Tony Brannon's statement that black Bermudians, egged on by the BIU, have killed the tourist trade has encountered a storm of protest. This protest has been sufficiently strong to force him to make a weak apology on the same international web-site where he originally posted his comments.

I say the apology was weak because his expression of regret to Black Bermudians did not exonerate the Bermuda Industrial Union. Clearly, if he continues to believe that the BIU is guilty of "egging on Black Bermudians to destroy the tourist trade" than he continues to believe that Black Bermudians are killing the tourist trade.

I feel compelled to address the issue because it is insulting and untrue. The insult should be clear to all but apparently is not.

I have met Black Bermudians, several in fact, who state guardedly, "Calvin you know there is some truth to what he is saying. You know that some of our people should not be allowed to serve tourists or anyone else".

I agree that some Black Bermudians do not even attempt to provide the service they are paid to provide. But this is true of any nationality or racial group. Just last year, I complained in an article that Asians did not seem to like Blacks. I was attacked deservedly for making the statement, because many Asians are married to Blacks and my generalisation was obviously incorrect.

Hence, by so doing, I insulted every Asian in Bermuda including the vast majority whose behaviour is exemplary. Mr. Brannon has no doubt experienced the bad service that he attributes to all of Bermuda's blacks. However, does the behaviour of a few, justify a generalisation that this sort of behaviour is an attribute of all blacks or even the majority of blacks?

It certainly does not! Clearly, that should have been obvious from the fact that only a small group of Black Bermudians are directly involved with tourists in the first place.

According to the census of 2000, out of a workforce of 20,000 black workers (including foreign born blacks) only 2,300 worked in the hotels and restaurants. This meant that only about 12 percent of the black work-force provided services directly to tourists. If we add to this total, the 2,000 Blacks who were employed in transportation and communication activities, we end up with 4,300 blacks who were likely to encounter tourists on a fairly regular basis.

This enlarged total amounts to a mere 21 percent of the black population. This still leaves almost 80 percent that do not regularly come into contact with tourists. This fact certainly does not justify Mr. Brannon's statement that Black Bermudians are killing the tourist trade.

But it gets worse. Mr. Brannon cannot even state that the forty three hundred who do come in contact with the tourist on a regular basis are surly and rude. If that were the case than our tourist business would not only be declining it would be as extinct as the Dodo Bird.

In any event, to the extent that there are Bermudians who do not provide the service that is expected of them, why are they continuing to work? What is management doing about this?

I believe that this is where Mr. Brannon would attribute the fault to the Union. However, while I will concede that the Union's role is to see that the rights of BIU members are protected, it does not consider surly and rude behaviour to be a worker's right. Obviously, if rudeness is becoming prevalent in the tourist industry, as Mr. Brannon claims, than management is clearly at fault.

But I can attest from actual experience that the Hotel and Restaurant industry has progressive managements that give their staff every opportunity to improve their skills.

Chief among these are the Fairmont Princess enterprises. The management of this hotel group readily accepted recommendations to improve their performance that were provided by the MONITOR research group of Boston.

They were joined by the Bermudian Industrial Union in this endeavour and together, both groups spent time abroad at the Boston headquarters of MONITOR as well as in many workshops in Bermuda, absorbing the MONITOR recommendations. These workshops included the chief executives of the BIU as well as many shop stewards and senior and middle managers of the Fairmont group.

The upshot of this activity was that the hotel agreed to gain-sharing as an incentive to the workers. In addition, given the new trust that was generated by the workshops, wage negotiations ceased to be bitter and protracted.

I ask Bermuda and Mr. Brannon, does this sound like a Union that is seeking to bite the hand that feeds it? Bermudians are probably unaware that when the tourist industry sneezes, the Bermuda Industrial Union catches pneumonia. At the beginning of the decline to which Mr. Brannon refers, the membership of the BIU stood at over 6000. Since the decline in tourism began, the membership has fallen to 4000. Some of this decline reflects the impact of technological change on the construction, transportation and communications industries.

However the major cause of the reduction in membership has been the pervasive decline in the tourist industry. Does Mr. Brannon really believe that the Management of the BIU would try to continue this trend that is clearly to the disadvantage of their Union? I have no doubt that Mr. Brannon has found some support for his point of view. In fact, his partner in his Hawkins Island operation spoke in glowing terms about the contribution of Mr. Brannon to the Island operation.

This did not surprise me in the least since I am convinced that Mr. Brannon would not have made the statement, if he did not believe there was some support for his point of view.

The older members of the community will recall that even during the theatre boycott there was strong support for the stand taken by the theatre owners even by some blacks who should have known better.

What was wrong then and is also true today is the willingness with which too many Bermudians of both races are quick to generalise about Black Bermudians based upon the inadequacies of a few.

Portugal is the poorest country in Europe, however one does not make derogatory remarks with respect to the Portuguese living in Bermuda.

Osama Bin Laden is a Muslim, yet we do not accuse the large Muslim community resident in Bermuda of being terrorists. However, if a black group is guilty of any negative behaviour, too many of us are all too ready to attribute the negative behaviour to the entire black population of Bermuda.

It still burns in my memory the political activity that emerged because one white man of Portuguese descent was beaten up some black men. Members of the Portuguese community immediately complained about deteriorating race relations and very quickly organised a series of meetings which culminated at City Hall.

Never mind the fact that black on black violence was rampant at the time and still is. One white man got caught up in the violence and suddenly there was wide spread concern about worsening race relations.

The Brannon case should warn us all about the dangers of generalising on the basis of a few examples. The politeness and efficiency of Black Bermudians was the cornerstone on which our tourist industry was developed and thrived. Surely this is no time to kill the Goose that laid the golden egg by untrue, insulting generalisations.

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