A member of the Human Rights Commission has defended the Premier’s use of the phrase “racist dog” and has cautioned the public not to take the phrase out of context.

Kamal Worrell, chairman of the HRC’s Education Sub-Committee was speaking at a press conference, held to update the public on the recently concluded series of public forums, hosted by the commission.

Mr. Worrell said the public meetings had demonstrated that while Bermuda had made progress on the ‘vexatious’ issue of race relations, there was much more work to be done.

He said: “By committing to enter into this frank and sometimes uncomfortable discussion on such matters, we have also discovered just how far we have yet to go, and how much work is demanded of us all if we are to reach the amicable place which we know is within our scope of attainability.”

When asked whether the use of terms like “racist dog” — as used in the House of Assembly by Premier Dr. Ewart Brown during a heated discussion with United Bermuda Party MP Grant Gibbons helped to further a healthy discussion on racism or whether they were harmful to the process he said the public must look at the circumstances in which the phrase was used.

“Any term must be taken, of course, within the context that it was used. I did have the benefit to sit in the House as I often do, and the context in which it was used, it was not used against any particular member. It was used as a reference, so I mean we have to be careful.

“I don’t want to get drawn into what a politician may have meant or was trying to do strategically, but I can — being present in the House — say that the Premier did not call Dr. Gibbons a racist dog.

“He used it when referring to a statement that was made by one of the members of the Opposition about a former Premier who was referred to as a ‘political eunuch’ and the connotation that carries because in slavery black men were castrated.”

When told that a member of the Government had also used the phrase “political eunuch” during a recent Royal Gazette <$>interview he replied: “ May have been. I am not here to answer on that.”

Mr. Worrell believes further progress on race relations will only be made with frank and open discussion. “Everyone is going to have their particular view on what is healthy and what is not and what we have to remember is that there are always persons who are going to be, I suppose, supporting the status quo<$> i.e. the systemic and institutional racism that has been acknowledged and exists in Bermuda and there are going to be people who challenge that.”

Meanwhile, an independent watchdog group on race issues has criticised last Friday’s exchange between the Premier and Dr. Gibbons.

The group, Citizens Uprooting Racism in Bermuda (CURB) said it deplored the use of ‘racism’ by political parties as a means to earn ‘brownie points’ in the race up to the next election.

“Much has been printed in the press about the exchange that took place and it clearly emphasises the need for people, including our politicians, to be educated as to the sensitivity of terms to different races.

“Dr. Brown had commendably attempted to explain why the term “eunuch” is upsetting to blacks. However, implying a person is racist, without any specifics, is counter productive and not helpful to encouraging open and honest discussion,” a spokesperson said.

CURB said politicians should not be playing ‘politics’ with the issue of race.

“The public is used to the ‘cut and thrust’ of politics and knows that each political party sees it as a major achievement to ‘win’ the newspaper headline each day.

“But when race is used at such a personal level by two respected politicians it does not set an example for the people they are leading,” the group said.