SOME black Bermudians were very upset over the recent comments made by United Bermuda Party Member of Parliament Trevor Moniz. He called the Progressive Labour Party a black party, insisting that the PLP Government is only interested in looking after the interests and affairs of the black community.

I for one did not get upset because it was clear to me that Mr. Moniz was attempting to safeguard that 90-plus percent of the white vote which the UBP gets from the white community and, in particularly heavv numbers from the Portuguese community. Now that stranglehold is deemed to be under threat in the wake of the call by PLP Parliamentary candidate Rolfe Commissiong for Portuguese Bermudians to reconsider their political allegiance which has always in the main gone to the United Bermuda Party.

Mr. Commissiong quite rightly reminded the Portuguese community that if they ever had a political champion in Bermuda's public arena, it was never the UBP. For decades the UBP simply took for granted overhwelming Portuguese political support. No, the real champion of Portuguese Bermudian interests has beenthe very political party Mr. Moniz falsely claimed has only black Bermudian political and social interest as its main goal, the PLP.

Once again a member of the white community, a UBP politician at that, has attempted to separate the PLP from the black community as a whole through innuendo and inference. One always gets the impression that the UBP Opposition is desperately attemptng not to criticise the black communituy as a whole when it engages in its criticisms of the PLP's postions and programmes. However, in his recent comments Trevor Moniz's made no attempt to disguise the fact he was in fact appealing to the herd mentality which has afflicted the white voters in this country since the advent of representative and democratic government. So the UBP's political mask has slipped a little further in a year that has already seen some major slippage in that regard, exposing the true face of its racial politics.

Of course. Mr. Moniz can get away with spouting his falsehoods because Bermuda still has not got to the point where it is prepared not only to face the reality of its racially-divided past, but to record and examine that past with a view to gaining a greater understanding of why we are at this stage in our history.

The history of the Portuguese presence in Bermuda begins with discrimination on the part of the Anglo-dominated Establishment. In common with other northern European nations, those of British descent have a long-time historical bias against the southern European nations; especially those which are located on the Iberian peninsula, namely Spain and, of course, Portugal.

The reason for this is based on the fact the Iberian peninsula was dominated by Muslim Moors for almost a thousand years before Spanish leaders Ferdinand and Isabella of Aragon and Castile ended Muslim rule in the 15th century and restored white majority rule in southern Europe. The Moors were from North Africa and were dark skinned. And, as a consequence of their long domination of the Iberian peninsula, there was much inter-breeding with the European stock. Consequently today's Spaniards and Portuguese, as many an old time Bermudian would say, have more than their share of the touch of the brush. The race mixing that took place in this region of Europe scrambled the gene pool of nations like Portugal, Spain and other parts of southern Europe such as Sicily and Mediterranean France. Northern Europeans began this race thing a long time before they took slaves from Africa.

This is a little background as to why the Portuguese, upon coming to Bermuda, found themselves facing discrimination from other Europeans: namely white Bermudians of British descent. The black community, on the other hand, embraced them; Portuguese children prevented from attending so-called white schools went to black schools.

We have all heard the stories of how the late Dame Lois Browne Evans took up the plight of Portuguese nationals who were not allowed to bring their wives and children to Bermuda. And the reason Ernest DeCouto became the first Portuguese Speaker of the House was because the PLP under the late L. Fredrick Wade, backed his appointment after his own party, the UBP, failed to do so. The UBP wanted to appoint a black member of that party as Speaker but Mr. DeCouto had seniority on his side and was technically next in line to assume the Speakers chair and the PLP took a principled decision.

For those who may be tempted to consider that this was a political move on the part of the then PLP Opposition to embarrass the then ruling United Bermuda Party Government, consider one of the most controversial policy decisions undertaken by the newly elected PLP Government. It was a stance the PLP took in the face of bitter opposition from its own black political support base and it resolved the longstanding long term resident issue, benefitting many Portuguese families as a result.

Even though there were a few Portuguese Members of Parliament during the time the UBP was the Government, there were never any advocates for Portuguese rights. And as a result hundreds paid the price when, during a deepening economic recession, many dependents were sent to the Azores, a country many had not been born in, a country whose culture and - in some instances - language they were unfamiliar with.

On a personal note, I used to be a golf caddy at Ocean View Golf Course and I recall seeing a Portuguese golfer who I was told was one of Bermuda's best at that time; but he was not allowed to play on the so-called white golf courses and I believe he took them to court but failed to get a favourable verdict.

Years later, when freedom came to Bermuda, this golfer still refused to play on the formerly so-called white golf course; preferring to play on the golf course that allowed him to play without restrictions, the one golf course that allowed all people to play regardless of race or ethnicity, the Ocean View Golf Course.

UBP Member of Parliament Trevor Moniz, with his recent statement, has attempted to engage in the worst form of racial politics; he has attempted to raise the spectre of a black political bogeyman out to inflict racial revenge on Bermuda's white population. But history flies in the face of yet another Big Lie told for political reasons.

To my mind the white community has three choices: it can follow Trevor Moniz's mentality, in which case marching off the cliffs of St. David's in lemming-like style will be your sad fate. It can follow the Milkman but PLP warriors await his arrival in the Dame's political territory and his political scalp will be taken at the next election by a woman, making the Dame smile from on high. Or the third option is to learn what modern politics is all about. In America, for instance, its two major political parties, the Democrats and Republicans are nothing more than collections of diverse political constituencies who share some common interests.

I await the arrival of the pragmatic white voter in Bermuda; who is prepared to reject the herd mentality of the Trevor Moniz types and who will bring their interests to the table by becoming just another PLP constituency.