The PLP is family; we stick together no matter what

FRIDAY, DEC. 7: Is the secret document real? Yes. Are they trying to trick you? Yes. Will it work? No.

Now onto ‘family’ business.

First and foremost, we are family; the majority of us will be related by blood or marriage or another combination of societal intertwining. As family, we laugh together, cry together, guide each other, lecture each other, curse each other… no matter, we remain family.

We must as a family realize that our country, our society and our party have made major strides in the last 20-30 years. Coming from the time most of us and our forefathers were tradesmen or hotel workers, now many of us are university educated and working in areas we never could have imagined reaching a few moons ago. Yet for many others, they feel left behind.

The greatest threat to our society and our party are the  social and economic gaps between us. I have a saying: I prefer when we were all poor, ‘cos we all knew and grew together.  Many of us have made major progress through the sweat of our brows. However, we must take responsibility for our family who have not quite made it as yet. We are our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers.  We have gone through far too much together as a family to allow success to separate us as a party.

Part of our progress has seen a unique phenomenon. We once, almost exclusively, went to school with, hung out with, and had relationships with fellow black Bermudians. Now many of us have attended school with and formed intimate relationships with white Bermudians. We must realize that our world has changed somewhat and the people and mindsets have changed with them.

We used to say and know with certainty that a white person would be pro-UBP.  We used to unfairly say to ourselves, that if and when we saw black persons marry or socializing with whites, they have ‘sold out and joined the UBP’. This may have been true with some individuals. 

However, for us to blindly paint anyone with a brush as an OBA supporter simply based on skin tone or social interactions is simply prejudiced. There are many whites who support the PLP openly, or not so openly. There are also many interracial couples who are solid PLP.  When we cast aspersions based on race, we are not only selling the individual short, we are also selling our party short. Let us not immediately assume a person is an OBA supporter because they are white; this insults the integrity of far too many whites.

We must be more accountable to the party.  We sometimes forget the fact that the administrative government and the party are completely separate entities. Party members need to be active. Not just at election time, but all year round. Through economic success over the last 15 years, we believe the party is rolling in dough and doesn’t need our help. Not so. Members are needed in numerous capacities; to canvass, put on community events, attend social functions, call into talk shows, write letters to the editor. You know, the stuff that made us who we were and should be — a family.

Any number of us can be disgruntled for any given reason. Like all families, there will be times we are so upset we stop talking to each other. Yet we reconcile and re-engage. We kiss and make up. We must never let our disagreements turn to divorce.

We must continuously educate our Bermudian people about social and economic realities. They are yearning to learn what is going on in an ever-changing world.

We must not allow a mindset of government dependency to become the status quo. We are not a welfare state. We built this island through hard work as Bermudians. Hands up,not hand-outs.

Where do we go from here?

We must recognize evolution is inevitable. We as individuals have evolved.  We as a country have evolved. We as a party have evolved.

Spanish football is “the beautiful game”. Why?  Because they keep possession of the ball. Let us never lose possession of the ball.”

Have mistakes been made? Yes. No one is denying that. However, we challenge you to find a perfect government. We will learn from these mistakes and be stronger than ever. In as simple terms as possible, we support the PLP because they are our family. Come hell or high-water, we will never abandon our family.

Stand stronger, family.

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