---

"I am getting tired of listening to, and taking crap from people who look and sound like Alex Scott." There, wasn't that one of the most offensive sentences you've read in a while?

And I don't think it was the word 'crap' that was offensive.

It was the implication that I'm sick of dealing with people of Mr. Scott's skin colour that was the truly offensive part.

And that implication was pretty obvious, I think.

After all, I'm what is generally referred to as 'white' and the Hon. Premier is what is generally referred to as 'black'.

Given the overshadowing role that racial inequality, racial tensions and racial distrust play in Bermuda's culture and politics, about the only thing a reasonable Bermudian would think I'm talking about is skin colour.

Of course, it would be wonderful if this weren't the way things were.

We all know how much stronger and happier and more united Bermuda would be if we could somehow cast off this curse of inequality and suspicion.

Indeed, most Bermudians view sorting out this messy and tragic racial legacy as a top priority, and it has always been a priority of our leaders.

We depend on our leaders to set the standards and the tone, and steer their people in the right direction despite the racial divisions and animosities that surround us.

That is why it was so shocking to find out that the Premier Alex Scott had sent an e-mail to his Director of Communications complaining of pestering tourism activist Tony Brannon, saying: "I am getting tired of listening to, and taking crap from people who look and sound like Brannon."

Shocking because it was written by the man whose job it is to lead this country's struggle against racial division and mistrust.

And it was shocking because it was, clearly, the sort of thing that the Premier felt comfortable saying to one of the Island's most important public servants. What kind of leadership is this? How widely does this way of talking spread throughout Government?

How would the Premier or any Cabinet minister react if they heard a civil servant speaking to them in the same way?

More shocking still was the Premier's bizarrely inappropriate 'apology'.

He apologized for using the word 'crap' to a civil servant, and using this kind of language on a Government-owned Blackberry.

There was no need for this apology at all, because 'crap' is not particularly offensive. It might well have been an accurate description of the diatribe Tony Brannon apparently e-mailed the Premier.

I am glad, in fact, that the Premier can have such forthright discussions with his senior advisors.

But there was a desperate need for him to apologize for offending all those other people in Bermuda who were born wearing white skin. And not just white Bermudians, but that great majority of Bermudians who desperately want to find a way of living together, happily, despite the fact that we don't all look the same.

Instead, Mr. Scott gave bizarre and convoluted arguments, citing literary sources from Shakespeare to Oscar Wilde, claiming that he simply wasn't referring to the colour of anybody's skin. He then launched into an all-round attack on the media for its alleged bias against him.

But listen again to his original comment: "I am getting tired of listening to, and taking crap from people who look and sound like Brannon."

It brings to mind the famous U.S. Supreme Court decision: "This is the essence of discrimination: Formulating opinions about others not based on their individual merits, but rather on their membership in a group with assumed characteristics."

What the Premier said was offensive to a lot of Bermudians. It set back race relations quite significantly. It gave permission for other people in positions of power to speak and think the same way.

I do not think Mr. Scott is a racist. I am confident the Premier's original e-mail was an accident, a slip of the tongue, a brief and passing moment of frustration or irritation, or simply the kind of thing people say that comes out wrong.

I wish Mr. Scott could simply acknowledge this, and declare to the world that this way of talking and thinking is inappropriate for any leader of Bermuda, for anybody else in his Government, and for anybody employed by it.

Each of us in Bermuda is, in our own way, a member of a minority. Each of us, at different times, finds ourselves in a position of power, and in a position where somebody else has power over us. Each of us has the power to hurt and offend, and each of us has the power to heal.

Instead of increasing racial mistrust and suspicion, Mr. Scott has the opportunity and the obligation to reduce it. He should seize it.[[In-content Ad]]

---