Swan: End Voting Along Racial Lines
United Bermuda Party MP Kim Swan cited a recent poll which said nearly 90% of Whites in Bermuda would vote for one political party while Blacks would divide their support, saying this reveals that racial polarisation “continues to exist and is greatest amongst the white community in Bermuda.”
The St George’s MP urged a “change in mindset,” and a commitment by the political parties and major institutions to make ending racial polarisation a “front burner issue.”
Mr Swan said, “A recent Royal Gazette commissioned mindmaps poll reflected the voting patterns of the voting populace of Bermuda (approximately 40,000 voters) reiterated that nearly 90% of whites in Bermuda were likely to vote for one particular political party if an election were called, whereas Blacks in Bermuda would divide their support 52% PLP, 15% for an Opposition Party and 30% unknown.
“This poll revealed that racial polarisation, ever prevalent in each of the eleven general elections since 1968, continues to exist and is greatest amongst the white community in Bermuda, who comprise of between 28 to 35% of the voting population in Bermuda.
“The enblock voting along racial lines has guaranteed that a block of safe seats are maintained in constituencies which have the heaviest concentration of white voters. In 2007 these constituencies were Southampton West Central, Warwick West, Paget East, Paget West, Pembroke South West, Pembroke West, Devonshire South Central, Devonshire East Smiths South, Smith’s North and Hamilton South.
“It is my opinion, that the continued existence of obvious polarised voting within the white community remains an impediment for many blacks who are suspicious of the white community’s sincerity about truly wanting to unite the people of Bermuda.
“The argument remains amongst many blacks, that it has been mostly the black community who have led the charge to integrate Bermuda. We all need to be demonstrably committed to bridging the racial divide if Bermuda is to heal the divisions that keep us apart.
“There are a number of seats which are demographically in predominantly black communities where the composition is 85% or more black voters and based on the poll results it is wrongly assumed that it is mathematically impossible to for any party other than the current incumbent PLP government to win.
“For the record, I disagree with that methodology and feel all of our people in every constituency deserve equal representation. If the reverse were true and the black community, who comprise of 65 – 72% of the 40,000 voting populace, supported one particular political party by 80+% repeatedly and continued to do it in 2012, it would mean a fait accompli at the polls for that political party before the election was contested.
“Unfortunately, whilst there are still persons in our midst who would suggest that the practice of racial polarisation manifested in enblock voting here in Bermuda ‘is a fabrication’. It is indeed sad that in 2012 we would have to even qualify the repeated practice of racial enblock voting that ensures practically two thirds of all seats before the election contest gets under way.
“Unfortunately, this socio/political dynamic has been with us in Bermuda for every election since 1980, making the focus centred around a handful of key battleground constituencies commonly referred to as marginal seats in Bermuda.
“In order for us to transform voting practices and make Bermuda a country where more than half of the electoral districts are marginal, it will require a change in mindset, a commitment by the political parties and the major institutions in Bermuda to make ending racial polarisation a front burner issue and for us to consider reforming Bermuda’s electoral system,” concluded Mr Swan.
CURB President and statistician Cordell Riley said while he agrees with Mr Swan on some points, he feels the way to take race out of politics is to economically empower Blacks.
Mr Riley said, “The issue of race has been with us since at least 1623, when an Act was passed that effectively prevented Blacks from engaging in business without the prior consent of their White masters. Successive laws were then passed with the sole purpose of maintaining White privilege and making Blacks inferior.
“In 1834, after the emancipation of slaves, Bermuda’s White ruling population moved swiftly to pass an Act to ‘fix the qualifications of jurors, voters, and the electors of candidates for certain offices and positions of trust.’ Further, they raised the qualification for voting from a property value of £40 to £100, and to run as a member of the House from £200 to £400, far beyond the reach of former slaves and free Blacks.
“As a result of these White Affirmative Action practices, it took nearly 50 years for the first Black, William T. H. Joell to be elected to the House of Parliament (1883). Later, elections were held over more the one day to accommodate landowners who had properties in more than one parish.
“By 1961 universal, but not equal, suffrage was achieved. Landowners were given a ‘plus’ vote and the voting age was increased to 25. However, in 1965 the ‘plus’ vote was abolished and in the 1967 Constitutional Conference, the voting age was lowered to 21 but the New Parliamentary Election Act allowed for one man, two votes in the dual-seat constituencies. In 1968, the United Bermuda Party wins the first election under ‘partial’ universal adult suffrage. And in 1998, the Bermuda Progressive Labour Party wins its first election.
“The preceding was a short history on race and politics in Bermuda. Thus race has always been a central factor in life in Bermuda. The strategy for the United Bermuda Party since partial universal adult suffrage, if we believe the words of Mike Winfield who, at one point was the Party’s campaign manager, was to keep the White vote on the reservation and get enough of the Black vote off the plantation (my word) to win an election.
“In 2000, that ‘plantation’ vote was 24%. (66% of voters were Black, 26% were White). With single-seat constituencies, that 24% was achievable until 1998 when voters decided that it was time to change the government. In 2003, complete universal adult suffrage was achieved with one man, one vote of equal value.
“As long as race remains a factor in Bermuda’s elections, with polls consistently showing that White support that went to the UBP is now going to the OBA, and the majority of Black support going to the PLP, I would have to agree with Mr. Swan in that in all likelihood, elections are decided before they are called.
“In fact, with Whites having a lower fertility rate than Blacks, and a higher propensity to emigrate, it is more likely that the OBA will need to attract some 26-27% of the Black vote in order to win the 2012 election.
“I disagreed with Mr. Swan when he stated that the solution to racial politics was a change in mindset. I believe that the way to take race out of politics is actually to economically empower Blacks. Historically business owners and persons economically well off, tend to vote conservatively. However, both parties seem to shy away from correcting the systemic injustice of slavery and its legacy of racism.
“The UBP had its Economic Empowerment Bill but you could not find the word ‘Black’ anywhere in it. The PLP has its Economic Empowerment Zones but according to former Premier Ewart Brown “the whole country needs to be a zone.” Under Premier Brown, the Workforce Equity Bill was proposed, actually aimed at Blacks, but that Bill has now been taken off of life-support. The OBA is yet to articulate a plan to deal with race, although its current leader, Craig Cannonier, gave a rousing speech on race in response to the Throne Speech.
“As the current Premier, Paula Cox, continues to take the ‘Labour’ party right of centre, it could very well mean that what should, in spite of the economic climate, be a walk in the park at the next election, could turn out to be a battle of sorts as those who have been historically disenfranchised continue to experience little in the way of relief,” concluded Mr Riley.
Think about it. There are really only 2 parties (OBA & PLP – Sorry Kim). The OBA who says they embrace everybody (and so far they haven’t caused me to disbelieve it). The PLP help, as a former PLP MP said, people who look like me, meaning black (and they seem to still think that way).
If you are white, which would you vote for? Someone that says the embrace you, or someone who says they will not help you because of the colour of your skin…
I think you just further proved Kim’s point. When it was PLP and UBP more than 90% of whites voted for UBP even though it was well known that UBP was predominately a racist party. Now that there is PLP and OBA 90% of whites still vote for the oposing side. Is PLP really the racist party or are the white OBA supporters really the racist ones? Just some food for thought.
that is not food for thought at all. if the PLP wouldve been wearing the UBPs shoes, and a new “black” party was formed who managed to get all of the PLP’s votes, would they be considered the racist party?
i am inclined to agree with Kim. I think that party politics strays us away from solving the real problems that plague our society today and until we decide to change the system that we have always “known”, then we are doomed to fail.
It’s really no surprise whites as a whole don’t vote PLP. The PLP offers nothing and is openly hostile to whites.
And that’s before we even get into thier governance record which is at best, abismal.
How is the PLP racist? What characterises racism? What, to you, does ‘racism’ mean?
On the flip side, if a Party in a post-slavery/segregation society, where there are huge inequalities resulting from the past, maintains that everything is fine and any move to correct these racial injustices is ‘racist’, by so doing are they not just perpetuating those inequalities – and thus defending the economic interests of the Whites against a ‘Black’ threat? And if so, does that qualify as racist (in actively maintaining the inequalities)?
It is amazing that you continue to be wilfully blind to the outright nasty rhetoric/comments that have been spewed by some of the most influential PLP leaders and higher-ups over the years. And one easily can construe such views as being part of the Party due to the lack of censure from the Party itself.
What’s so hard to understand?
I know you will tell me that I should just ignore such talk and that in essence it isn’t hateful garbage and that somehow it is justified and that whites that are offended are simply racist. (As you can see I have read your posts).
I understand that the language used often causes the Whites to circle their wagons and engage in groupthink our of fear of what the discourse (on structural racism) may mean for them (I think they are afraid of ‘Black’ revenge). I don’t think that is what the PLP is advocating whatsoever though, and that White intransigence is one of the largest obstacles to a more mature system though, yes (as you say, you’ve read my other posts).
My point though is that is not the UBPs (and possibly now the OBAs) colour-blind approach not just as racist (well, actually actively racist in my opinion) in that it not only denies the structural inequalities resulting from our slavery/segregation past but also rules out any movement to address those inequalities?
“White intransigence is one of the largest obstacles to a more mature system though, yes (as you say, you’ve read my other posts).
”
So white people (and some of us are innocent by the way) who are offended by such stereotypes and bigoted rhetoric are in essence the true racist ones for not smiling and nodding to such labels and accusations?
When are white people not racist in your eyes? Or is that a silly question?
At a pinch, when they start knee-jerk, almost hysterical, reactions to anything vaguely racial and actually stop to listen and to evaluate the structural racism that our society still exhibits in terms of inequalities. And having evaluated and accepted those continued inequalities, trace it back to slavery/segregation and actively look to see how to undo those inequalities.
Of course there are more dimensions to the racism in our society than the purely capital ones (using this term to cover social capital, human capital and financial capital), in that there are psychological dimensions also, but I think the above is a start.
And a discourse on structural racism does not include labels such as “neo-conservatives that want to lock us all up,” “all i see is a lynch mob” or “those people would put us back in shackles.”
It also doesn’t include so called influential Party members labelling their Opposition counterparts as house ni&&ers and sell outs who are just puppets of the evil white man/woman or when a MP hangs up on a caller after confirming she was of the Caucasian persuasion.
So stop trying to obfuscate the issue at hand. Such rhetoric (and that is only the tip of the proverbial iceberg) have nothing to do with discussions on structural racism as you would like others to believe.
It is just straight up hatred that is exhibited by some but apparently supported by all (i.e. lack of censure).
Okay…
Let’s try a somewhat different tack?
Forget about those various incidents you cite above. Let’s just focus on the discourse on structural racism then? Does it exist? Is my thesis of it’s origin acceptable? If so, what do you think we should do to dismantle the racist system we live in?
Fix the economy. Stop interfering with the market. Generate wealth.
Without any of this, ideology is meaningless.
Okay, but was that not the UBP policy from desegregation until 1998? And yet the racial inequalities continued and may even have become more entrenched. I think the market needs some intervention lest the invisible hand clench itself and become an invisible fist.
Ahhh now we are on to your second approach…whites just ignore all the rhetoric. Got it.
What do discussions on structural racism have to do with this topic?
I simply pointed out the bigoted and stereotyping language that the Party has utilized over the years and why many white people are dissuaded from supporting a Party that has no qualms about preaching outright hatred and (sometimes) nonsense against them.
Your response = ignore the actual conversation/issue that we are speaking to and let’s talk about this instead in order to for me to justify the use of such language in some round about fashion. How do the VERY limited examples that I have provided contribute anything to the discourse on structural racism? They don’t. Point blank. But now you are asking white people to simply ignore such nonsense spewed by some of the most powerful Party players? Would you give black Bermudians the same advice if some Opposition member verbally attacked them?
Do you agree with such rhetoric JS? Do you understand that is human nature to avoid people/places/organizations in which one is made to feel unwelcome? Do you understand that such rhetoric, which again goes unpunished and never censured, is a major stumbling block as well to BDA’s overall political maturity as well as whites voting en bloc? Do you think that such approaches to so called “race relations” are part of the problem or part of the solution?
LOL, apologies if you thought I was evading; I simply got the (apparently mistaken?) impression that we could engage in a more substantial conversation, especially as I have been addressing many of those questions in replies to others, both on this thread and elsewhere (see my comments to Sandgrownan here for example).
I think discussions on structural racism are fundamental to this topic, but perhaps that’s just me?
I agree, and never (I think) argued contrary that the language of the PLP, which seems to have particularly displeased you, is one factor in turning Whites away from the PLP and voting en masse for the Opposition. I do wonder though how much that is today just a convenient excuse? When the PLP was a socialist party, and criticised heavily from the Black Power camp (Dr. Hodgson frequently criticises their early history there) for ignoring race the Whites still voted the same way. The voting patterns really have not changed since the advent of Party politics, and despite popular myth the PLP has not used such racialised rhetoric throughout the majority of its existence.
But yes, I would ask that people not knee-jerk react to such racialised rhetoric, but rather critically consider the viewpoint from which it arises, it’s context and message, and not just immediately assume it’s an anti-White message. Such reactions betray more in terms of White fear than anything else, and further distract from a frank conversation on the issue, imho.
You serious about the PLP not “advocating Black revenge”??
You have to be kidding.
And you’re serious that they’re advocating Black revenge? I think an argument could be made that there are some elements of personal revenge at play (the cement company a glaring example), which should be condemned, but an organised attempt to punish Whites en masse? Laughable methinks.
The disaster that is Bermuda’s economy has been of the PLP’s making. It’s designed expressly to punish the haves while helping the have nots. It’s failed because it punishes everyone.
you are a bullShitting fool to think of the human race as narrow minded as you do with your rediculous and pathetic undertones.
Dear ‘Liars’ – it’s not clear who or to what you are referring to here, although your tone of voice (or rather vocabulary) is, well, not all that conducive to discussion.
So going off your logic can the PLP be noted as being racist since they have failed to tackle these inequalities?
Is the PLP racist because the Workforce Equity Bill, designed to empower the less fortunate, never even made it before the house?
Winning an election is easy, it is the governing part that is hard….
Yes, I think they are racist, in that they have internalised racism and not challenged the structural inequalities of our system. So I think that’s a fair line of argument. They do, at least, talk the talk, but just don’t walk the walk. And in some ways that makes them worse than those who don’t talk or walk – at least we knew what to expect from them. On the other hand, that they at least talk on the issue, they provide a discourse with which to both criticise them and to move towards fundamental change in our society.
I have been trying to stay out of this discourse, but I think it is important to interject one more viewpoint.
First, it seems to me that the only real difference between now and then, PLP vs UBP, is that people are more outspoken about racial issues. Under the UBP government, the racism was subversive but pervasive. I still remember the h@ll Dr. Barbara Ball, Dorothy Thompson and David Allen had to deal with as white members of the PLP (and the Union) from their white counterparts. They were considered to be race traitors. Dorothy Thompson was a personal friend of my mother’s so I was very much aware of her plight. She was made to suffer economically as well as being denied her pension here. She died a pauper in England, despite being a well-educated, hard working woman. There were rumours of white folks whose mortgages and jobs were threatened if they joined the PLP. I don’t know that for absolute fact but there are those who could corroborate my statements. I’m sure it is at least as true as the rumours about Dr. Brown’s “unethical” behaviour. For sure, true or not, such threats were a very effective deterrent for other white people who might have joined the PLP back then.
Personally, I don’t know which is worse, overt or covert racism. At least with overt racism, you know where you stand. However, I will admit, the present situation smacks very strongly of the old children’s taunts – “take you dat!” and “I got you back!” It probably should have been expected. Tit for tat is a common and human response. I just wish we could have taken the high road, the truly Christian stance. However, Liberia (where ex-slaves from the US returned to Africa and in turn, enslaved the indigenous Africans) is a good example of outward change without inward growth, and we seem to have followed their example, in a manner of speaking.
It is time for us to begin to mature. One very positive step would be to do away with the Westminster system, as several have suggested. It perpetuates the win/lose dynamic. Now that we all have had a taste of negative reciprocity, maybe we can actually make a no-party system work. Each member of Parliament works for the betterment of her/his constituents and the island as a whole. Yes, alliances will form, but generally only for the duration of a particular issue. As the issues change, new alliances will form, and parliamentarians will be forced to work together in order to get their agendas through the House. Instead of voting on party lines and being subject to a party whip, people will vote their conscience, which can’t be all bad. It works in Guernsey. Maybe we should check it out. I know there are some here who have studied their system of government, most notably Stuart Hayward. One thing for sure, it is insane to expect something different and positve to arise out of repeating the same methods for governance.
To the person who mentioned PLP’s apparent homophobia, the fight for human rights for gay people has been going on for at least 15 years. The Stubb’s Bill which passed and then was rescinded, took place during the UBP’s tenure. Black folks aren’t the only homophobes on this little rock.
I do not agree that the only way to make a change in the racist environment is through the economy. Economic empowerment is important but the real change comes from within each of us.
Johnathan,
I find it intriguing that you as a white Saltus Educated Individual find it so challenging to wake up and recognize organizational racism when you see it and accordingly condone it. Are you trying to tell me that the PLP has not exploited the race card during elections historically? Does doing so not indicate condoned organizational racism? Do you think that the likes of Laverne Furbert, Rolfee and others is NOT racism? Please assist us all here – give your definition of racism….. You seem to be unaware that people of all races can have prejudices and racial biases. Do you think this is a disease shared only by the white community? You talk of fundamentals but clearly havent yet grasped them at all. This government has failed us. They need to be changed – if you havent yet seen that you need to put the koolaid down and wake up my friend.
-Noel
Pastor Syl, I enjoyed your comments; I’ll think on what you have said.
@ Mr. Ashford, I don’t think there is space here on this thread to write in-depth my thoughts as per your questions. I have been meaning to write a piece on my blog on the very topic of racism, in particular looking at the differences of personal and structural racism. I will attempt to include your particular questions in it as well. I hope to have it written and published with the early days of the New Year (just depends on having the free time to do so).
I do think the PLP has, to a degree, played the race card, but I equally believe the UBP has played the race card also. They just did it much more subtlely, in a way that, to many Whites, they didn’t even realise what they were doing (although no doubt the core initial architects were fully aware of it) in as much as their candidate slate was majority Black while their membership and support base were majority White. There are other elements of their playing the race card but that was perhaps the most glaringly obvious.
I think there is some degree of semantic dissonance between White and Black speech in some regards here, a degree of code switching if you will. I don’t dispute that some of the language used has been inflammatory, and some members have been completely out in left field so to speak. But no, I don’t think it truly constitutes any organised attempt by the PLP to actively repulse or abuse Whites, but rather to articulate their lived perceptions and experiences in a way that is understood by their base and in the minimum of words. I think White reaction has been largely hysterical and based on misunderstandings than anything else, as well as latching onto additional justifications for their own actions.
The question of whether the PLP is, or isn’t, ‘organisationally racist’ (as you put it), or the degree to whether Whites are racist (in as much as they oppose active correction of structural racism, not in personal racism towards non-Whites), is a very much separate question from whether or not I think the PLP as government needs replaced or not. I actually think they do. I just don’t think the OBA are a messiah or will do any better than them. So, I don’t really have anyone to support in the next election, at least not at the current rate.
The fundamental problem with the PLP, their faux socialism and labour roots is, like labour parties all over the world, are incapable of governing. Any idealistic view about “inequalities of the past” and resetting “racial injusticies” is frankly irrelevant. Without money, and we have none, you cannot begin to build the society you want. Labour parties never get the balance right between capitalism and socialism.
Throw in the Furberts, the Burch’s, the Commissiongs who have done more to destroy the fabric of a healing society and white people will never vote for the PLP in great numbers. The PLP is openly hostile.
The real issue, of course, is that today’s inequalities between have and have nots is of the PLP’s own making.
They failed.
Not to ignore your points here, but you have evaded the questions I very directly put to you.
On these new points though, I think it’s laughable that anyone thinks the PLP of today is socialistic whatsoever, or even vaguely a Labour Party in anything but name (albeit they still have a tenuous connection to the working class). They’ve screwed up, sure. But they’ve screwed up more by trying to imitate the UBP (and badly) than by trying to be the PLP they were voted in to be in 1998.
Fair points.
The answer, then, is that the PLP are openly racist. The public utterences of senior PLP members, the cultural “agreement” that leads to “philipinos out” being sprayed in bus shelters, the “we’re in control”, “white’s need to be uncomfortable”..the destruciton of the economy to prove a point. The cutting off of one’s own nose to spite one’s face. Yes, they are racist.
Hell, they even lambast Blacks who don’t agree. Shameful behaviour.
I am at a loss to how you lay the blame for the anti-Filipino sentiments and graffiti at the feet of the PLP.
The ‘White’s need to feel uncomfortable’ was, in it’s context that I recall, a reference to the fact that Bermuda has not had a frank conversation on race, but we need to have one, and in the process White’s will feel uncomfortable. Which seems to be the case. But we, as a society, need to address the problem of race, and it it means some psychic discomfort for Whites in the process I think that is a small price to pay.
The ‘we’re in control’ is a direct reference to their perception of majority rule, in that previously a White dominated (in votes and membership) Party had been in control, despite being a minority racial group in Bermuda.
A lot of the other comments, especially in reaction to the Uigher protests, I admit were uncalled for, but I think they can be somewhat understood as a defensive reaction to the events of those days (was overseas so cannot comment on the conflicting eye-witness reports I’ve had).
“A lot of the other comments, especially in reaction to the Uigher protests, I admit were uncalled for, but I think they can be somewhat understood as a defensive reaction to the events of those days”
That form of justification bigoted remarks is another major stumbling block to BDA’s evolution into political maturity.
The fact that you state that such disgusting remarks and/or racial labels are “uncalled for, but understandable” is just amazing to myself. We all know what would happen if the shoe was on the other foor. And I Can guarantee you wouldn’t label it as simply being “uncalled for” much less “understandable.”
I find it amazing the double standards that you continually employ in such discussions. The Opposition is racist because they have black MPs (because everyone knows they were forced/manipulated to join the Opposition) but the reigning Party who permits the use of highly divisive language in your eyes is understandable and people who are offended are the problem and the inherent racists.
And let me inform you since you have been off-island. I work and continue to work with highly educated Filipinos. The week that Col. Burch stated publicly that Filipinas in Bermuda were working or moonlighting as prostitutes was the first time that my coworkers were harassed in the island. While at the grocery store they were told in no uncertain terms to go home you Asian wh$%e and get out of my country. Such incidents occurred to her right up until she left at the end of summer. But you will probably state that such emotions and actions are “understandable” and it was simply a coincidence that it occurred the same week as Col. Burch’s disgusting stereotype was broadcasted to the whole island. Actually it is probably the Filipinas issue as they should have simply disregarded such treatment and ultimately they’re racist for thinking such actions and rhetoric are racist.
I think the key here is a combination of power dynamics and history (which in itself serves as a form of power dynamics). Blacks reacting to what they see as racism is grounded in a history of White power; Whites saying similar is from a contrary power dynamic where they historically have subjugated Whites. It’s kind of like the use of slurs being reclaimed by the slurred. The victims reclaiming it give it a new dimension of power, but those who have historically used the slur to dehumanise the other, they cannot use it for the very reason of the power dynamics in question. Does that make sense?
That Col. Burch said such stupidity does not equate to the PLP advocating such things, let alone being in some sort of agreement with it. The PLP has also (especially Dale Butler) has taken a lead in condemning these anti-Filipino sentiments, but that is ignored here by you? I myself at the time heavily criticised the words of Col. Burch there, so we are in agreement.
You’re kidding right?
The idiot masses take their lead from “their leadership”. It’s OK to have a go at Philipino’s, so they do it too. It’s OK to call a black man who disagrees with the PLP a “house n*gger”, so they do it to…and on it goes. Government set the tone and it’s undoubtedly racist and divisive.
And you’re implying people are somehow automatons unable to think for themselves? That PLP supporters are somehow unable to do something without the nod of the Party? Give me a freaking break.
It’s much more likely that there is xenophobia out there, that Filipinos are an easy target and are attacked, especially in times of economic crisis, and that some of these sentiments are occassionally expressed by others, not the other way around. And, I believe, Col. Burch was heavily criticised (by me and others) for his stupidity there.
In the main, yes. Most go to church don’t they? And that’s the biggest indication there is of a lack of ability to think. As Hitchen’s puts it..”a desire to be a serf, to do as your told, to be a salve”. It’s masochism.
Yes, given the lack of credibility this government has in governning respionsibly and with wit, they continue to be elected. PLP voters look to their leaders for guidence.
It manifests itself in other ways too, why Bermuda is so homophobic. People don’t think.
Lets see in the past there have been anti white – or as some would prefer to call it “pro black”comments and actions from many within the PLP. There have been contracts handed over – Berkeley School (ProActive Construction) companies taken away for NO reason (Bda Cement Company for example) and handed over to others, Millions of dollars given to sports in this country with no accountability such as football and cricket while other sports (supported by white bermudians get next to nothing. Many of the PLP leaders have historically been anti white and have made several public statements over the years….with no backlash from the top or the members. Why I ask you…would I vote PLP. Continuing to support them would mean more construction contracts awarded to others that don’t look like me. If you are black in Bermuda (or named Correia or DeSilva) I totally understand why you would vote PLP. But rewind the speeches and look at the policies that some within the PLP including Laverne, Brown, Scott, Commissiong and others whos names have escaped me for now, and ask yourself if you were me…would you really vote PLP.
It is not that whites vote FOR UBP or OBA – they just vote against PLP. They would vote for anything that was NOT PLP. This is because PLP has made it quite clear that they don’t like whites and have made them as unwelcome in that party as humanly possible. The only white who have anything to do with PLP are clearly controlled by them in some way. That or just facking stupid.
^ This. Through the words and deeds of the party’s representatives, the PLP provides no reason whatsoever for whites to vote for it. Don’t belittle and insult me and then pretend that you can’t fathom why I won’t vote for you.
Mr. Swan please hurry up and announce that you have now officially become a paid up, card carrying member of the PLP.
http://bernews.com/2011/11/ubp-we-will-fight-election-full-on/
Couldn’t have said it any better myself 1 minute. I agree 100%.
CJ are you running in St. Geo. i hope you are looking forward to seeing you on the door step.
I couldnt believe all those old white people who voted in the by-election gone ,where Craig won the seat…as a member of the OBA,I dont see how anyone can change those persons mind…??? they will never vote for a black person or even extend their hand to shake,if that black person didnt stand and agree with them…Race will always be an issue in Bermuda.So 1minute,dont fool yourself that fromer M.P. was correct many old white Bermudians will never embrace black folks nor PLP….lets be real for 1minute……
Why would anyone vote for someone who disagreed with their political stances?
Would you ever vote for a white politician whose ideological stance contradicted your values? If you wouldn’t does that make you racist?
And for the record those old white racists appeared to vote for Cannonier, who is black no matter how much you try and deny that fact. He might not be of your stereotypical “black standard” but he is a black Bermudian.
Becareful of pointing fingers…
Yes there are some old white folks that will never embrace black folks, but they will be dead soon… The PLP is brainwashing the youth of today that all other parties are racist, and those youth will be around for a long time…
So tired of hearing about polls about skin color and listening to news that reports skin color. Why is Bermuda trying to keep us divided? Why do people let them?
I cannot see the racial voting pattern, exhibited largely by the Whites here, really breaking without us breaking the two-party system we’re in. Which is why I think the BDA merging with the UBP to form the OBA was a mistake. They should have soldiered on with the intention of ultimately breaking the two-party system. I understand their argument (the fear of splitting votes) but I fear they have risked winning a battle at the expense of losing the overall war. While the UBP continues in the form of Kim and Charlie Swans, they don’t seem to have the resources that the BDA did previously – and could have formed a viable 3rd Party had they got themselves organised.
Laying the foundation to join the PLP are you Kim?
LMAO!!!!! I was thinking the same thing!!!!
I think Mr Riley is spot on when he says:
………..”historically disenfranchised continue to experience little in the way of relief”.
And that is not going to change.
I agree with you Jennifer, it feels the closer we get to an election, the more and more race is bought up. I too am tired of the division this is creating in Bermuda. I almost cannot even recognize Bermuda today; we really are becoming a waste of a society. Yes, I’m sure the issue has been around for generations before us and unfortunately will continue for generations to come. I however pray that if individuals feeling this way (and it is hard to change an older mind), that they at least respect others and allow their youngsters to form an opinion of their own and stop with the brain washing that exist from generation to generation in families (of both color).
Also from comments made; this is a two sided coin in that black families also practice the same mentality of not voting for anything other than PLP on what they feel is principle. This is unfortunate in that we now have members of society who will only open their eyes to what they wish to see and completely ignore the bad things or make excuses. If a government has been given time to create an identity of its own and forge Bermuda forward, has failed; than changes must be made. Are we blind to continue down the same path accepting the same promises, and getting the same results. From memory, this is what created change 13 years ago. Why at that time were we so brave to make a change but are afraid today?
When you read of the percentage of sure votes and see the percentage of “swing voters”, it’s the swing voters who have eyes and minds wide open and are brave enough to vote for what they feel is in the best interest of Bermuda, and not because one party represents white and another black. This is the true strength in Bermuda.
You can expect more and more of ‘race’ injected into this election since ‘race’ is the only platform the PLP has. Without ‘race’ they really have nothing. They have lied to us, mislead us. ‘Us’ of course means everyone of every colour. Yet they will still bring in the race card – it is the only thing they have left to deal. They will be counting on the uninformed and the uneducated to vote these incompetents back in. Hopefully, enough people have clued in – even our least informed and educated. VOTE THE PLP OUT – simple as that.
Let us examine the history of integration in this country for moment. Once segregation was no longer legal, name one organization, school, institution or custom that whites joined formerly dominated blacks. Name one. Just one. The history of integration in this country has always been blacks lining up to do what whites did. We no longer shopped north of Reid Street like we had to before. We started going to Saltus and BHS. We started sailing and equestrian. Whites never joined PHC or the Ex. We went to them. Is it any surprise then that we are the swing voters? We consistently seek validation by whites and voting for “them” is just one of those ways. Whites are solid in their voting patterns no matter what their private views might be. It has never been about political ideology with them, its about self-interest and self preservation. All this talk about the race card is just amusing. You cannot play a card if it isn’t in the deck. Those people crying about race are trying to put toothpaste back it in the tube. It is what it is and what we need to decide is how we’re going to get past it; ignoring it is not the answer.
It’s an odd conundrum. Being tols you are voting along racial lines and yet the alternative is a hopelessly incompetent bunch of halfwits.
So, you vote for a bad government to prove that you’re not voting along racial lines? It’s odd isn’t it.
Perhaps if the PLP showed any competence then maybe whites migth vote for them in larger nubmers? Ironically, their incompetence just proves the point to old white racists “see, we told you this would happen”.
Sad isn’t it.
What is even sadder is the simple question to name one single institution can’t be answered.
All I get from the article is:
48% of blacks do not support the PLP
or
PLP message only resonates with blacks while the OBA message resonates with both blacks and whites….
see how easy it is to manipulate data, wake up sheep!
JS,
All that power dynamics that you spoke of above is just another fancy way of justifying hatred and divisiveness.
So let me ask you one more time:
Do you think that such rhetoric, as noted above, by the ruling Party (again which is never censured) part of the problem or part of the solution to resolving BDA’s political immaturity?
By your style of argument I would be legitimate no doubt in just saying all your comments are a load of BS also, just a fancy way to justify your anger and fear, no?
I answered your question above, at 1055hrs. Scroll up and find it, I see no point in cutting and pasting when you can scroll. If you want to address my answer do it above in that particular thread.
Nowhere in that 10.55 post did you actually answer the question I posed to you above. Nowhere.
And you call my arguments BS all you want. That doesn’t take away from the fact that most white people have found the divisive rhetoric and stereotyping labels allocated by the powers that be disgusting and should retain no place in today’s Bermuda. And no I am not suggesting ignoring inequalities and discussions on structural racism. I am referring to the downright racially inflammatory remarks that are used in a purely antagonistic manner that seeks to divide rather than heal. What place do those have in our society?
But obviously you feel that labeling others as house ni&&ers and insinuating that whites simply yearn for power so they can seek to oppress and place in shackles their black Bermudian counterparts etc. is simply part of the discussion on structural racism. We will never agree as I will NEVER justify racial hatred and stereotypes from any side of the spectrum. This is where we differ.
Apologies, I see we cannot reply in that part there, there must be a limit on number of individual replies. Anyway, my answer was:
I agree, and never (I think) argued contrary that the language of the PLP, which seems to have particularly displeased you, is one factor in turning Whites away from the PLP and voting en masse for the Opposition. I do wonder though how much that is today just a convenient excuse? When the PLP was a socialist party, and criticised heavily from the Black Power camp (Dr. Hodgson frequently criticises their early history there) for ignoring race the Whites still voted the same way. The voting patterns really have not changed since the advent of Party politics, and despite popular myth the PLP has not used such racialised rhetoric throughout the majority of its existence.
Thanks.
However, where in your post do you see a reply to my pretty straight forward question?
All you stated is that whites are using such language as a “convenient excuse” (imagine if you said that to a PLP supporter who justifies their non-support for the Opposition based on perceived racial biases/tendencies, imagine that). And the rest of it you reiterated the article’s belief that it is white voting patterns that are the only major hindrance to BDA’s political maturity.
So again not too sure where your actual reply is to my again straightforward question. Maybe it is a plantation question?
There is a time delay to our postings; please see my below post.
Please do not attribute the idea of ‘plantation questions’, all that that entails, to me. I have been doing my best to address each question you have posed to me, something I would expect you to also do. Don’t be blinded by your hate of others and transfer that to all who may disagree with you, as that comment would seem to imply.
Only you mentioned hate my friend. Nowhere have I proclaimed to hate anyone. Disagreed yes. Hate, nah.
Life too short for allowing someone else to occupy my thoughts with hatred.
I guess I can offer you the same advice when approaching a debate. It seems very much so that you are not so impartial in regards to this subject as you seek to villify and blame one person that you perceive to be racist while justifying actual racist stereotypes spewed by others.
But anyways Mr. Starling I wish you a Happy New Year and hope you can succeed in changing the inherent racist nature of all white people as outlined in your bullet points below.
Gotta love stereotypes and borad generalizations (as long as they are referring to whitey at least).
The reference is solely to your attributing ‘plantation questions’ response to your questions. It seemed clear from that that you hated Dr. Brown or at least his blanket refusal to answer questions with that phrase, and that you were accusing me of doing the same. As such I was saying your hate for him, or that approach of which he represented, was blinding you and causing you to lash out when I am quite happy to try and have a constructive discussion with you.
Why when someone disagrees with you you label their appraoch as hate and lashing out? Where did I say I hated Dr. Brown? Personally it seems that like HMMMM you are manipulating the truth and fabricating lies in order to facilitate your argument.
Where did I portray anything which resembles hate or lashing out?
And yes I do hate when people spew racial nonsense for no other reason as being divisive.
That’s the problem with so many liberals these days. They believe that their horse (i.e. approach) is so high (i.e. morally superior) that anyone that dares to question their opinion is deemed to be full of hate and simply lashing out.
If you think that by putting words in my mouth and allocating such labels to myself is a path to constructive discussion well then no wonder BDA is stuck in the same rut that it has always been in.
ToN, I have clearly explained my reaction above. I cannot see how to write it any clearer. Did you, or did you not, accuse me of refusing to answer your questions and use the Dr. Brown related phrase ‘plantation questions’ to describe your perception of my? And I saw that as you being hating that approach, epitimosed by Dr. Brown, that you were blinded to the fact that I was actually engaging in a conversation with you and not avoiding your questions? The answers may not be to your liking, but I still took the time to consider your position and to answer them.
But here we have an opportunity where you are adamant you meant something quite different from my perception of your meaning. If that is the case, then could you entertain the idea that you, also, are reacting to certain choices of language on behalf of the PLP and misunderstanding them as being anti-White?
Yeah mate…
Putting words in my mouth (i.e. you hate this etc) is no different then actual racially inflammatory words being spewed by a politician for political gain at the expense of the society as whole.
Well lgoing off your bullet points below and your other posts it is quite obvious that you hate white people yourself. I mean if one sentence in the hundreds I have posted today can be construed as hate then obviously your posts evidence a flaming hatred for yourself and all white people.
See how stupid that logic sounds?
Again nowhere in that post did you address the question:
Do you think that such rhetoric, as noted above, by the ruling Party (again which is never censured) part of the problem or part of the solution to resolving BDA’s political immaturity?
So please cut, copy paste to highlight what obviously I am missing. Please.
Perhaps we are misunderstanding each other? I have no other response than the one I put above to you, at least to my understanding of your question. Perhaps expand on your question and clarify what you are asking. To put in bullet-points though (perhaps this will clarify my answer?):
1) I think the PLP could use less ‘inflammatory’ language but I think the context of what they are saying (as I understand it) is not anti-White as it is perceieved by the Whites.
2) I think the Whites are latching onto these comments to justify their opposition, even though their opposition to the PLP predated these comments (or anything remotely racial in the PLP).
3) So the language is perhaps unhelpful, but not the primary or biggest challenge to resolving our collective political immaturity.
4) Recognition of the structural racism of our society, and the role of Whites in obstructing discussion and resolution of those problems is, I think, a much more primary and important obstacle.
It is quite obvious that you agree fully with divisive remarks spewed by individuals (w/out censure) by the ruling Party and then blame the people which these comments were directed for listening and taking offense to such language.
You rave about the Opposition’s supposed racial manipulation via black candidates who have put themselves forward as Opposition candidates (i.e. not coerced) and then call whites racist for being offended by racial comments aimed at the white population as a whole while defending and justifying that such rhetoric (which persistently includes whites, white population, Anglo-Bermudians to ensure that everyone knows to whom they are directed towards) as not being anti-white. Again if the shoe was on the other foot you would be the first one to condemn them (and rightly so) and then continuing on with your belief that the majority of whites are racist excluding so called enlightened individuals such as yourself.
And please explain to me how whites cannot obstruct such divisive rhetoric while at the same time being personally responsible for being the biggest impediment regarding a lack of resolutions to structural racism? Did I miss the massive all white rally when the Workforce Equity Bill was introduced by an all black Government to a House dominated by the all black Government which prevented such legislation from being even debated in Parliament? Lack of white and/or Opposition support hasn’t prevented the ruling Party from passing all sorts of legislation (good or bad) during their tenure thus far. But somehow it is the white perosn’s fault for the black government not being able to pass legislation aimed at breaking down structural racism.
If tou really believe that it is simply white behavior that is hindering BDA’s political evolution then the discussion will never get any further than where it is at now.
I am afraid I must leave the conversation for a couple of hours while I attend to some errands. I will hopefully address your points upon my return to the online world.
I will suggest though that you look again at my response to your question about whether or not I personally think the PLP is racist. I think it touches on some of the points you raise just now. I also think that my comments on power dynamics are of relevance to your above post.
Again, I will respond more properly when I am able to.
Fair enough.
But in all honesty no supposed “intellectual argument” and/or theory will ever justify blatant hatred and stereotypes in my world.
So if it is your intent to try and do so don’t waste your breath or time. To me hatred is hatred and wrong is wrong no matter the past injustices that have occurred.
You know the two wrongs saying…even if it is painfully obvious that you don’t agree with this particular “rule of life.”
And I am not condoning blatant hatred. Nor am I advocating ‘revenge’ in the sense as I interpret your two wrongs line, in that you seem to be implying subjugating the Whites in the same way they subjugated the Blacks. No where have I made those arguments. Nor has the PLP. At most the PLP, articulated by Alex Scott, has said that the ‘haves shall continue to have, but the have nots must have more’, along with the argument that if we do not do this, that is, resolve the structural racial inequalities in our society, the risk is the total collapse of our society.
There you go again.
Nowhere did I state that the PLP is seeking to subjugate whites.
I just said the constant racial remarks and digs by certain individuals does not assist in resolving the social issues in which the PLP state they are seeking to fix/mend.
Nowehere did I state that the PLP is seeking the destruction (physicaly and/or financially) the white population of Bermuda.
Honestly mate if that is your approach (i.e. placing words in others moughts) to a constructive discussion then we disagree on alot more than I thoight.
I am not putting words in your mouth ToN, I am referring to your previous comments (blatant hatred; two wrongs). Perhaps you were not clear enough in your original formulation, but my response still stands imho.
Been reading a few posts and have found very relevant and important points from all sides. I have even found a few not so amusing and bad posts. One thing I do take away, I find that Tired of Nonsense and Sandgrownan seem to evade the topics that J Starling are speaking on and rather than answer or stick to the conversation at hand they go off topic and mention additional things in attempts to confuse J Starling. But J Starling seems to have his witts about him/her and be well educated. Sorry guys, your spin isn’t working on J Starling and from all the above posts, if you read them you will see that he/she makes more sense than the both of you combined. I get your points guys, I really do, but J Starlings responses counteract each and everyone of them. If you want others to see your points then stick to the proposed topic and cite facts rather than run off into different playing fields.
What was the proposed topic?
The initial argument was that white people don’t appreciate the nasty remarks spewed by the Government and is essentially one reason why whites don’t vote en masse for the reigning Party.
Not too sure how we off topic as it was JS that started to obfuscate with discussions on structural racism which is an entirely different topic.
Good for you that you prescribe to JS’ points. Doesn’t make his right, just makes it your opinion.
Bet you I can find several supporters of my own. Doesn’t make them right, just makes it their opinion.
Understood. I should have said points rather than topics (my fault). And yes, such perscription would be that of my opinion.
My take on everything would be that each individual views whats going on in Bermuda now and what has transpired over recent years and past years, in addition to how each indiviual has been affected by such things would unequivocally agree that we each have been affected differently (differently but affected none the less). However, one thing that stands out from J Starlings posts, and it is something that I have said in previous posts myself (on several occasions), is that the issue must be addressed rather than swept under the carpet. As I said in this post, we are all affected differently, but affected none the less. And I think from reading your posts as well I think we all can see that this race issue is a very touchy feely subject that all have strong feelings for, that be to address it or not.
How about the PLP is simply doing a crap job? Is that not a valid reason?
It is a clever ploy put out there by a party that has nothing left to go on, the money is all spent, and then some. Can’t even afford the social programmes(although we can get new Audis and Beamers), and we have masked gunmen storming businesses.
But hey, those people don’t vote for us because we are black…yeah that makes sense.
JS is well educated and quite up on all things political, but much of what he has so eloquently stated has nothing to do with the subject at hand.
I suppose, if it makes everyone feel better, knock yourself out, but tell that to the folks that are going to lose their jobs this year and all those out of work last year. At some point, probably soon, people are going to have to face reality.
Hi Let, thank you for the kind words. My writing above has been in response to particular questions or comments from others. I don’t think I have directed the topics, but simply sought to have the originators of various comments to expand on their positions, and subsequently engage them concerning their premises.
That being said, the structural inequalities of our society, as a hangover from the past, is, quite frankly, the underlying subject at hand. Only it is being expressed here in its particular manifestation of the White vote being a near monolithic block for the Opposition, historically and (according to polls) today. That trend has not changed over time, even when the PLP was purely socialist and not racialist (their old manifestoes are on my blog, under Progressive Labour History, should you wish to review them), despite the myths peddled by some here. As such the argument that the PLP’s current ‘racial language’ is the cause of the White voting bloc, or their performance in power, does not explain the phenomena, it just serves as perhaps an additional factor or a mental salve for some Whites in their attempts to legitimate/understand the phenomena.
The main point is that Kim Swan is wrong. Whites don’t vote PLP because a) the PLP are openly hostile to whites and b) the PLP suck at running the country.
Which must mean that blacks are either stupid or inherently racists. Idiot.Just out of curiosity, how does that theory hold up for the first 370 years of Bermuda’s history? Remember when the PLP wasn’t in charge and whites voted the same way they do now?
It could be the fact that the PLP’s approach to race relations is no different then at their inception.
And yes I have read, and quoted many times on this site, past PLP platforms, speeches and stances that from the early days. If you think that back in the 60′s that they were advocating for a united Bermuda then you are reading some revisionist history there my friend. While the feelings back then were understandable given the circumstances the fact that this approach still remains in place for 2011 is an issue.
Even I have to admit that it is much less pervasive within the Party as compared to yesteryear as evidenced by the numerous young and intelligent PLP members who are my mates and are from my more tolerant generation. These individuals still have a long way to go before gaining and true political power and influence. However, that does not excuse the fact that Party stalwarts, long-time servants and representatives are still able to spew divisive nonsense with impunity. The same goes for any individual and/or organization in 2011 Bermuda.
But I know you disagree and will state that white people just will never understand.
I would be curious to learn more about these quotes and whatnot that you refer to here, when you say ‘I have read, and quoted many times on this site, past PLP platforms, speeches and stances from the early days’.
While I don’t have speeches at hand, I do have their Election Platforms from 1963, 1968 and 1972 to hand. I am not sure if BerNews would allow this, but on my site (click on my name to reach it), under the category Progressive Labour History you will find those three platforms (and if anyone can provide me with the manifestoes in between 1972 and 1998 I will transcribe them also).
If Bernews allows though, use this link – http://jonnystar.wordpress.com/category/progressive-labour-history/
JS,
Not a problem. I don’t have them on this computer but I will do so when I have access to the proper machine. Also, I shouldn’t have stated platforms, as no political party would ever put an anti-whatever race stance in their platforms. What I have read are majority speeches and interviews with the original PLP founding members in which a strong anti-white theme was presented. As I mentioned previously those were much different times and such attitudes were much much more understandable and justifiable. It is the fact that during the 2007 election and up until recently that such nonsense is still spewed is unacceptable and does nothing to better our society as a whole.
But, in all honesty, if you believe that the remarks I have noted in my previous posts and were discussed on your own website at length as not being racial stereotyping and digs at whites, then I am not too sure what good presenting these quotes would be to you. If you justify such nastiness in 2011 I can only imagine what you would say about the quotes emanating from the ’60s.
If you have copies, as in pdfs, please forward them to me if possible. It would be good to have them online for the public good.
You don’t understand. Swan is suggesting that current voting trends are strictly along race lines, and that by definition, blacks make a “better effort” of crossing that boundary.
I’m saying the PLP are openly hostile to whites, and therefore offer nothing. Throw in a dismal record and I don’t know why anyone votes PLP. (well, actually I do, it’s because they believe the back to the plantation crap)
This is my point. Having never lived on my “plantation” how can you term it crap? Sheer arrogance.
Would love to see your plantation as I have never seen one. Can you let us know where it is so I can come see what you are growing these days etc.?
I assume he/she is talking figuratively. Sad thing is, we are all now on an “economic plantation” to take the metaphor further. Talk of race based voting, political ideology is irrelevant. Bermuda is f*cked, and in a large part directly as a result of 13 years of failed PLP policy.
But as stated elsewhere, much rather have incompetents than white folk.
The race issue is being played out in these posts. Its incredible to read two white men (people) feign outrage over the use of the term “house n***er”. Don’t you get it, that outrage doesn’t belong to you. You can’t own our internal issues anymore than we can own yours. Your upset regarding the use of that term can never be real because you’re not qualified to even comprehend its meaning to black people. Whether you like it or not, in the black community, particularly among educated blacks, those distinctions are real and may not be spoken widely but that’s exactly what a lot of people think about those blacks who did the UBP’s bidding for so long. You all need to leave that outrage to us while we figure out our own internal issues. When you start telling us at what to be offended you assume a position of arrogance consistent with everything that has made us so forgiving of this Government’s sins. Anything will do rather than to return to you telling us what to do again.
This is something that whites would never understand unless they were meant to feel the exact same pressures along the same timeline that blacks have felt. I posted somthing similar fpr a young white woman on here some time ago. She wanted to know what she could do t ohelp blacks get beyond this. In a nut shell I told her that she could do nothing because blacks as a whole must solve our own internal issues in order to move forward. Just as the Jews and Native Americans have done.
Wow, that’s a whole lot of fail right there. I’m not outraged, merely expressing the irony of the PLP becoming what they tried to replace and finally, your post is rounded off by a not so thinly veiled “plantation” comment.
Well done. Idiot.
Is “idiot” the best you can do? A mark of sheer frustration. You all are lucky you got the blacks you got in 1998 and beyond. The PLP is a shadow of its former self; more so now under Princess Paula. The “radical” agenda to really change this country has never been acted upon. All these guys have done is try to prove to people like you that they can do the job the UBP did. Some of us who have freed ourselves of the need for validation by whites wish they would be true to the core ideals of the founders and change Bermuda from one where even after 13 years in power I am still forced to bank, shop, grocery shop and much more from the same people. Take it from me, Paula and the gang are the least of your worries. They’re more afraid of you than you will ever be of them. Some of us however can’t wait for true equality, social justice and for racial harmony to mean more than “I have black friends”.
@ Hmmmmm says: I suggest your group start a new politcal party that truly represents how you (us) feel. Then you might see some real social progress.
“Some of us who have freed ourselves of the need for validation by whites wish they would be true to the core ideals of the founders and change Bermuda from one where even after 13 years in power I am still forced to bank, shop, grocery shop and much more from the same people”
What does the Govt have to do with that? Start your own businesses so you don’t have to give the white people anymore of your hard earned dollars?
Why do you expect this or any Govt to give you these opportunities?
Do it yourself instead of waiting for someone to do it for you.
You have some serious issues to work through if who you buy milk from matters.
Ask a black person who remembers about the buzz and excitement in the black community that surrounding the prospect of the first black bank. When that distinguished leader chickened out, the air went out of the black community during that time. My “issues” as you term them are real and your failure to understand them is why you and yours cannot win an election.
Oh, I understand them well enough. But you, not me , need to get over it. Sorry if that sounds glib, but really, right now the future is in your hands. It’s up to you. THere is nothing I can do.
Voting along racial lines for an inferior “product” in order to prevent a mythical return to a metaphorical plantation is misguided. You would rather see the island sink into desperation and third world status.
I can tell you, and Kim Swan if he’s still reading, that most whites of my generation don’t vote PLP becasue they are a “black party” but because they are incompetent.
Always resorting to name calling when someones point actually makes sense. I feel sorry for you.
The point is lost because the writer, at the very end, essentially tells us that it’s better to have incompetent fools running the country as long as they are black and not white. A plantation comment if ever there was one.
I stand by my comment.
@ Sandgrownan
Every time someone doesn’t agree with you, you start name calling. Please stop it, your making this party look bad to the undecided voters. Trust me when I tell you those undecided votes are majority black votes. The undecided black votes will make or break the next election.
Think about what your writing!
As stated above,
“The point is lost because the writer, at the very end, essentially tells us that it’s better to have incompetent fools running the country as long as they are black and not white. A plantation comment if ever there was one.
I stand by my comment.”
It wasn’t just that term/remark that I found offensive (as noted in my above posts).
And how did you interpret that I was trying to tell you what you should be offended about? I stated that myself and many others whom I have spoken with were outraged at the house ni&&er comments as well as the numerous other inflammatory remarks made by certain individuals in the reigning Party. Nowhere did I say that blacks should be outraged. That’s not my place. But I do know many black Bermudians that didn’t appreciate that comment as well with other remarks.
So stop fabricating stories to justify your own hatred as well.
The outrage with the use of the term “house n***er” was all about how the term was used to manipulate people… You have just taken the bait….
Whoa, this is why this island is circling the drain.
Y’all go ahead and vote PLP or UBP! The island will NEVER, EVER get any better under a racist party (PLP) or a party with two Swans a swimmin!
People vote according to race because that’s what they understand. Blacks feel that whites won’t help them, and whites feel blacks will play the race card at every turn. That viewpoint needs to change because we are all living in the same country whether we like it or not. The rich man suffers for the poor man’s actions and vice versa. If we were to stop deciding on what we are comfortable with and start deciding on what will make the best changes, this country might actually be able to turn around.
I personally don’t care what race government is as long as they can to the best job that is in the interest of the country as a whole. Leaders aren’t there to make friends. They’re there to make the best decisions for those they lead which can put them at odds with the general population and/or their colleagues. But they should be able to see past the detail of being “hated” to the bigger picture. Let me also say that not every leader should be focused on just the bigger picture. Some need to focus on the little details as well, the patting the back of their public, calming the fires between organizations, guiding the little guys along, speaking for the underdog, or fluffing up the big guy. Being of one race or the other does not guarantee which type a leader will be. Both types of leaders needed to balance all the backgrounds (not just race/ethnicity) of the general population, and they have to work together run the country.
We’re so concerned with having enough blacks to outweigh the whites that we elect some people who only care about themselves. We complain, moan, and groan, but still say, “I’d rather elect a black man who does a crap job rather than choose a white man who will do the better job.” Why ruin a country just to say it’s run by black people? It’s suicidal, but yet that’s what the many black Bermudians are doing. Stop voting for a black/white person, and start voting for a visionary/doer/thinker/change-maker/etc.
Race will no longer be an issue when there is political philosophy to choose from. Neither Party has one. The UBP never had one. The PLP had one but checked it at the door in 2003. The OBA can’t agree on one besides “we’re not them”. The OBA is our Mitt Romney. We know we don’t like the other guys but we’re just not in love with the alternative.
Now that’s a fair comment, except that, we don’t have the luxury of political philosophies. What we need, desperately, right now is cash in the bank.
You hit the nail on the head! I hope Mr. Swan reads and understands, but somehow I think that this is not what he wants to hear…
Looks like 90% of whites have a brain, 10% don’t and half the black population have a brain and the other half don’t!
To: Bernews Readers,
It is my view that if we are to move forward as people we do need to come to terms with this reality (racial polarisation/enbloc voting)and properly address it. The impact of such obvious polarisation is far reaching, especially given the economic disparities (I was correctly reminded). My comments were not only based on the polls but also historical data from past elections.
Mr. Cordell Riley correctly mentioned economic empowerment – a bill introduced during Dr. Gibbons’ tenure as Opposition Leader through the work of former UBP MPs Mr. Jamahl Simmons, Mr. David Dodwell and others.
I noticed few persons addressed this point:
” If the reverse were true and the black community (who comprise of 65 – 72% of the 40,000 voting populace), supported one particular political party by 80+% repeatedly and continued to do it in 2012, it would mean a fait accompli at the polls for that political party before the election was contested.”
Respectfully,
Kim Swan MP
St. George’s West #2
Interim Leader, United Bermuda Party
Mr. Swan,
Firstly thank you for your contribution of time and effort to Bermuda and her people. It is definitely appreciated.
In regards to the quote you noted above I personally do not think that any right minded person at this point in time would bet against the PLP winning the next election and beyond. A poll is just a poll.
When it comes down to the actual event (i.e. election) all Bermudians (black and white) will do exactly what you are seeking to abolish. It is too heavily ingrained in oir society and only a strong and unifying indivudal, as a leader, will break that trend.
Until then this is what we have and it will never end.
sounds like Kim got the new job at the golfcourse and soon he wil be a PLP minister.
@ Clinton Paynter and Larry & Darrell,
I was elected United Bermuda Party in 2007 and remain so with our team committed to rebuilding. The points in this article illuminate the deep divisions that remain in Bermuda. We will fight to level the playing field of our beloved Bermuda and pledge to represent ALL people fairly.
Respectfully,
Kim Swan JP MP
St.George’s West #2
Interim Leader, United Bermuda Party
Dear Mr. Swan, The recent Polls suggest that UBP has virtually no support from anyone. If you run under UBP, you will probably split UBP/OBA vote and help PLP win your seat and increase the likelyhood PLP stay in power for 5 more years. So why don’t you just join PLP and be done with it? What you are doing does not make sense to a simpleminded person like me. Please elaborate so I can understand? Many thanks & best regards,
LD&D
PS – I feel that people vote for the person that they are most comfortable with.
Well let look at the statement “End voting along racial Lines”. Lets really look at the real problems and not worry about the color of a mans/womans skin as the real problem is not black and white it is GREEN ………….and the lack there of coming into the island to keep us afloat. So ALL members of both sides SHUT UP about the race and lets get on with the REAL problems facing all of us here on the island.
The DOCTOR has got it right. The block voting question was raised by a politician to create a smokescreen to divert us from the real issues. The economy, education, crime, corruption, etc..
@ Liars,
Disclosure from Kim Swan
Please do not spread lies, misinformation and attempt to malign me personally. For the record, I am not a salaried employee of Port Royal Golf Course but thankfully can now teach freelance at the Port Royal Golf Course (who receive a % of my revenue generated). I am also working for an Energy Conservation / Plumbing company – both in marketing and in the field. At Port Royal my success will depend on my ability to bring business to the golf course. I am a respected Professional Golfer known around the world who has proudly represented our country. Anyone that knows me appreciates how much I love golf – the sport that taught me fairness, patience and that people from different walks of life can overcome their differences.
You see “Liars” the origins of my article is because I truly believe that we can over come racial polarisation in Bermuda. First we must have the will ……. and Love of mankind and fairness must over ride expediency.
Respectfully,
Kim Swan MP
St. George’s West #2
http://bernews.com/2011/11/ubp-we-will-fight-election-full-on/
Why everybody gotta be so racist…. Chill pill people. Love everyone and if u don’t (white black purple or green) go F yourself and stop holding this diamond in the rough back from progression. PLP, enough with the racist remarks. Instead of calling the white man racist, pin point the VvERY few white bermudians that are and I will personally help you slap them in the face.
Sincerely a white man who loves and respects all and can’t wait for everyone to get along. Nuff respect
Ps I can’t find work either (so lame and frustrating)W
reading the amount of ignorance in this comment has given me a headache first thing in the morning…
i will tell you where this island is going, and thats no where. how is it that grown men and women still talk about racism? its in the past, we are no longer subjected to menial labor as a result of the colour of our skin. the only racism that exists now has been created, and why? what reason to we have to cry out black and white?
the political parties are just as bad to pull colour into it just for their votes – but those who eat it up are just as stupid.
i don’t care about politics because of this foolishness. but what i can tell you is this, the term ni**er was offensive to our ancestors because it means “ignorant” not black. they refused to be acknowledged as an ignorant race because of the colour of their skin. low and behold here we are today; decades after they fought for freedom we have purposely reduced ourselves to what we once hated. 99.9% of these comments are ignorance. which ever party you choose will screw you because you’re too busy looking at colour to know the difference.
23 year old black woman…
If blacks voted along racial lines like the OBA supporters they will never have a chance to win.
How can they say we are drinking koolaid, the uneducated vote and whatever other words they use to label us because we vote for the PLP but they turn around and vote for any party other then the PLP..Just doesnt make sense..
It makes alot of cents…
It’s been demonstrated by others, more eloquent than I, that the PLP offer nothing to white voters. It is openly hostile AND has been an absolute failure by any reasonable measure in government.
However, for a large number of black voters, the PLP is the only choice because they will not vote UBP/OBA regardless of the cost. Despite the harm the PLP have inflicted on this island, many black voters will still vote PLP. hmmmmmmm thinks this is a reasonable stance based on history and, to be fair to him/her, it’s a valid discussion point.
However the analysis, therefore, must conclude that it’s actually black voters who vote on racial lines.
Now we’re getting somewhere. I actually don’t think the stance is reasonable but like racisim you and many others dismiss the stance without giving credence to its root causes. Such a position is arrogant and politically dumb. Question: what is it that the OBA offers white voters? Is it comfort bred of a superficial approach to race? Is it security? Bred of the knowledge that the blacks within dare not tackle the issue of race in any meaningful way? Is it confidence, bred of the fact that they can say things about blacks in the presence of the OBA/UBP blacks without being challenged? What is that they offer that the PLP apparently doesn’t? I genuinely want to know……
Absolutely not. I do give the root causes credence, I just don’t think it moves us forward. Electing incompetents doesn’t help anyone.
I’m heading out to dinner, but will come back to the other questions if I don’t drink too much!
Happy New Year
Perhaps the answers aided by wine will be more entertaining. Mine will be. lol
@ Sandgrownan
It is factually correct that 95+ % of whites consistently voted for UBP. The 1998 election victory for PLP occurred because many blacks who previoulsy voted UBP voted for PLP.
Only blacks in Bermuda switch their votes from election to election. On this basis they can not be accused of voting on racial lines – they sometimes vote UBP and somtimes PLP – please do not ignore facts when you post.
Correlation is not causation.
This is a distraction from your inability to justify the comment that blacks vote along racial lines. Clearly with so many blacks supporting the OBA/UBP historically, this is an insincere or ignorant thing to say. Never mind we still can’t find masses of white people in ANY area of activity (schools, business, religion, sports etc.) who have moved to join historically black organizations post-segregation. Whites talk unity but practise segregation, from 1609 to date. Blacks haven’t learned yet to do the same. It is funny seeing so many whites continue to gloss over this glaring reality and try to say their choice has something to do with treatment by blacks.
In all these areas blacks have spoken bad about whites since 1609? Or could there be another reason for the segregation by whites? Let’s hear from a white person ready to tell the truth for once…
You appear not to be able to accept the fact that whites of my generation wont vote PLP because they are incompetent. Nothing more.
I completely accept that. Now tell me about all the “spurious” non-political segregation…
Sorry I’m just getting here but I would like to know what each side thinks of inter-racial mariges and their products?
LOL
@ sandgrownan: I would really like to see your answer to The Future’s question. Its implications are a core issue for many blacks. After integration, so many black enterprises disappeared. Black folks flocked to Front Street, but there was no reciprocal movement on the part of white folks to businesses in the back of town. White folks didn’t join workmen’s clubs or any other black endeavor that I know of. If you know of any, please enlighten us.
Part of the disgust some of us feel toward the PLP’s tenure is, as Dr. Eva has already made mention of in another setting, their striving after UBP ideals instead of remaining true to the ideals upon which the party was originally founded. Your frequently repeated comment that they, the PLP, have failed because they are a Labour government and no labour government can govern successfully (not a direct quote, just my understanding of your comments), doesn’t take into consideration the fact that the PLP has not governed as a labour government at all. They have tried to govern as a very poor reflection of the UBP government. This is why they have frequently been heard to say, “well, THEY did it” when brought to task over some blatantly unfair or unethical practice. You see, many of us remain convinced there was skulduggery during the UBP’s tenure, they were just more skilled at hiding it.
what does all that have to do with the topic at hand? I am one of those black persons who cannot bring myself to vote UBP. I have a very long memory and despite Sir Henry Tucker being touted as the architect of universal suffrage, I remember when he stated it would happen ‘over his dead body.’ I remember when sterilization of blacks was an actual discussion point; when blacks were advised to limit their offspring and whites were requested to reproduce; when the British and Canadians were encouraged to come and were enabled to vote in order to retain political power in the hands of white people; when districts were gerrymandered to retain political power in the hands of white people. I could go on, but maybe you get the point. I do not trust that, given a chance, we would not be right back in those straits. That is how I interpret ‘back on the plantation.’ Intellectually, I know that the UBP was about capitalism, which was why people like Sir John Swan made out so well. But you have to have money, or at least understand how finance works in order to thrive under such a regime. Many black people don’t have that background – yes there are some that do, but for a lot of us, budgeting and making canny financial decisions are not what our parents taught us. So the race question is inextricably linked with the financial/business issue. both need to be addressed. And yes, white people WILL feel uncomfortable. Many black people will feel uncomfortable too. The topic is uncomfortable, but it is one of the elephants in the middle of the room and for too long, we have pretended it is invisible.
For the record, I hate it that my own – and yes I think of the PLP as my own – betrayed my trust. So I am in an unenviable position. I don’t want either of the old parties. I am watching the OBA closely, but at heart, I don’t believe any party can succeed in changing an historically divisive dynamic such as the Westminster system. It might work if we were an homogeneous society, as Britain was, but we are so very far from that.
I don’t consider myself to be racist, but like most Bermudians, I am acutely aware of race. There is a difference. I was brought up in a home where all kinds of folk were made welcome, so I am comfortable around those whose skin doesn’t look like mine. Like many of the younger generation, I attended school with white folks so I know they are human just like me, with similar feelings and issues. Many of my friends did not have the same experiences and do not feel that universal kinship. Yet and still, my white friends will never understand certain things about my world view, and some still struggle to understand what ‘white privilege’ is all about. White folks who do understand it need to spend some time educating their own. It could only help.
there are those of us whites who try to raise such points but typically our voices are not heard over the louder voices of alarm.some whites are quick to remember and condemn racist rhetoric from the blacks, even as they ignore racist remarks from other whites. i think, however, that is is a misnomer to define a ‘black community’ or ‘white community’ as they are in fact divided into many smaller groups who are not all ok with each other. ie. my father’s side of the family have no love for the fairylands/tuckerstown types. race-based politics obscures this and other divisions/similarities between population groups that don’t directly involve race..
let us not forget that the UBPs first 13 yrs in power consisted of segregation, constant industrial clashes between workers and police at belco and at the docks, we blame todays street violence on the plp yet during the ubps 1st 13 years we saw the governor assasinated, and the young blk boys hung for the crime, and to top it all off in 1977, 13 years after the ubp took power, bda exploded in an island wide race riot that changed bda forever. We like to think of the UBP years as teh good ole days, at closer inspection, it wasn’t, it was quite horrible on several levels as Pastor Syl points out above.
Thank you Bernews for this forum. I apologize for my wordiness, but this appears to be one of the very few places where open discussion occurs.
Pastor Syl, that was one of the most insightful posts I’ve seen on bernews. Thanks for sharing that.