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(Editor's note: The headline was changed)

Dear Sir,

Julian Hall resorts to name-calling, labelling and other personal attacks and even tells a fib or two in condemnation of my remarks critical of Dr. Eva Hodgson, Premier Dr. Ewart Brown and Rolfe Commissiong.

I am aware there are politicians and political hopefuls who will prostitute themselves for votes, and I'm sure Mr. Hall knows a few. Too bad he's so far off base in trying to add me to that list. He attempts to categorize my critique as a declaration of war - presumably a race or class war.

If indeed I am so insignificant as his adjectives describe, why have the PLP's big guns been aimed my way? Something doesn't ring true.

Meanwhile I am almost honoured to have Mr. Hall's attention, if only because it exposes the bile of Dr. Brown's most ardent supporters. They have predicted a nasty election season and Mr. Hall gives us a glimpse of one of the sources. The language gets progressively coarser as they attempt to do to others what Dr. Brown himself decried, decapitating a leader as a way of quashing a movement.

Mr. Hall discredits himself, however, by attempting to label me as opposed to all development.

I met face to face with Mr. Hall and another of Dr Brown's advisors, at their request, specifically to explain the motives behind the movements to Save the (Botanical) Gardens, and Save the South Shore.

I told him explicitly that we were not opposed to all development but rather to the combined effects of the rash of development on Bermuda's horizon, and the absence of an integrated and defensible strategy and approach to Bermuda's Tourism product.

With Mr. Hall having heard those words directly from my mouth I can only wonder at his patently false presentation of my stance as "retrograde, 'this is Bermuda, let's keep it that way', anti-growth, anti-creation of opportunities, and anti-development."

Lashed by Mr. Hall

Nevermind. I take Mr. Hall's protests with a grain or two of salt. He doth protest too much, methinks. He has been known to turn on and lash out at those he once championed - both the PLP and the UBP have felt his sting. At the moment he is champion for Drs. Brown and Hodgson. Stay tuned.

While Dr. Hodgson has explained her talk-show comment, and what prompted it, quite a number of callers who followed her heard what I heard, and latched on to its sentiments. Dr. Hodgson may not have intended it to sound the way it did but the effect was the same.

As I was not alone in hearing her remarks as I described them, there should be no call for me to apologise. Still, I am sorry for any misinterpretation I made of Dr. Hodgson's comments. I would not wish to do, even accidentally, what Mr. Hall asserts I did

deliberately.

Like Mr. Hall, I respect Dr. Hodgson for her written and verbal contributions to the debate on race issues. I have credited her in my own writings and speeches for opening my awareness to the politics of race, and how this issue permeates every thread of life in Bermuda. But that respect and appreciation does not accord carte blanche for everything she might say or do. Dr. Hodgson tends to lump all whites and all blacks together as though each group speaks and acts monolithically.

Whether intentional or not, by so doing she reinforces a hard division between the races that belittles and sometimes negates the cross-race bridges already built.

I believe I would dishonour Dr. Hodgson and her cause if I did not confront what I see as steps counterproductive to resolving racial issues. As for Mr. Hall, we shall have to watch and note whether his promised discussion of Dr. Hodgson's ideas promote a partisan political agenda.

Then we shall know who's the hooker.

Stuart Hayward

Pembroke[[In-content Ad]]

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