Class elitists are worse than racists

I read an article last week by Don Burgess, the deputy editor of the Bermuda Sun.

 It was headlined ‘The racists among us’.

 The article gave several examples of current day race-based mindsets of both black and white Bermudians. The article gained quite a bit of traction with many Bermudians of all ethnic persuasions. 

I must confess I saw two ironies in the reaction to the article.

One: It is always interesting to see that when a white Bermudian speaks of race based issues in Bermuda, the stories are met with a ‘hallelujah’ moment from many.

Two: I myself am perhaps so immune to stories of racism I was not shocked by anything Don stated.

On reflection, I believe that whilst racism is a never-ending issue, we have on our hands as a community a much larger pressure pot of social destruction brewing. 

As I look around Bermuda in the year 2013 I see something I did  not see 30 years ago. 

Saltus, BHS, Warwick Academy, Mount St Agnes are now populated with 50-60 per cent black children. Children who will have spent most of their lives attending school with white children. These are children who will find it the norm to sleep over at black children’s houses or will form a life long bond with a child whose parents are from the Philippines. Children who date, marry and have children with someone not of the same pigmentation. These children will create a very multicultural Bermuda.

So to some extent, we should do cartwheels and know that Bermuda will be less divided along colour lines. Yet simultaneously, we should be very fearful for the dividing line will be less based on colour and yet more based on economic and social classism.

On any given day you can see how Bermuda is now set up. Those who work in international business feel that because of their six-figure income they are above the normal five-figure income Bermudians — many of whom are their blood relatives if not siblings.

Those who can afford to send their children to private school seem to shake their heads at the parents who send their kids to Berkeley or CedarBridge. You can easily tell when a young lady attends a private school. Their accent differs greatly from their cousins who attend public school.

More blacks are attending functions at the yacht club. And yet fewer blacks are participating in any events at the workmans’ club built by their grandparents. 

More Portuguese folks own businesses and houses yet do not speak the language of their parents as it is deemed backwards, farm talk. 

White Bermudians are not immune to classism. Many mortgage their futures in an effort to keep up with the upper class old families. And with the credit crunch now on, foreign-owned banks only see the bottom line of your debt, not your skin colour.

Let me be as candid as possible. By social definition I do not fall into the category of lower working class. 

My family has worked hard and invested millions into real estate and retail businesses.

Yet by social choice I do not ever wish to forget from whence I come. Some of my former schoolmates seem to long to rid themselves of any connections of where they were born or which school they attended in an attempt to be accepted into this or that social circle, rotary club, yacht club or the like —  they have become desperate to be classified among Bermuda’s social elite.

I sit and watch how they refuse to have their children attend government schools or play for the football clubs we used to play for. They delete certain people off of their Facebook lists for fear of it being public knowledge who they are related to .

Women spend inordinate amounts of money on LV or SUVs to fit into the role of either a corporate mogul or some suburban soccer mom. God forbid one of their old ace girls invite them to their homes they find every excuse in the book not to go there.

Forgive me for not dwelling on race in this column but you see after so many snake bites, one becomes immune to snake venom. Racists really do not bother me because quite frankly success and self confidence will always defeat them. 

We have much to do as a country about our racial issues. But whilst we are solving that we are building a class based issue.

To those of you who base your status in life upon where you work, what you drive or where your kids go to school, you are most likely an elitist.

You segregate yourself from your own, based on monetary milestones. So you are actually worst than a racist. n

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