Off the wall

October 12, 2005

Dear Sir,

Just imagine, if we do go independent, we the poor black misunderstood young men, trouble makers and wall sitters will stand up and say ?We now have National Pride? we?ll go out and find a job and make time, we?ll go back to school, we?ll stop using drugs, we?ll pay child support, we won?t fight with machetes at games, we?ll dissolve all gangs in Bermuda and stop attacking tourists and innocent people on the streets ... we?ll lead respectable lives. Oh won?t it be a glorious day for us all!

The racism lie

October 19, 2005

Dear Sir,

There seems to be a dangerous trend by some people in this community to attempt to make a mockery of the meaning of racism.

Every negative incident which affects a white person is now being trumpeted as a case of ?racism?. If a white person is denied a work permit, it is racism. If a white person is denied a truck permit, it is racism. If the Department of Planning refuses to allow a white person to build a massive development on arable land, it is racism. If a company which has had a monopoly on a segment of the market has to compete with other bidders to renew its hold on the Government-owned facilities, it is racism.

If a black person uses the term ?people who look like me/him?, it is racism.

There appears to be a concerted effort by some people, including to trivialise racism. This is an insult to me and other right thinking black people in this society whose ancestors for some 200 years have had to endure racism in its purest form.

It is true, that some black people attribute racism to events and actions which may very well not be racist. However, because of the historical experience of black people over the centuries, one can excuse the skewed perception. Not so with white people. They have had no such negative experience with black people.

So to all the Tony?s, editors and others, please think before shouting ?wolf?,or is it ?racism?.

Informed, not ignorant

October 19, 2005

Dear Sir,

I have become increasingly angry over the insinuations that being against severing ties with Britain means I am somehow intellectually inferior to the pro-Independence advocates, but what prompted me to write was the conclusion to Calvin Smith?s opinion piece in the October 18 edition of your paper: ?We acquire much, much more from (the US) than we ever have as a colony of England.? This I cannot let rest.

We owe our very existence to English settlers who established a colony, determined settlement patterns, and introduced a system of government and justice that holds leaders accountable to the electorate. The Portuguese and the Spanish were well aware of Bermuda?s existence for a century and did nothing ? it was the English who created a country from an uninhabited island. Many Christians ? especially Anglicans and Methodists ? worship in an English tradition; even the in is .

Technically we cannot talk about ?Americans? until after the declaration of independence in 1776, so any material benefits we obtained from contact with the North American continent before that date was as members of the British Empire. In fact, the ?Americans? were quite happy to blockade Bermuda and starve the Bermudians who didn?t agree with their politics ? and had to be bought off with gunpowder.

While not denying the immense profits Britain derived from the exploitation of slave labour in the sugar, rice and tobacco plantations of its colonies, I would point out that it was the domination of the North Atlantic by the British navy following their victory at Trafalgar that had a direct impact on the suppression of the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Slaves in British Bermuda were emancipated a full 30 years before their American counterparts, and without the need of a bloody civil war. I imagine the descendants of the slaves on the , treated as cargo by Americans, were very grateful Bermuda was British. The concept of the Friendly Society that played such an important role in post-Emancipation Bermuda was British in origin. While segregation was an awful reality in Bermuda for over a century following emancipation, desegregation here began almost a decade before Rosa Parks made her protest and Martin Luther King Jr. led his march on Washington.

While the US was imposing protectionist trade barriers that led to the demise of Bermuda?s agriculture, Bermudians were benefiting from apprenticeship and training schemes at the Royal Naval dockyard. In the early 1900s West Indians were able to move freely within the British Empire, and so found work in Bermuda, while the US had severe restrictions on immigration from non-European countries.

During the Second World War, the US had no qualms about building a base in Warwick that would have split the country in two, and when they left the bases that were eventually constructed, they left behind a mess that will cost Bermudians millions of dollars to clean up. The British cleaned up their mess, and left behind a collection of beautifully constructed buildings that have become an important part of our cultural heritage.

Mr. Smith, I?m not ignorant and fearful, I?m knowledgeable and proud.

Cut down feral chickens

October 19, 2005

Dear Sir,

I am writing to express my concern over the feral chicken population on this Island home of ours.

I live near Spittal Pond Nature Reserve and whilst walking my dog, have twice been attacked by chickens! Don?t laugh. To borrow from a well known saying: ?Hell hath no fury like a mother hen protecting her chicks!? The first time it happened, my dog and I were walking along the roadside by the park and did not see the hen until she came flying out screeching at us. We ran about 20 yards along the road with this little ball of fury after us! I don?t know if she succeeded in pecking my dog, or what, but suddenly my dog decided to run across the road to get away from her. This resulted in my tripping and landing face down on the road. Luckily it was very early on a Sunday morning and there was no traffic, or I might have sustained more than road rash. The second time we were actually in the park and were able to get away from the danger more easily.

These chickens are multiplying at an increasingly horrifying rate, to the extent that you simply can no longer avoid them. Well-meaning people are coming to the park to feed them. What they don?t seem to realise is that as the chicken numbers increase, it will become more and more difficult for them to find sustenance and they will end up having miserable lives. This is hardly what someone who wants to be kind to animals would wish for them. Spittal Pond is supposed to be one of our finest natural tourist attractions. Our visitors have enough trouble being accosted by beggars in Hamilton. I don?t think they would appreciate also being attacked by chickens in a nature reserve.

More recently I have had another frightening thought. Suppose these chickens should contract avian flu?

This is not as far-fetched as it would seem at first. Avian flu is spread by wild birds and birds can fly long distances. The next thing would be the possibility of a human strain of this virus becoming rampant in Bermuda. We surely must try some methods to reduce the wild chicken population ? even if it were just to give them chicken feed containing birth control drugs, as was once suggested for the pigeon problem in London. This would be a humane way of dealing with the problem. Would someone who is responsible please do something about it?

Looking for kite stories

October 20, 2005

Dear Sir,

My name is Eugene Harvey, and I am a native of Bermuda, and I am here on vacation visiting family and conducting research for my book (coming soon) titled ?Bermuda?s Colourful Kites ? The History of Kitemaking in Bermuda?. I amis interested in collecting stories of all of Bermuda?s Kitemakers ? including individuals, businesses, schools, clubs and organisations who have made and sold kites or have been involved in kite making in Bermuda between the years 1960-present.

You are all cordially invited to submit any photos (colour or black and white) or newspaper or magazine articles of Bermuda kite stories, unique kite designs, kite builder bios, yearly kite festivals or contest information, kite displays, and kite competitions that you may have, for publication in the book. I am particularly interested in those of you who have created unique or one of a kind Bermuda kite designs. All kite designs such as the Somerset kite, St. David?s kite, and any other variations are welcomed.

Each contributor / individual from whom I receive a submission will be noted in the credits and all items submitted will be returned. You may contact me at 236-1656 next week between 2 pm and 8 p.m. (Monday to Thursday). I will also be available to receive your information and to take photos of any kites you may have at the Bermuda Library in Hamilton between 9 a.m. and 12 noon. I will be leaving the island on Friday, October 28 and will welcome any and all submissions.

I would like to make the book inclusive and comprehensive. My goal is to include many stories of individuals who make and have made Bermuda kites over the years, as there are many of you here on the island that have exhibited there talents and skills every year on Good Friday and have helped to keep Bermuda?s tradition of Kite flying fresh and exciting.

Everyone who has been making Bermuda kites who wishes to contribute to this new and exciting venture can send me their story and examples of their work for use in the book at any time over the next six months. I plan to have the book published and available for sale on Good Friday 2006.

For those of you who have digital photos and wish to e-mail me their story you can e-mail me at bdakitesaol.com or eugharveaol.com for contact information. If you choose to mail you photos/information you may send it to: 6445 S. Maple Ave, Apt #2132 Tempe, Arizona 85283.

I hope to hear from you soon.