To the life boats?

September 24, 2004

Dear Sir,

You provide Calvin Smith's slippery pen with a weekly forum in your pages. I was shocked at his opinion piece headlined "An unusual opportunity". In it he presumed much and said little beyond the thought that the present government was entitled to grossly mismanage the people's money so long as it advantaged, at any cost, some unspecified black people. Racism is never very far from the surface of people's thoughts in this unfortunate island. More and more openly it is said that only white people can be racist. Being a mainly white person who has learned over a longish life that racism is stupid and counterproductive I have never been able to see the validity of this notion. Recently for the first time I have noticed attempts made to justify it. Economic disadvantage, I read recently in another opinion column, is the reason why black people cannot be racist. They lack that important factor of economic clout that can give bite to racist attitudes. Up to a point this can certainly be true. It is less true, however, in some circumstances than in others.

In Bermuda it is much less true, for example, than in the US. This is for two reasons. The first is that rich, even very rich black people form a very much higher proportion of our population than is the case in the US. The second is the difference in political power. In the US blacks are as politically disadvantaged as they are economically. In Bermuda, however, the quite small white minority is the politically disadvantaged racial group.This would remain true even if the UBP were in power. In a democracy it is a simple matter of numbers. In Bermuda, therefore, the racism playing field isn't tilted against blacks as it is in the US. Perceived black economic disadvantages in our island are at least balanced, probably even outweighed, by an overwhelming political advantage. Thus it isn't at all clear that only white people can be racist here in Bermuda. Overwhelming political power and ever increasing wealth have enabled blacks to be quite as effectively racist as whites.

There is a general perception among white people, and I think a justifiable perception, that our present government is overtly racist. There was no rational point whatever in spending the people's money specifically to attract black tourists. The only possible reason for this expenditure was one of race i.e. racist. The government wanted to see a smaller proportion of white tourists because they don't like white people. Our recently ousted Minister of Tourism is on record as wanting to see "more people who look like me". If that had meant physically attractive, caf? au lait women most of us would have let it go. It didn't. It was an overtly racist comment empowered as such by political clout. If a white Tourism Minister in a UBP government had made an equivalent racist comment he would have been fired.

What we need is a larger proportion of wealthy tourists. The minister, however, rejected out of hand targeting the more easily tapped, rich, gay minority market. Why? There can be but one answer: prejudice. The hiring practices of government also seem to be overtly racist. The public is not made aware of how government jobs for which no Bermudian is available are advertised. We don't know that there wasn't a better qualified white applicant. The public just sees a disproportionate number of black people, disproportionately from the West Indies, being appointed to government controlled jobs. The public never sees the reasons behind who is and who isn't approved by Immigration, but there is an obvious bias against white applicants, particularly white English applicants. There is an obvious bias in favour of black, particularly black West Indian applicants. If this isn't racist, what is?

The contracting out of government jobs is also overtly racist. To create a company with no track record, one that wasn't even the low bidder, to undertake a $100 million public construction job just because it was a black managed company cannot be anything else than a racist act. It was a decision admittedly based on nothing else. Obviously it was a disastrous decision. Racist decisions usually are. The result has been a classic example of the old maxim "When thieves fall out?" It is hard to see, after some six years in power, that the PLP government has any policies at all other than race based ones. It purports to be progressive and labour, but it has worse labour relations than did the UBP and has done nothing that could be described as progressive.

Its endless mismanagement and economic ineptitude is costing us all, black and white alike, our economic pre-eminence in the world. Its anti-white bias has led to a growing rift between us and our daily bread, the US. This is for no other reason than that the PLP is increasingly unable to hide its visceral hatred of white people. Why, otherwise, should we be insulting our bread and butter, the United States, with an otherwise totally absurd "cultural" sucking up to an anti-black, brutal, repressive regime like Castro's? Sadly for all Bermudians, we have a racially driven government and it isn't doing any of us, black, white or in between, any good whatever.

Calvin Smith, a master of verbal sleight of hand, suggests that the thing that scares him about Bermuda is "if white people don't wake up and get onboard, this could end up with racial hostility". Racial hostility is the glue that holds the PLP together. The UBP is and has been for its entire history a mixed race party. The PLP is a divided, disorganised movement whose sole unifying factor seems to be hatred of whites. Why else should an able, competent, entrepreneurial, successful and charismatic man like Dr. Ewart Brown align himself with such a bunch of losers? Politically he is a UBP natural and in that party could easily by now have been a candidate for Premier. Calvin Smith wants white people to 'get on board' a ship that is already foundering in a sea of mismanagement, corruption and failure. What for? If the ship is going to sink anyway, why join the sailors? It would make more sense to man the lifeboats. Make no mistake about it. Independence is an emotional, racist rallying cry aimed at the gullible to ensure power for the corrupt. What it will ensure is disaster for all of us and for what? An emotional chimera.

Reviewer gets reviewed

October 9, 2004

Dear Sir,

I am writing to express my disappointment of the "theatre review" which was published in your paper on Friday, October 8 for the Gilbert & Sullivan production of Into the Woods. Where exactly did this person learn how to write a theatre review? There were 20 paragraphs in this article, 16 of which were pretty much devoted to criticising the script, the writing and the plot, which by the way, was almost completely spelled out from beginning to end in this review, revealing nearly everything and leaving practically no surprises as to how the show plays out.

Besides a glowing compliment for the set (which spectacular, by the way), the "reviewer" neglected to mention much at all about how the show was presented. No comment on the acting ability of the players, the singing or the costumes. There was a mention of the reviewer's favourite characters, a sentence on some "great performances" and a patronising comment on how the youngest cast members had a lot to memorise.

The reviewer clearly didn't like the show. Fair enough. But what she apparently didn't like was the script. How about the production itself? How the story was interpreted and presented? How about the acting, how about the singing? The costumes? Makeup? The orchestra? You thought some performances were "great". Why? What was it about those performances that made them great? Allow me to present another opinion.

"Into the Woods" is probably one of the best productions that Gilbert & Sullivan has ever presented. The script is definitely a challenge and some pretty complicated effects are required to make some of the scenes believable but the cast and crew have done a remarkable job. The set is indeed spectacular and Gilbert & Sullivan has put together a wonderful cast to present this show. They've found 18 people who are entertaining and believable. And guess what? They can sing, too. Every single one of them. In fact, in my opinion, there is plenty of "goosebumps" material in this show.

As usual, the orchestra, directed by Mark Dorrell, is practically flawless, and the costumes, under the direction of Liz Campbell, are Broadway quality. Every aspect of each character has obviously been carefully considered, from the acting to the singing, costumes, hair and makeup. Everyone involved in this show has obviously put a lot of time and energy in. I do agree with the reviewer that perhaps the show isn't appropriate for young children as some parts may be quite scary ? despite the characters, this is not the pantomime. But it is an entertaining, fun and thought-provoking show. It's too bad that an inept review may have had an impact on ticket sales for this spectacular show. Additionally, the performance times quoted in the article are incorrect. The show runs every night at 8 p.m. until October 16. Perhaps can find an experienced reviewer to take this job on for the next time.

Gratitude to Cecil Dismont

October 20, 2004

Dear Sir,

I was saddened by the news of the passing of the late Mr. Cecil Dismont, Bermuda's first black mayor of the City of Hamilton. We were looking for an advocate to fight for our rights to be accepted by society as equal citizens. During one of our Awareness Weeks committee meeting one member made a suggestion that we have some one in authority spend the day in a wheelchair. We lobbied all the politicians and civil servants but they all turned us down. The late Ms Margaret Carter came up with the idea, to ask the mayor, so she called him. The mayor asked her what did the position consist of, and Ms Carter explained that she wanted him to experience the advantages and disadvantages of life with a disability.

Mayor Dismont accepted the challenge to keep in mind that he was a wheelchair user which meant no standing or walking. He started the day by getting up from his bed to the wheelchair and getting ready to go to the office. No friends or family were available so he called the taxi service, after a 45 minutes wait the taxi arrived. The transfer from the wheelchair to the taxi took five minutes and another five minutes to get out. Upon trying to enter the facility he was confronted by two large doors which he struggled with for another four minutes to get thru. At the end of his morning's routine work, came lunch. Just in case you might think he tried to cheat, the late Mr. Wendell Talbot kept his company all day.

When they left City Hall's property they encountered many obstacles on their way about the city, such as sidewalks, restaurants with steps, public building doors, the Cathedral and others that were not accessible. They had to find a loading zone which was accessible but the end of the sidewalk was not, so getting on to the crossings were a problem. Through his experience the City of Hamilton is becoming accessible, e.g. sidewalks, parking bays, audio crossings and restrooms to name a few. By the way Editor, thanks to the late Mr. Cecil Dismont, visiting Hamilton has become a pleasure, no longer a challenge. On behalf of all the physically challenged we say thanks for the life of the late Honourable Mayor Cecil Dismont for getting involved in the lives of others. He was a wonderful mayor for the City of Hamilton. May he rest in peace. Sympathy is expressed to all his family.