White Bermuda must change mindset to unite country - Royal Gazette

Guilden Gilbert

Published Nov 25, 2019 at 8:00 am (Updated Nov 25, 2019 at 7:53 am)

Party unity: One Bermuda Alliance senator Dwayne Robinson is shown surrounded by party leaders at the announcement this month of his candidacy for the party in the by-election in Pembroke Central to replace the late Walton Brown (Photograph by Jeremy Deacon/One Bermuda Alliance)

So by-election results once again favour the Progressive Labour Party, just as every by-election has in the past, what, ten, 12 years.

This is not to take anything away from Dwayne Robinson, who I believe is a fine young man, despite some mistakes he has made and got called out for during this campaign.

No matter how the results went last Thursday, a win by either would have been a win for the electorate.

That being said, the 2017 General Election results and this by-election make it abundantly clear that the One Bermuda Alliance is of no appeal to the vast majority of the electorate.

For the sake of a strong Opposition, with enough seats to be able to hold the Government to account, the OBA really needs to hold a party conclave to determine, recognise and admit why the party is simply not a viable option and why it is unlikely to cause the PLP any real concerns.

This goes beyond the OBA as a political organisation. If there is a desire to have some sort of balance of power, my suggestion is for white Bermuda to step outside its comfort zone and join hands with black Bermuda.

What I see happening is black Bermuda consolidating political power because of a lack of trust in white Bermuda holding the political reins.

Black Bermuda will no longer fall for the black faces put out in front of a party such as the OBA when there is no secret that these black faces really carry none of the real power within the party.

Some will take offence to me saying that, but that is not my issue, I think I know my country and my fellow Bermudians well enough to know that is the truth.

As I have said many times, integration in Bermuda has always been a one-way street; that is, blacks joining white institutions, not the other way around.

Until whites, one, stop classifying black politicians who are involved in the PLP as thieves, crooks and unintelligent; and, two, stop implying that black voters are ignorant, unintelligent and unable to think for themselves, white Bermuda will be on the outside looking in when it comes to political power and political decisions in Bermuda.

What I see needing to happen in Bermuda is no different than what has happened in the Bahamas.

The white oligarchy is insignificant and the thinking that whites are smarter, better business people and better managers of money needs to be put on the side and whites need to join blacks to truly become one people, respecting each other and wanting the absolute best for each other and for the country. There also needs to be the acceptance that “your way” is not the only way to success.

When I read the comments in The Royal Gazette online, I often cringe because I see these constant attacks on the character of PLP MPs based on nothing more than perception or simply because they are not the OBA.

These persons surely do not realise that speaking ill of the PLP will only help to galvanise their support because, for the most part, black Bermuda will no longer accept being told they are lazy or less than simply because they choose to support each other instead of what we saw in the first 30 years of the existence of party politics in Bermuda.

Many will dislike what I have said, but I say “too bad”. What is reality is reality; you either accept what is reality or you continue to frustrate yourselves. Criticise me if you wish — I have very broad shoulders and very thick skin — but, again, that will not change what is reality.

• Guilden Gilbert is a Bermuda citizen who lives in Nassau, Bahamas

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