I don’t think so, and thus I’d love to know exactly how is it that Curb knows how black Bermudians feel.

The last time I checked, black Bermudians were a complicated group of individuals with a very wide range of opinions on a very wide range of topics. We come from various income groups, have different views on religion, sex and the environment. And, yes, we even have varying views on complex topics such as race and politics.

We aren’t the monolithic collective of victims that Winfield makes us out to be. So, to put it bluntly, I personally take great exception to her patronising views on how black Bermudians feel and think. For me, a line gets crossed when anyone, black or white, presumes to speak for all black people.

Yes, many Bermudians have left Bermuda. Here are some of the reasons why:

• Work opportunities that simply don’t exist in Bermuda

• Homophobia

• To live with a foreign-born partner

• Bigotry

• A history of criminality

• Fear of retribution

• To take advantage of the British social support system

• To try something new

None of this seems to factor into Winfield’s thinking, though. Perhaps a disproportionate number of blacks have left the island. Nevertheless, Winfield’s singular reason for it is racism because she “doesn’t know a single white person who has left”. This is an overly simplistic conclusion, especially being that she is laying it all on the OBA’s doorstep.

The same is the case with her comment on voting patterns: “ ... polls have shown that over 90 per cent of white voters vote for the same party, as such the proposed legislation will affect political power in Bermuda for decades”.

For the most part of our history, Bermuda has had only two parties, and one them has always been the Progressive Labour Party. So when you really pull back the layers on Winfield’s statement, she’s really saying that whites are racist for not voting PLP and blacks who don’t vote PLP have sided with those racist whites.

Winfield doesn’t bother to question what percentage of blacks vote for only one party, nor does she question why the PLP lost the last election. All of this leads to at least four questions about Curb’s political neutrality on these issues:

1, In 2014, Curb attacked the OBA’s proposed introduction of gambling.

“Curb believes a rushed implementation of an integrated resort model of gaming is ill-advised and brings with it a multitude of social concerns, the most important of which is the substantial effect gaming has on the poorer segment of our community.”

“ ... Curb’s concern is that once again we see legislation being introduced that will negatively affect the black community, repeating a history of discrimination that is all too recent.”

OK, but have you ever seen Curb express concern about the Opposition leader setting up a betting shop in an economic empowerment zone?

2, Why didn’t Curb condemn the PLP’s Founders Day speech when white OBA supporters were characterised as slave masters, and black OBA supporters were characterised as traitorous, slave dogs (and threatened)?

3, Why was Curb so eager to distance itself from Ayo Kimathi, but failed to condemn the PLP’s refusal to comment on Kimathi’s bigoted remarks and subsequent banning? Why did Curb fail to condemn the PLP’s attack on Sarah Lagan, whose job it was to write the report on Kimathi?

4, Now, for the most critical statement and question ... “The Government is acting like the old Bermuda oligarchy: desperate to protect their own interests. But in the process, they are devastating the black community and destabilising the country with their rash, ill-considered plans.”

Why can’t I recall ever reading a Curb statement that condemns 14 years of PLP financial incompetence, irresponsibility, maladministration and rampant cronyism, which had a disproportionate, devastating impact on blacks?

Why can’t I recall a statement on the potential benefits of the PLP’s proposed economic solutions, like longline fishing, cannabis tourism and online gambling?

At no time can I recall Curb saying anything meaningful about what is required to stabilise and grow the economy. This latest statement is a myopic, one-sided attack on all things OBA, and its blind focus on preserving the ratio of black-to-white voters is more about preserving political power for the PLP than about coming up with solutions that uproot racism in Bermuda.

• To reach out to Bryant Trew, e-mail bryanttrew@mac.com