Black/Blaec is not a noun and it is incorrect to use it as such. Hamite, Cushite, Mohren, Maure, Moor are more correct terms even indigenous . Blaec(ME) which means bleach out or to make white/pale is the etymon of black. Also, Bermuda is part of the continent of America not the U.S. which is a country. That makes a good deal of us brown folks here Americans especially those imported here from the Northgate mainland long ago as slavs from the Americas.

My post refuted his claim that unemployment has increased dramatically as well as rebutting his ignorant belief, which is rife in the PLP, that only people like him can be truly Bermudian. Your response really has nothing to do with mine and is simply a deflection from the point I made. Almost a justification of his ignorant belief as to what a true Bermudian is.

And not all whites are benefactors of inheritance with myself being a prime example of that fact. Dad died, got nothing. Mom died, got nothing. That is because of the fact that they could not afford property in Bermuda and lived pay check to pay check like so many others in this overly expensive rock. I know of plenty of black families who have passed down real estate through many generations which in turn has led to many benefits being enjoyed due to the boom in property prices. I rent from a black landlord that owns 3 more houses in our neighborhood that he inherited from his family. And I work in an industry where I see this on a daily basis before you try and say my landlord is an anomaly.

But hey if stereotyping is your thing, then so be it.

No one wants to talk about it? That’s all I have ever heard growing up here. That’s all some ever want to talk about. It has been beaten to death in conversation over and over again. So if it was a ‘dirty little secret’ how come so many people, yourself included, know so much about these events?

He is simply peddling the ignorant PLP belief that only black people can be true Bermudians.

And you can please elaborate on what was ‘nasty’ about my comment above?

So it’s their fault for not joining a part of something which preaches hate against them.

Erm OK

Statistics are that there are more black young people than white, and we’re a wealthy country so we have more college graduates that other countries may. So this seems a bit sensationalist.

I agree that as young Bermudians we should help ourselves, but this is all Bermudians. I’m not so blind that I think that there is no race bias out there, I’m just saying that I’ve never come across it in my career to date, that’s all. I do think that employers need to be sensitive to certain senior employees hiring people that “look like them” and maybe this is why articles like this can continue to be written. Again, I just don’t believe there should ever be race (or gender for that matter) bias. The best person should get the job. Period.

The team has nearly 20 years and a very expensive lawsuit, waged in the New York State Supreme Court and Appellate Court, invested in becoming a professional sailing team to compete for the America’s Cup and other professional sailing trophies. It was treated unfairly during the registration process for the 34th America’s Cup as determined by the New York State Appellate Court First Department. After over 2.5 years in court a settlement was reached in which, “GGYC, which will again defend the Cup in the 35th America’s Cup, is fully supportive of ADM’s stated mission, which is: (a) to participate in local, national, and international competitive sailing events and maritime activities, including, but not limited to the America’s Cup; (b) to train young African-Americans as competitive race sailors; (c) to teach the math and science behind hi-tech sailing as well as the role of African-Americans in maritime history; and (d) to serve as a role model by raising awareness of sailing not only in the African-American community but also in America generally.”

Bermuda would generate the most economic impact and benefit for its community and the African Diaspora if it were to have a fully-integrated America’s Cup team or exhibition team.

Bermuda is a microcosm in the Atlantic where economic divide, racial relations, climate change, ocean health, and other systemic breakdowns can play out for the benefit of the greater good or for those who benefit from exclusion. I hope Bermuda and Bermudians set an example of taking the high road during the run to the America’s Cup. The stage for fairness and diversity has been set. This is your opportunity to use it as a springboard.

But that’s all the PLP stands for these days. Right-wing racist nationalist anti-foreigner lies.

I am an accounting professional in the field I know what I am talking about. I know first hand of job description and advert tweaking with ridiculous requirements to keep the foreigner in the position and the Bermudian out. I know first hand of eager young foreign accountants who come here to work with absolutely NO knowledge of insurance and reinsurance and learn this trade on the job here on this island through audit engagements working in auditing firms and then easily get hired by one of the same clients they audited with the new knowledge and skill sets acquired (Thank you Bermuda!). Seen it plenty of times. And for non-business, I know of foreigners who have come here on temporary construction contracts being given handsome housing allowances while their Bermudian colleagues getting a lesser wage struggle. I even know of Bermudians unable to even get an office cleaning job with many of these companies with the many foreigners there. I know of foreign maids/cleaners/nannies who live better than Bermudians housesitting million dollar homes which are barely occupied throughout the year, while Bermudians struggle being piled on top of one another in the same home. As a young person today, I can imagine it’s discouraging to see and question your own future prospects. No wonder many who go overseas to study are not coming back or are reluctant to if they don’t have options. Of course this creates a vacuum of Bermudian talent and voila! The foreigner now becomes a key person. I know what I am talking about. So yes, doing for self and creating a new mindset of self empowerment is the way to go.

The honest truth is that many Bermudians have chosen not to present themselves in the correct manner, and that makes it that much easier for those that do, to succeed. All these “qualified” Bermudians you speak of may have the degrees, but unfortunately the degree is nothing once you are in the door, you have to work hard, and you have to be a certain type of person, unfortunately not many Bermudians, both black and white, want to work for it. It takes decades, it takes sacrifice, it takes humility, it takes a solid family, it is a career not a job, and there just is not enough of these type of Bermudians to fill these positions. PERIOD.

When are you and your party going to work on being color blind?

I am sick of this racist code nonsense – its petty, proves a lack of maturity and will only continue to hold Bermuda back…. all of Bermuda.

If you start a business you have to pay and insure your employees. If you can’t do that, ypu don’t have a viable business. Government shouldn’t be subsidizing people’s hobbies.

The greatest impediment to employment is a sense of entitlement.

Bermuda has a rich environment of entrepreneurs at the local level, but if we are to truly control our economic destiny, we must work to position ourselves into the power of IB, not just here but globally. I am not talking about our generation as being there, but readying tomorrow’s generation to be there. It is not about doing for self, it is about doing for our children and their children.

The PLP party politics have always been too narrowed to functioning at a local level, and that is reflected by their inability to better react Bermuda to the global tides that we live in, and Mr. Simmons opinion piece shows that, especialling in his narrowed vision of who a Bermudian is.

Unfortunately it is a cold, hard fact that people of colour have historically been done wrong by in this country-and in many other countries. I don’t think white people will ever truly understand that. They wonder why we harp on the past, but our ancestors worked for free with many of them not able to leave anything to their descendants (us). Meanwhile, as a result of the free labour blacks provided, white people were able to accumulate wealth to pass onto their descendants, who are still benefiting now. That is a wrong that will never be rectified and is colossally unfair.

Also, blacks were deliberately blocked at every turn from succeeding in this country so that we wouldn’t take anything away from white businesses. The tide has slowly turned but why do black people have to fight, fight, fight for everything that is a God-given right for white people? The stories that our parents and grandparents have told us are horrifying-there are people alive right now who have been treated horribly in this country and NO apology has ever been given-we’re just told to ‘forget about it.’ The races will never truly come together until white people truly try to understand and acknowledge why we feel the way we do.

Slavery days are over, but slaves told their children stories, and they told their children and so on, right down to today so we know what happened. The same with the days after emancipation where the slaves were physically free but faced a new kind of hell. Those are our fore-parents and we know their stories and they affect us NOW. White people would never say they don’t want the money their great-great-great-great grandparents earned for them, so why should we as blacks be expected to forget the money that we were cheated out of as a result of our great-great-great-great grandparents working for free? No matter how many generations ago these adverse things occurred, they affect us NOW for good or bad…whites take and enjoy the wealth their ancestors gave them but want us to forget the wealth we as blacks were deprived of-you can’t have it both ways. I won’t even get into how many of our ancestors were cheated out of money and land that whites are enjoying now-again, we’re told to just ‘get over it’ yet those same whites would fight you to the death to hold onto their ill-gotten gains. All that kind of stuff just breeds resentment-especially since we’re expected not to talk about it. It’s Bermuda’s dirty, little secret and will never be addressed but don’t think we don’t know or forget because we do know and won’t forget. To forget means it can be repeated and we need to ensure that never happens.

The shenanigans and tweaking of job descriptions and advertisements to keep foreigners on the island with some eventually turning into PRCs and at the same time block Bermudians have not changed in literally decades. The rules may have changed a bit but the game is still the same. It doesn’t matter what qualifications the Bdian has. All the company has to do is hike up the number of years of experience required or add some additional qualification in the advertisement to match their person already in the job (even though it’s not necessary to actually DO the job) and this greatly increases the chances of no ‘qualified’ Bermudian applying even though they are capable and the job can be done if they too had the same learning opportunity. A real easy goal post shift done by many of these companies which has become an art form in keeping one step ahead of the scrutiny of Immigration while still ‘playing by the rules’. The pool of Bermudians with professional designations or those studying it has thinned drastically over the years in the business sector, no doubt due to discouragement. Sad to see. Even those that so call ‘make it’ still get marginalized.

I have seen it time and again where Black Bdians are not afforded the same opportunities as their white Bdian or white foreigners in various industries on the island, period. They are not afforded the same networking opportunities where the real opportunities lie. If Bermudians were given the gas allowances and the housing/rent allowances (huge in many cases) and all the other perks given like their foreign colleagues, then yes that’s super encouraging and maybe you will see more commitment like they give. But to work in a job knowing your white colleague gets a valuable rental allowance and you don’t simply because you’re Bermudian is incredibly discriminatory and deflating. No one is dealing with that elephant in the room. So all of these so called opportunities such as the AC, building projects etc currently in the works are all fine on paper but the proof lies as to how much of these opportunities will truly be available to Bermudians, especially black Bermudians. I for one will be watching with a very close lens.

You have no idea, do you.

Now I don’t know all the companies on that list of examples, but I know several and none of them are white Bermudians. And I KNOW there are examples of white Bermudians out there – they list 2 radio stations and not Vibe (the latest of them all!). Another example is my own company!

Always about race. Go PLP go.