Release race shackles

December 1, 2006

Dear Sir,

Without a doubt, Bermuda is a very multi-cultural country, however as Black people the biggest problem facing us today is that we have to stop letting race shackle us.

What I mean is that we have to accept that no matter what we say or do now, we cannot change anything that happened prior to today. We cannot change yesterday, though we know yesterday happened and we understand why.

What we can do as Black people is to determine and accept responsibility for our own destiny.

We have to stop blaming White people for Tucker's Town, while our own Black people who were more educated than us and had the means to stop what happened, stood by, said nothing and did nothing.

As black people we have to stop blaming the expat worker for being here, when our past and present Government creates jobs and business opportunities for a limited work force in Bermuda.

We need to stop blaming our lack of educational and employment opportunities on the previous Government, while our black educators, black education officers, black Opposition and voting community did nothing to stop the dismantling of public education and Tech, but saved that new school now overlooking the North Shore.

We need to stop blaming our inability to break through the class ceiling, when people that look like us support policies and actions that discriminate against us.

We have to be honest with ourselves beyond Saturday and Sunday's worship service, as reparations and white apologies will not change yesterday, or guarantee tomorrow.

Yes, we need to fix what is broken, but at the same time we need to stop blaming white people for our lack of home ownership, when we use our disposable income to acquire liabilities and not assets.

We need to be honest with our Government, even though all we know politically is that we support either the UBP or the PLP, despite the fact that our value systems makes us liberals, conservatives, socialist or whatever.

An important impact that slavery has left us is that we as Black Bermudians have to accept that our progress is now being hindered by ourselves and not all Black people have a Black agenda.

We accept the fact that our politicians publicly defend corruption and the appearance of corruption and the lack of accountability by playing the race card and not answering to the facts. Are we all poor and middle-class enough to not question how are taxes are spent. Is our Government really creating Black wealth, or just providing means for people with means to buy former White owned, but private businesses, while at the same time they continue to convince us that Bermuda has a housing shortage, when 1,000 apartments remain empty and their policies continue to be based on home rental and not home ownership. Luckily for them, we now suffer from political amnesia every five years.

As Black Bermudians we have to stop blaming white people because we cannot move forward without public and frank discussions on race. Why do we need White approval to move forward or are we just making excuses as Black People. What do we expect White people to say or do?

The bottom line is that our Government just does not really care about or know how to change the status quo. If so, after 30 years as an opposition and 8 years as a Government, they would have made more progress then hiring a consultant to study an unpublished committee's report on race and young black men, who in the end will recommend another committee to develop and implement the original committee, committee's report, but only after public meetings to communicate the original unpublished committee's report.

We have to stop letting those who would have qualified as a 'house nigga' many years ago, determine our future?

The inconvenient truth

December 10, 2006

Dear Sir,

For all of our technological advances, six figure salaries, Honda CRVs, and inflation driven million dollar homes, there was nothing that could have saved any of us had the rumours of the tidal wave been true.

Birthday parties, football games, Christmas shopping, and fine dining immediately became of no importance when people felt their lives were in jeopardy. While we may all giggle now at the story about the coach who rushed his mini-minor football team down to the ER (notwithstanding, the hospital is one of the lower points on the island) or the jammed airways that made everyone thankful for their free nights and weekends cell phone plan, this "false alarm" gives us much to ponder.

How ironic that our little island home, consumed by pride, violence, materialism, immorality, and gossip, was momentarily paralysed by "a rumour". Equally interesting is the fact that some people were compelled to evacuate their pews in the middle of the church service, while others were wishing they were in church?go figure. Is it possible that we have become desensitised to the world crises that constantly plague other parts of the globe? Is it possible that in our selfish pursuit of the Bermudian dream, we have forgotten how vulnerable we are to the disasters that struggle to find a slot on our evening news next to the stock market report?

For a moment, there were some who would have happily traded in their ocean view, plush properties in Smith's for half an inch on top of Billy Goat Hill. But for every person who seriously considered the warning, there were others who arrogantly dismissed the possibility, a la the foolish millions outside of Noah's Ark, who were confident that our reliable reefs were up and running. I can only imagine their faces had a thunderous wave emerged over Reid Street as they attempted to pick up just one more overpriced stocking stuffer. What would have been going through their minds? Probably the same thing you were thinking?or not. Would they have thought that the extra hours in the office away from their families were worth it? Would they have corrected one more person that their name is not Mr. Smith, but rather Dr. Smith? I think not! Times of tragedy have a funny way of humbling humanity to the bare roots of our existence ? remember September 11 and Hurricane Katrina! Those tragedies were more than an inconvenient interruption to a visit to one of your favourite North American destinations. If nothing else, those tragedies were a warning that life is so much more than pay cheques, property, and promotion.

In an effort to prevent those who have little regard for God or spiritual matters from turning over to the section of this paper in disgust, I have tried to minimise the Biblical allusions and sermonic jargon. However, I have a sneaky suspicion that, during the height of the rumours of this past weekend, there were one or two people who were slapped with the reality that life on this earth is impermanent; moreover, something is about to happen!

The truth is, just like we couldn't all fit on Town Hill had the tidal wave actually come, we all can't fit on Mars either. If left much longer with our aerosol cans, nuclear bombs, and melting glaciers, we will destroy the earth. So where are we going? For those who have ignored the Biblical warnings about the second coming of Christ and prefer more contemporary evidence such as Oprah's interview with the former vice president of the United States, Al Gore, the writing is truly on the wall.

The inconvenient truth is that something is about to happen to this world and there is nothing that a politician or executive position will be able to do to save us! For those who may have misinterpreted last week's lightning storm for free fireworks and others who are tempted to push another agenda by blaming the police or government for poor communication, let me submit that there is no mistaking the national warning given through the tidal wave scare. As we enjoy this Christmas season, let's reconsider the reason for the season, reevaluate our values, and seek The Truth in 2007.