The vote in favour of corporation reform a victory for democracy

“My faith is in the remainder of the white people in Bermuda, many of whom have called over the last 24 hours, with support and sympathy. These are the people who I am placing my faith in to make a change and embrace our black Bermudian people as our brothers and sisters.”
Minister Zane DeSilva

Once again the demonstrators were out in force. Relatively well-heeled white Anglos protesting the fact that this black dominated government, as they perceive it, was out to get them. This was the Michael Dunkley and Grant Gibbons crowd, as usual, making another last stand against democracy, and as it turned out, against fairness and even decency as well, judging by the despicable treatment meted out by them to Minister DeSilva and his family.

Let’s start with a proposition: either you are for democracy or not. You cannot be for both at the same time, although for some of the Opposition members in the House of Assembly on Friday, they desperately tried “to have it, their way”.

And let’s celebrate the fact that for the first time in history, real democracy has come to the City of Hamilton, as power has shifted from the historically white dominated environs represented by Front Street; to the north east quadrant of the city represented at least symbolically by the black dominated ‘Back of Town’. It is to these hundreds of mostly black voters, that the real electoral power will now lie in the city.

As to the actual debate and demonstration that took place at the House, it was a fascinating glimpse at how race, history and politics intersect here in Bermuda.

For me it was all to eerily familiar. History shows us that the parallels between the position taken by Mayor Gosling and the combined opposition on the one hand and their immediate predecessors, the old Anglo oligarchy, were striking in this regard.

During the early 1960s for example as the drive — led by Roosevelt Brown — and his Committee for Universal Adult Suffrage group was gaining momentum, the then white power structure resisted vigorously the notion that they should give up the privilege of the property vote. They, recognizing that change was inevitable however — largely due to black agitation — and truth be told British pressure, did put forth various proposals that while expanding the franchise, would have retained some form of the property vote as well.

Largely following the same script, Charles Gosling and the combined opposition were largely advocating the same thing, with a twist: they, while prepared to jettison the property vote, were insistent on retaining the business vote. In other words, Dr. Grant Gibbons’s father or for that matter his uncle Sir David Gibbons — as an example — would have had their combined votes reduced from say 25; down to perhaps eight (guesstimate).

The big winners in all of this, besides the hard pressed and thoroughly neglected black voters of the ‘back of town’ were of course the Premier, Dr. Ewart Brown, who promised to sprint to the finish line in October and is doing just that.

Likewise, Minister Zane Desilva who, despite being called a “n****r lover” by individuals in the same type of crowd last year, during the anti-Brown protest at the Cabinet office, has come through his baptism of fire, this time with flying colours.

He has an extremely bright future in politics in Bermuda and is one to watch.

And lastly, Mark Pettingill, who was unwilling to sit and listen as Opposition Leader Swan tried to paint the mob outside of the House Chamber, as hard working men and women, had the guts to call out Swan by pointing out that that group was anything but; representing as they did, the environs of Point Shares and Harbour Road and every privileged affluent, white enclave in between.

His coup de grace, was his heartfelt and sincere admission, that on that day he felt ashamed to be a white man in Bermuda.

Mr. Pettingill may have felt that way then and quite justifiably so; but I would hope that now our commitment to real democracy has once again been affirmed by the result of that vote in the House, that all of us can take some pride with what has been accomplished. I know that I do.