29 July 2008

I heard the news today, oh boy...

There were a few items in today's RG that made me suck my teeth and say, "Bye...".

One: Marc Bean on Ewart Brown: "...he is a very strong leader". Well, Mr. Bean is not exactly going to come out and say that he has issues with Dr. Brown. After all, his position is solely due to Brown's largess. That article is no more news than as if I was quoted speaking of my employer in favourable terms. Now, if Mr. Bean had come out slinging, that would be something to talk about. But I do give him credit for commitment: at least he bothered to attend the Emancipation march, and, unlike Thaao Dill who received his Senate seat for violating political broadcast regulation, Senator Bean actually bothered to run for office... he has done the work.

Two: I actually enjoyed this article about Howard Dodson in today's RG. He seems to speak a lot of sense when he says "You decide you want to create a museum or a monument but you don't invest enough in it to make it comparable in size or expression of power to that that's already there, and you are placing a monument that confirms you are inferior. You bring people from around the world to share with you your opinion of inferiority. If we are going to do this stuff, we can do it seriously or we are better off not doing it at all." At the March yesterday Senator Dill spoke, saying (to paraphrase) that to be black today is to live in a society that considers you inferior. I have a lot of problems with that thinking, especially in Bermuda's society. To me, Mr. Dill is simply parroting the US-centric view on race. After all, in Bermuda, society is mostly black. So who is Mr. Dill accusing of believing that blacks are inferior? His black Bermudian brothers and sisters? If that's true (and to many people who think on race, it is), then there are some serious problems in Bermuda.

Three: Finally, in thinking about the comment I overheard last night in reference to local black history ("Why don't they teach this stuff in the schools?"), I don't know. Good question. After all, the PLP has been the Government for 10 years, and I believe they had promised more local black history. Where is it? And if it is already happening, please let me know.

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