CURB: ‘Historic And Important Announcement’

June 10, 2019

Citizens Uprooting Racism in Bermuda [CURB] said they “applaud the announcement by the Premier David Burt on the establishment of a Commission of Inquiry into the historic losses of citizens’ property in Bermuda.”

A spokesperson said, “This is a historic and important announcement and a part of what CURB sees as a national healing, which includes acknowledging the harm, loss and trauma of the past, whilst looking at ways to repair the damage that was done.

“Understanding that land is crucial to a people’s economic development, the denial of access to land historically, and then the dispossession of property that occurred following Emancipation up until contemporary times, undergirds the ongoing economic disparity today.

“CURB sees the establishment of this Commission as one part of a process that the people of this country need and must go through in order to find a way forward, hopefully together.

“The history of white colonial land dispossession is documented worldwide, and Bermuda had its own form of dispossession, which resulted in poverty, homelessness, insecure land tenure, and the destruction of communities and the undermining of personal and collective identities.

“Land ownership in Bermuda was skewed by historical practices that favored giving/selling land along racial lines or to the connected few. Legislation targeting people of African Bermudian descent was passed ensuring that land ownership was denied for years.

“This was followed by resolutions, proclamations, and laws which played a key role in legitimizing land/property dispossession, the Tuckers’ Town land grab in the early 1900s being a prime example and the taking of land from St. David Islanders in the 1940s.

“Land grabbing needs to be understood in the context of power and the desire for profit, this overrides existing meanings and uses of land that were rooted in local communities.

“This history of land dispossession and segregation were key to the creation of a racially and spatially divided Bermuda. Addressing the trauma and legacies of that past is essential to not only helping repair the harm that was done but is needed to bring about acknowledgement and closure around a shameful part of our history.

“We urge that part of the Commission’s mandate is to collect and collate narratives from the people of Bermuda to create a historical record of what occurred and happened.

“It may be that many of these stories are unable to be validated by documents or the ‘proof’ required by the legal system to correct past injustices. However, part of the healing process must be in the telling and recording of these stories so that it is not forgotten, and future generations understand the injustices of the past and acknowledge the need for racial equity and justice moving forward.

“We urge both political parties to ensure that the Commission is not used as a political football, and instead embrace and support the need for this reparative work for our society to heal.”

click here Citizens Uprooting Racism in Bermuda

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Comments (48)

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  1. BoutThyme says:

    Finally, CURB is supporting something where many Caucasian families were also impacted.

  2. Theakston says:

    Yawn. Fix what you were elected to fix. Right now you will go down as the worst premier and government in Bda history

    • Onion Juice says:

      REPARATIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

      • Sandgrownan says:

        From who to whom?

        • wahoo says:

          OJ thinks he has won the lottery. He should quit his cushy job now and wait for the money to come in.

          • Mark says:

            Yeah, and I want OJ’s Bermuda Day spot. He’s taken that from COH.

          • Onion Juice says:

            Get over it, its a Worldwide awakening where people are acknowledging the evil acts of past founding fathers.

            • Berlinda says:

              “Get over it,”

              the LGBTQ community will win again…against the homophobic government…you need to get over this and move on. I know you won’t because you’re a homophobic POS…but, we will right the wrongs perpetuated upon us by ‘real’ bermudians…and OJ ain’t gonna like it :)

            • Mark says:

              You do know slavery was started in Africa by Africans, right??

      • Anbu says:

        NO!!

      • Joe Bloggs says:

        Reparations to whom, OJ? For what? Everyone in my family who had land taken from them is now dead.

        • aceboy says:

          For OJ! He/she thinks it is time to get paid! Reward for being such a loyal supporter!

      • Mark says:

        CLOWNS DRIVING THE CLOWN CAR

    • Eyes wide open says:

      Jet Gate Craig is the worst right now and the obaUBPeeeeeeee placed him as leader so that tells a great deal about the morals of that party. (:

      • sandgrownan says:

        OBA derangement syndrome.

      • Wahoo says:

        How do you manage to get so off topic? The is a story about bitcoin burt and his support group curb. Now you want to talk about jetgate.

      • bluenose says:

        Is ‘Jet Gate’ really all you have? smdh. Would you like me to list all of the failures by the PLP?

  3. puzzled says:

    Time to Curb CURB.

  4. Sam Rose says:

    Well of course they do. Essentially a far left division of the PLP.

    • wahoo says:

      I could have foretold this article. Charitable my a$$ all part of the plan to divide I would say very unBermudian…..what do you say?

    • Berlinda says:

      ” Essentially a far left division of the PLP.”

      LOL, I don’t think anyone in Bermuda knows what let/right politics is….it’s kind of embarrassing that you refer to yourselves as left wing, when you’re so xenophobic, homophobic and racist.

  5. Ringmaster says:

    Based on what CURB has said, and what the Premier has said, the COI will likely take many years and cost millions of dollars to allow for all the unvalidated stories and innuendos to be heard, unless the COI restricts itself to requiring documentation. Even then, what if the findings don’t give people the answer they want to hear? Remember the crusade by the PLP against fronting? It was widespread yet only one case went to court. Maybe the findings were too awkward for the wrong people. This Inquiry may have the same result.

  6. Toodle-oo says:

    “The history of white colonial land dispossession is documented worldwide, and Bermuda had its own form of dispossession, which resulted in poverty, homelessness, insecure land tenure, and the destruction of communities and the undermining of personal and collective identities.”

    Hope you’re not too surprised at some of the possible results .
    And do you have any specific properties in mind ?

    • Berlinda says:

      I wan’t my three story house in granaway heights back! LOL

      • Toodle-oo says:

        And I want my great great grandfather’s farm cottage and all the acreage back . Alas , it was all taken to help the world remain a free place.

        • MsFedUp says:

          Yes – I want all the true facts to come to light. The fact that land was taken in order to protect the free world from Nazis. It was a different time and place and landowners were compensated. It happened all over the UK as well. To whole villages. The fact that land in Tucker’s Town was swampland before becoming common land. Let’s all have a lesson in history. Some of it’s not pretty, but it’s history.

          • Berlinda says:

            ‘real’ bermudians aren’t interested in history.

  7. Slipnut says:

    And now we hear from the ringworms. Out of their sandbox are they. Soon to hear from our newest Bermudian Rev. Tweed and company. Just what is needed to deflect attention away from some of the most important issues that face us now and stir the proverbial racial pot. Crub your education, Crub your transportation, Crub your Labour relations. Then start working on Crubing the taxes we are paying.

  8. Rotten Onion says:

    No one even pays attention to CURB anymore.

  9. Dready says:

    The PLP beating the race drum to their loyal followers as they sting them with higher taxes, soaring healthcare costs and unemployment.
    25-11!

  10. 2 Bermudas says:

    Ya, I’m sure this will bring down the cost of living and put food on people’s tables… Hahahaha!!

    Pee El Pee – making Bermudians worse off since 1998!

  11. Please fund Hospice care says:

    hospice care in BERMUDA gets no GVT funding.

    Every MP should have shame for not giving our suffering Bermudians the ultimate comfort in their time of need.

    All these costly appeals and this initiative is a nice to have compared to the lack of support for people in need of hospice care.

    Come on BERMUDA let’s get our priorities straight!

  12. Justasuggestion says:

    African Bermudian? New race been formed and the world doesn’t know.

  13. OK says:

    See now I read an article once written by a Bermudian about truckers town, who admitted starting their research with a bias view in favour of those who were “dispossessed”, but was surprised to find that many who were “disposessed” were happy to take the money or land provided to them that was closer to town.

    I read a different piece of research that detailed the landowner with the largest plot and who held out the longest against the compulsory purchase was a white farmer.

    So my question is what is the purpose of this investigation? Will it give an honest account of the view at the time or will it give the account of descendants who see the multi million dollar houses that did not previously exist and reckon they are entitled to a further piece of the pie.

    Finally will it encompass the what was the previously environmentally protected land in the same area for which the government issued special development orders to build luxury housing?

    • Happy says:

      Don’t forget when CURB opposed the SDO back in 2011 for Tucker’s Town, then Senator Furbert said in her research most of the dispossessed families actually lived on the Mid Ocean property not Tucker’s Town.

    • MsFedUp says:

      Yes! Tucker’s Town was considered undesirable because of it’s distance from Hamilton and St. George’s. If our Government is going to waste all this time and money on un-provable stories handed down the generations, then let’s make sure the true facts come out.

  14. sandgrownan says:

    Oh FFS, here comes CURB, three days late with it’s pre-determined view of the outcome of the COI.

    As I asked Onion Puke the other day, what happens when the COI concludes? What will you piss and moan about then?

    The fact remains, we have a bumbling Premier and an incompetent government driving Bermuda to irrelevance. What then?

  15. Triangle Drifter says:

    The PLP has more arms than an octopus. CURB is one of them with a self appointed leader struggling to be relevant.

  16. comfortably numb says:

    Ironic, considering their aim, that CURB remains the most blinkered, bigoted, one sided group on the island. Still waiting for their views on the racism towards white sports officials and the racist graffiti on the North Shore. Not holding my breath as those incidents would not fit their one sided narrative.

  17. Can you hear me now says:

    Zero respect for CURB.

  18. Move along please says:

    This organization does absolutely nothing to encourage and promote race relations in Bermuda. They are living and operating in the past and if they wish to assist in race relations then they need to promote modern dialogue as it relates to modern relationships. We are living on an island that has a majority black population and a black government. It is time to adapt your thinking CURB and apply it to current conditions.

    • sage says:

      So if I gave you a ringing slap in the face and then you complain, I would just say, hey, you’re living in the past move along please.

      • Double S says:

        Depends. Will you compensate me at fair rates after?

    • Onion Juice says:

      You sound like de Fox news crew.
      LMAO