Coverage irresponsible July 12, 2006Dear Sir,I personally deplore violence in any form and I certainly do not condone the alleged attack on Rui Madeiros at the Docksiders Pub during the World Cup match between Portugal and France by the four young males. However, once again your newspaper can be accused of irresponsible journalism in this matter for the following reasons:

First and foremost, to report Mr. Madeiros’ side of the story in today’s Royal Gazette is irresponsible as it will no doubt prevent the accused from having a fair trial. As I see it, it would be almost impossible for the jury, once selected, to hear the case objectively as they will have already read in your paper the events as seen through the eyes of Mr. Madeiros and others.

Secondly, for your reporter, and others in the community to dub the attack as racially motivated is again irresponsible. Yes, it is true that the alleged attackers were black and the alleged victim was Portuguese. By the way, Portuguese is a nationality, not a race although in Bermuda some choose to class Portuguese as a race. Other than this fact, everything else is circumstantial and must be proven in a court of law, including whether or not the alleged attackers actually burned the Portuguese flag, told Mr. Madeiros to go back home or whether they used racial epithets during the alleged attack.

Remember, under the Bermuda Constitution and in most democratic civilisations, if not all, a man is innocent until proven guilty, hence my use of the word “alleged” in this instance. I pity the prosecution, the defence attorney and the judge when this case goes to court.

Violence during World Cup soccer did not just happen in Bermuda. I’m sure incidents of violence occurred in bars and pubs all over the globe as football fans congregated to view the games. Certainly with the mixture of alcohol and football mania, tempers were bound to flare.

As unacceptable as the attack on Mr. Madeiros was, that was the only recorded incident in Bermuda of violence during the World Cup. One only need browse the Internet and read of other violent encounters during World Cup soccer. After Germany beat Poland, “429 German and Polish hooligans were arrested”.

Another report reads as follows: “Following Germany’s 2-0 afternoon win over Sweden, English and German fans clashed in a plaza near outdoor viewing screens in this southern German city. German fans were singing in celebration when England fans began throwing plastic chairs and bottles at them, police spokeswoman Christiane Honer said. Five Germans were injured before officers in riot gear separated the two sides.

Police two or three deep corralled the English fans and waded into the crowd, arresting them one by one. In all, 200 people were arrested, most of them English, police spokesman Stefan Keilbach said.”

In fact, during the tournament, German authorities are reported to have made 9,000 arrests for bodily harm, theft and damage to property accounting for most of them. Of the 9,000 held in temporary custody or arrested, “80 percent were German, and the second-biggest group was probably the English.

None of the reports that I have read on the Internet regarding World Cup violence refer to the incidents as racially motivated although there have been many races and nationalities involved in the melees.

But, Bermuda is another world, and once again The Royal Gazette <$>has fanned the flames of racism by reporting the Docksiders incident as racially motivated. However, it was acceptable for your reporter Dan Rutstein to state the following in his report regarding the celebration of Italians in Bermuda after their team won the World Cup on Sunday — “just for luck presumably, they also felt the need to pass a toad trapped by cellophane in a small, pink washing basket around the bar, no doubt some kind of comedy racial slur against the ‘Frogs’ of France.”

LAVERNE FURBERT

Hamilton Parish<$>Dentist service is bad July 10, 2006Dear Sir,I am writing today to comment on the state of dental practice on the island from the perspective of a guest worker. Since arriving on the island, I have found it very difficult to find a dentist to perform the somewhat extensive work that I require. Many of the guest workers I have spoken with attest to how difficult it is to find a good dentist willing to accept new patients. When a suitable dentist is found, there is almost universally a period of three to six months before an initial appointment can be made; and even if an appointment is granted, the doctors are so overworked that they very often do not have the time to do anything more than fix the immediate problems plaguing their cliental.

On several occasions I have had to have emergency work done, and on both occasions I was not able to get an appointment on the same day. All of the dental offices say the same thing: they are booked solid. In two cases, I have had to settle for what I believe was substandard treatment. Alas, God did not make all dentists equal (or Engineers or Lawyers for that matter). The dental practitioner in those cases told me I needed to have a different tooth pulled both times, but the root of the tooth had not even died! Needless to say, I did not choose that option. From conversations with Bermudians and guest workers alike, I have gathered that this is not entirely uncommon here in Bermuda. One acquaintance even had the wrong tooth pulled!

The point of this letter is not to deride the very professional and earnest efforts of Bermuda’s dentists, but to state unequivocally that Bermuda needs more dental practitioners. One doctor I spoke with informed me that there were five dentists retiring this year in his office alone. This does not bode well for the state of the nation’s teeth, and it does nothing but cause frustration for the guest workers on the island.

TIM DEVRIES

Southampton<$>Proud to be Portuguese July 11, 2006Dear Sir, As a young women living in Bermuda I did not believe that we had such a racism problem in the younger generation until recently. I always thought that this was something that the elders of the island held on to and as we grow as a community it will eventually fizzle out. Apparently this is not the case.

I was there at Docksider’s watching the game with my fellow Portuguese Bermudians as well as foreign Portuguese supporters and many others. We all enjoyed watching the game despite being defeated, but the feelings of the crowd were generally still upbeat. It saddens me greatly to know that there are young Bermudians who feel that it is okay to destroy someone’s pride in their heritage the way those four young men did.

I would think that even if someone does not like the Portuguese being here on the island they would at least respect the fact that we are here and we are here to stay. I am embarrassed to be a Bermudian after such an incident and more so as it has been broadcast around the world.

What sort of message are we sending to different Nations? What is this doing to our Tourism, when people of different origins are scared to come here for fear of being attacked on the basis of their nationality? There is such a large Portuguese community here and we do a lot of good things for this island. We are hard working people who strive to make a good life just like everyone else.

There is great concern and not just among the Portuguese over that fact of whether or not any justice will come out of this incident. It is hard to believe that in broad daylight on Front Street the Police have not identified these men yet or brought them to justice. Is there not CCTV on Front Street? This is a HATE crime and should not be allowed to slip through the cracks. I do not say this just because I am Portuguese but if it were anyone of any nationality that was attacked.

I would also like to add something amount the comment made by our Premier. The fact that we are not Independent should help us in an instance like this as we have others to go to for help in dealing with this situation. If we were Independent others may be less reluctant to come to our aid. Besides, if we can’t handle the situation now there is no way that being Independent would help.

We as a Bermudian community need to come together as ONE nation if we ever have any hope of being any independent nation. We must all stand together against crimes of pure hatred if we ever stand a chance.

YOUNG PORTUGUESE BERMUDIAN<$>Monitor the speedsJuly 11, 2006Dear Sir,It is generally agreed that prevention is better than cure.

Perhaps it is time for traffic monitors to be on our roads with enforcement capabilities.

Perhaps retired seniors in good health could be equipped with a “Roof top Car attachement” detachable, that clearly identifity them as a traffic monitor, with a camera attached to record licence plates, speed, time and date. Under this scenario the owner of the vehicle would be liable for the speed recorded. After a certain point system is reached, the owner should be required to appear in court for prosecution.

By seeing the “Monitor Sign” it is likely that all traffic would slow down, similarly to when a police car is behind you. All monitors would be required to drive the main streets at varied times for an hour at a time, to slow down trucks, buses, taxis, and all manner of vehicles. The fixed speed for monitors would be 40KPH, which is reasonable.

Since there is a shortage of “visible” police on our roads, monitors can serve a useful function, of prevent on, and electronic ticketing, and leave the police to deal with accident’s, crime, tourist protection etc.

HIPPOCRATES

City of Hamilton<$>Address discriminationJuly 3, 2006This was sent to Hon. Patrice K. Minors, JP, MP, Minister of Health and Family Services and copied to the Royal GazetteDear Mrs. Minors,My name is Cherise Carey and I am a counsellor at The Women’s Resource Centre. I am writing this letter in the interest of providing some insight in light of the recent proposed changes to the Human Rights legislation. As the MP for Health and Family Services, you are uniquely placed to raise awareness about issues specific to the welfare of women.

Many misconceptions about sexual assault and domestic violence are linked to myths about relationships between women and men, about racial groups, about socio-economic groups, and about gay people.

For example, many still assume that Black men are more likely to be sexual predators; that poor people experience more domestic violence; and that gay people are more likely to be paedophiles. Advocacy challenging abuse and victimisation of woman necessarily includes challenging the broader spectrum of attitudes and beliefs that result in abuse and victimisation.

Discrimination — be it predicated upon race, religion or sexual orientation — must be effectively addressed in an island community as advanced as ours. Please consider that supporting discrimination based upon sexual orientation contributes to a society that is less likely to respect the rights of each and every one of its members.

CHERISE CAREY