White people are arrogant. Portuguese are stupid. Black people are always late. White people are evil. Black people move slowly.

What do all the above statements have in common? They are all stereotypes.

When we stereotype others, we remove the human dimension of who they are and in the process demean them and ourselves.

When Dame Lois Browne-Evans tells us in the House of Assembly, "Arrogance is an adjective that has always been attached to white people. Certain words go with certain people...'', she is speaking in stereotypes.

And when she speaks this way she is really no better than the white racist who says, "Black people are lazy.'' It is based on stereotypes such as these that slavery and segregation was built. That is how dangerous labelling and stereotyping can be. The fact is that no one race has the monopoly on arrogance, stupidity, being late, moving slowly or being evil.

Bermuda sometimes seems to have more than its fair share of arrogant people, both white and black. For some reason many of them seem to end up in politics.

Before they won the last election, the PLP, including Dame Lois frequently accused UBP cabinet ministers of both races of being arrogant.

Arrogance knows no race or even political party. It is a human trait that we are all subject to -- including Dame Lois in her weaker moments.

The sad thing about stereotypes is that they demean not only those being stereotyped but also those who do the labelling. Dame Lois is a proud Bermudian who is admired for her courage, forthrightness and sense of humour.

Somehow she becomes less of a leader and a little smaller in our eyes when she engages in this type of name-calling.

LOOKING FOR ANSWERS City of Hamilton Our House sadly divided March 29, 2000 Dear Sir, After reading the `Report from the House' in the March 25 Royal Gazette , I found myself extremely disillusioned and disappointed with my home country.

As a Bermudian student, I want to return and give back to this country everything I have learned and experienced. Because of my degree and course content, I spend a great deal of time discussing and researching the race and gender issue.

While I may not have had to endure the racism black people have experienced over history, I am not without experience. Furthermore, racism is a two-way street, it does not only transfer from white to black.

Bermuda's handling of the race issues does not lie in pointing fingers or turning the tables -- this only perpetuates racism.

In a multi-racial society such as ours, we should be working together and helping each other to make this Island what it can and should be.

Psychoanalysis has nothing to do with this.

(Dame Lois Brown Evans') association of `arrogance' with white people is highly misleading. Not only does it suggest that arrogance is synonymous with racial superiority, but it is unfair to make such generalisations.

It is very problematic that certain words be associated with certain groups of people. This is a highly essentialist argument rooted in biology which connect people to certain behaviours based on biological aspects such as race and sex.

These are the type of arguments that assume certain races to begin with are more or less intelligent based purely on race. This line of argument is very dangerous especially in politics.

Essentialist arguments are filled with holes because it is society that shapes people and all societies are different.

If we want to shape Bermuda's people for the betterment of our country, discussions in the House should set the example. Comments such as those made in the House on March 24, especially the generalisations about countries and people, are harmful to Bermuda's future and only serve to keep us divided.

DISAPPOINTED Warwick Look out for one another February 26, 2000 Dear Sir, We are all someone when we are no one.

We are all no one when we know someone.

There is only no one when there is no one.

Self takes care of self if there is no need to take care of someone else.

And if there is no need to take care of one else.

Self could not exist.

UNDERSTANDING EXISTENCE? Pembroke Grass is always greener March 31, 2000 Dear Sir, I am writing to whom the cap fits.

Do you realise tourism can be Bermuda's top industry once again? I hear many people complaining and worrying because big companies are pulling out of the Island.

Don't they realise that these companies are just going to squeeze all the money that they can out of the Island and leave us anyway! This is why you notice that people say we are one of the richest countries in the world, yet the average Bermudian has to work two jobs and struggle to survive.

Many people may disagree with me, but this is my opinion. I feel and know that if marijuana is decriminalised or legalised you will notice tourists flocking to this Island all year around.

You will notice a lower crime rate, less crack/cocaine users and more unity.

How many of our brothers are in Westgate just because they had a little bit of grass, yet you tell us that cigarettes and alcohol are very dangerous and cause cancer, then turn right around and sell it to us. It even sounds backwards. It seems like people will do anything for money.

All that I am saying is that this is the only natural way to solve our tourism problem. Besides, if you can make it legal to be a homosexual, which is an abomination unto the Lord, then anything else shouldn't even be questioned.

You should just let the people of the Island have a vote on it, because marijuana is not a drug, it is an herb, and all herbs were put on Earth for men to use in moderation.

T. SELASSIE St. David's Tourism quick fix Dear Sir, Picture this: The Ace of Clubs or the Jungle Room. Every hotel had live bands, calypso singers, steel bands, limbo (the tourists loved it).

The 40 Thieves, The Temptations, Glayds Knight and The Pips, Tom Jones etc., etc. That was the 60s. We have progressed. It is now the year 2000, and we have as the commercials state "Mutiny Honey III''. Not true, we have exorbitant hotel, food, and drinks, and Taiwan tee shirts.

Gambling cries "the hypocritical clergy'' as they are organising their next "bingo game''. A casino say the powers on high, oh dear no, yet we have gambling machines in every bar from Front Street to Court Street, betting shops etc., etc. Hypocricy should be the eighth deadly sin.

Where are the big spenders, the young executives, the monied yuppies. Try Bahamas, Barbados even Cuba. You won't have to worry Mr. D., about tourist figures going down keep going this way -- we won't have any.

Okay, your other point bringing bad elements into Bermuda. Don't you watch TV -- they are here already.

NORMA POOLEY Pembroke Reward offered March 28th, 2000 Dear Sir, We are astounded with the graffiti on the underside wall of the Aquarium Bridge as revealed in today's Royal Gazette .

Our committee has been working diligently with government and various groups for the past three years to cause improvements in Flatts Village. This callous destruction of public property with a can of spray paint is most upsetting, especially at the site of Bermuda's oldest bridge which dates back to the 1620s.

We don't pretend to understand emotionally disturbed individuals who in their pent-up hostility get great joy in defacing landmarks. We do however feel these acts of aggression should not go unnoticed and those responsible should be punished.

Therefore, we are offering a reward of $500 for information that will lead to the arrest and conviction of the culprit or culprits who have defaced the Aquarium Bridge.

W.A. (TOPPY) COWEN Flatts Village Development Committee