1/6/2010 9:30:00 AM Shame on BDA's silent accomplices Stand up for what's right
Guest columnist Ceola Wilson
Ceola Wilson, Guest Columnist
"If I didn't speak up about other people's actions I knew were wrong, I was a silent accomplice."
It's a line from an inspirational book - Letters to a Young Brother: Manifest Your Destiny by Hill Harper - and the message has profound resonance in Bermuda right now.
There must be an awful lot of 'silent accomplices' right here in Bermuda. Some live next door, some in the same house, some even sleep in the same bed - they're everywhere.
I'm not saying 'be a prick for The Man' as some Bermudians would describe the act of helping police. It's about basic human dignity.
In the case of the young man shot outside his home on Friswell's Hill, I can't for the life of me wrap my head around the fact that he was lying outside his home for several hours before he was found.
I don't know if the fatal bullet or bullets killed him right away. But he was lying there for hours and no one, not a single person was moved to do something. A simple phone call might have saved his life!
As a parent I have a real problem with that. The fact that no one came to his aid - assuming of course, that people did see him slumped in the doorway - makes me sick to my stomach. What kind of people are we? He died outside his own door. People reported hearing gunshots but no one bothered to check it out while a young man was bleeding to death. Was it just fear or are we silent accomplices?
What do marches achieve?
This past weekend residents took to the St. Monica's Mission Road area to march. A protest march makes a headline but what does it really achieve? When the march is over, what next? Sure there's a lot going on behind the scenes. I want to know what's happening on the frontline.
After the march, when all concerned residents go home, will they be inspired to stand up, put their foot down and actually help to halt this violent crime? It may mean turning someone you love over to the authorities. I don't see people banging down the door of the police station to do that. To take a stand that matters, we can't be sleeping with the enemy or accepting their money when we know what they're up to.
That's the issue we're facing head on today.
I was born and raised in a country that's full of accomplices. Silence is not golden here - it is consent. In my house, when we don't speak up against something that's wrong it means the household condones it.
A community that moans and groans in a collective public sigh against the horrific spate of violence plaguing Bermuda, while turning a blind eye as individuals to that which we know is wrong, is blatant hypocrisy. It also means there's blood on our hands.
Talk is cheap. Actions speak louder than words. And I'm not convinced that we as a community are prepared to do what is necessary to end this violence. Why? Because too many of us now love money more than God. And we love our material things more than each other.
People keep saying what's happening is shocking while those among us who keep it real are not surprised. The realists have seen it coming for years. I don't believe the situation is hopeless either. We can change this but it will mean in-house cleaning first.
In Bermuda we like to dress things up on the outside. But we also love to hide dirt in the closet. I'm not sure if we'll ever get that closet crystal clean. I know you can always get another flat screen TV. But the lives snuffed out by this nonsense are gone forever.
Those who know who 'done' it are no better than those who pulled the trigger. In fact you're worse because you knew and did nothing about it. And this, too, comes with a price: What you do in the dark always comes to light.
Posted: Friday, January 15, 2010
Comment by:
Born Bermudian
School closures a cost-cutting measure, says Minister James
now this...
This is the most Horrifying thing that the Minister of Education could do especially at this time when this Island is already sffering from all sorts of Crime. How can they say this will be a cost cutting factor when they are still allowing companies to bring in foreigners to do Petty jobs like Landscaping,Short Order Cooks and HouseMaids,ETC. this is most discussing and embarrasing for this Island.There are so many Bermudians out there that will do these jobs and lots more but they Goverment, Immigration Dept. and all of the other's that are involved that keep doing what they want to do so that they can keep on getting GREEDY. WHY is it that Bermudians have to keep on Suffering, WHY is it that they the Goverment have to keep on TAKING AWAY from US. THEY ARE NOT PAYING ATTENTION TO WHAT IS HAPPENING ACROSS THE WORLD, THEY ARE ONLY LOOKING OUT FOR THEIR OWN GREEDY SELVES, and now they want to START TAKING AWAY FROM THE INNOCENT LITTLE CHILDREN, WHEN, WHEN Will THEY STOP.
Posted: Wednesday, January 06, 2010
Comment by:
Concerned Bermudian
This is an Excellent written article. I am very concerned for our country and very angry at the fact that people won't speak up. Is it fear or people just don't care or it is both? These offenders are very young and I know they must stay home, because somebody is taking care of them, because if they had to take care of themselves they won't have time to roam the streets killing people, they would be working. I have 2 sons if they were shooting these guns. I would call them out because we don't condone such nonsense. I don't care and yes I would be the mother on the front page of the paper for telling on her sons. I believe in God and I don't condone murderers, even if they are my sons or not.
Posted: Wednesday, January 06, 2010
Comment by:
Josseline Philip
I think you gave me some good TV exposure, 17 years ago and I truly believe you are so very right in your words. Hypocrisy is the correct word. It is eating up a whole society and its beautiful lifestyle, based on caring and sharing. As far as what you 'do in the dark always comes to light', not true, not always, unfortunately. But good people should never and will never give up. Lies are everywhere and sometimes it has become a way of life to those who live by those lies and impose those lies on a whole society. As far as those shootings are concerned , it seems so extraordinary that people can enter guns in Bermuda. Where do those guns come from. As journalists, you should all get together and help the police trace those firearms importations. I expect that the police have been working non-stop on the evidence they have collected from the scenes and they can get to some suspects, soon as they have already started. I totally agree with you , a person was left to bleed to death in slow motion in worse conditions than the wildest of animals and it tells a lot about our societies. I hope your piece can inspire those who can truly help expose the culprits. Josseline
Posted: Wednesday, January 06, 2010
Comment by:
Newyorker
Very good article, Ceola.
As much as I have always pushed in my comments for greater law and order responsibility on behalf of citizens, we have to accept that Bermuda's situation is on the unique side. The Police often get information about who did it, but unless there's evidence to back it up, or someone who is prepared to act as a prosecution witness, there isn't much the Police can do about it. Yes, someone can make the call to the Police and tell them that so-and-so was the shooter. The Police can even then arrest that person, but if that person denies it, or simply says nothing, they can't do anything else. Now in larger countries, providing information about a suspect has lesser consequences. In extreme cases, the Governments can re-locate you and provide you with a new identity. Bermuda is different. If you expose yourself as an informant or a prosecution witness, you are open to getting a bullet in your head, or at the very least, being ostracized by not just the suspect's friends and family, but others who do not necessarily share your view of doing the right thing. Also, what's in it for me, the witness? What do I get to compensate for all this danger and social expulsion? A good feeling?
