Gunfire on Court Street

It was always naive to think that Court Street's problems could be solved by a lick of paint. When a gunman entered the Swinging Doors nightclub and shot and injured three people this morning, it demonstrated why.

Less than a year ago, Government ministers were lining up to hail the redevelopment of the area. Tourism Minister Dr. Ewart Brown hoped that the revamp would be "contagious". Minister of Public Safety Randy Horton said, "I can assure the people in the area that we will be providing all the support that we can to businesses to ensure that people coming into the area have the quality of an experience they expected".

It's safe to say that being shot at was probably not the quality of experience that the occupants of the club were expecting. And let's hope the use of guns doesn't start spreading to the rest of the Island. Few tourists frequent Court Street at night, so this incident seems unlikely to have an adverse effect on tourism. A similar occurrence in a Front Street bar, however, could be devastating.

Back in January, Mr. Horton promised that CCTV cameras would start to be installed on Court Street "within the next ten days". Last month it was reported that installation would be complete by the end of March. With luck, the culprits of this latest crime will have been caught on them.

» I heard Randy Horton on the radio this evening, admitting that the CCTV cameras were still not in operation. However he insisted that he would be putting pressure on people to get them operational within the next three weeks.

Comments

[Onion on 25.04.06 at 11:32]

Smokingun says,

"But first, if we can get our education system up to snuff, improve attendence, increase grades and instill pride in our kids then hopefully we won't have to have too many teddy bears on hand."

I think the problem starts in the home, not in the schools. Too many households exist without a strong father around. The single mother, with all her good intentions, cannot do it all. These guys are not taught the proper values from day one. Their role models are their "ace boys" or rappers like 50 cent. I have little faith in the $150m Berkely project. We invest in buildings in Bermuda, but not people. As such, the problems in the home remain unresolved and the wannbe gangsterism in Bermuda will continue.

[loki on 25.04.06 at 11:39]

" think the problem starts in the home, not in the schools. Too many households exist without a strong father around. The single mother, with all her good intentions, cannot do it all. These guys are not taught the proper values from day one."

Agreed, what use is a good education system, when you have a virtual epidemic of households in Bermuda where children aren't properly raised and taught to respect themselves and others?

How many times have you seen parents acting like heathens in public in front of their children. God only knows how the parents behave with their children in private. How many times have you seen parents on TV making excuses for their childrens' criminal behaviour, or denying such behaviour at all? If the mother of the Cooper twins is to be believed, they were darling little boys who got tucked up in bed every night with a mug of Ovaltine. How many times have you been to an R-rated movie, only to find parents in the audience with 5-10 year olds (and younger)? This country has a serious problem with regard to parents who just don't have a clue about raising their children properly, probably because they weren't raised properly. We can't tackle crime properly until we realize that it starts and home.

[silencedogood on 25.04.06 at 12:14]

Agreed, but there's the rub. How do you get parents to be good parents without becomming Big Brother?

My guess is that government could use its bully pulpit, but I doubt I'll live to see the day when a politician woodsheds his or her constitutents for being bad parents.

[SmokingGun on 25.04.06 at 12:21]

Onion - I agree 100%. The problem is it's a Catch-22. We have allowed time to slip by and the standards and expectations of all to slip with it. Of course it starts in the home but as you point out too many households do not have strong fatherly figures. They have fathers al-right but where are the louts? There are a lot of strong, determined women who do right by their children but this has become endemic island wide. We need to break the cycle and it's difficult to do so in the confines of a single house one at a time. I feel the best shot at it (no pun intended) is in a school environment where our children can see things can be different. Maybe we need to get the parents back in to school as well. Whatever it takes.

Bermudians like to bitch and complain and claim to have all the answers but they also like to sit idle and enjoy all the comforts of living in another world. We need to break the cycle of apathy towards our kids future.

[lost in flatts on 25.04.06 at 12:38]

Comments above are spot on. If we can't tackle this generation of single parents properly, the least we can do is try and curb the trend in the next one. The only way to do that is a good education, something I still believe Bermuda, with all its resources, should be able to provide.

[Adjustah on 25.04.06 at 12:46]

One thing that seems to have been missed out of this discussion is the whole Town v. Country situation. How do we tackle that? Indeed, it's only going to get worse.

[Full Fullish on 25.04.06 at 13:11]

Adjustah, what aside from pointing out that having a gang who's name is after a super sucking steam machine, fussy by, carpet cleaning business, is completely absurd?

[Adjustah on 25.04.06 at 13:41]

"Those fussy bye's from Town 'n' Country keep your nightclubs cleeeeeean....."

[loki on 25.04.06 at 13:45]

I say, drop them in the middle of South Central L.A. and see how tough they are.........

[Two Cents on 25.04.06 at 14:12]

I wrote some of this before in an earlier post, but I feel it is relevant to this thread as well;

Alot of the "disillusioned youth" who are acting like gang members, lack pride both in themselves and in their island

Regarding pride, I think that our national pride is dying as our 35+ aged bermudians get older. One would only have to ride the bus with school kids on it. Half of them have the "rap-star, BET/MTV influenced dress" and act as if Boyz in the Hood & Do the Right Thing were a "how-to-dress instructional videos" not films based on fiction (incidentally both great films). The other half with their "put on Jamaican" accents, are our very own wannabe reggae superstars.

Lack of male role models is helping to increase this. Lacking pride both in ourselves and in our country goes hand in hand. This seems in my observations to cross all barriers black, white from St. George's to Somerset. With no real role models at home, it's no wonder that kids look up to Kobe Bryant and R.Kelly who were found not guilty in the court of public opinion (by reason of celebrity and settled out of court).

Add to this the fact that they are listening to music that glorifies violence against women, homosexuals, and anyone weaker than you. Yet they still have potential "babymommas" scattered throughout the island raising the next generation of more violent gangsters.

This is one reason that I hate paying payroll tax, sure I am paying to support the generation "above" me, but there isn't enough people behind me. ensuring that there'll be money there for me when I am 65.

[SmokingGun on 25.04.06 at 14:45]

Even the manager of the Spinning Wheel believes it's gang related and commented in the paper about there being "all these gangs".

On another note I just love the colourful language that our reporters like to use: "Last night Police were interviewing drinkers at the session to piece together what happened."

[J Galt on 25.04.06 at 15:18]

Hopefully the police will catch the individual, that did this and make an example of him, perhaps send him to Westgate where we can pay for him to get a law degree, that would be enough of a deterrent for others I would think.

[sayit aintso on 25.04.06 at 15:49]

In addition to his law degree I hope he finds Jesus.

[Adjustah on 25.04.06 at 16:05]

"I just love the colourful language that our reporters like to use"

Yeah, with fires, shootings, sunken cars etc., it was almost like reading a real flippin' newspaper this morning.

With so much happening, they might not have to create any news at all this week. :P

[observor on 25.04.06 at 16:14]

I think the problem starts in the home, not in the schools. Too many households exist without a strong father around. The single mother, with all her good intentions, cannot do it all.

And for that very reason oral and other forms of contraception should be made available for free in all schools together with the corresponding curriculum and relevant information to deter and properly educate any more babies having babies

[Bill Cook on 25.04.06 at 16:17]

Probably if you asked Charles Richardson he may reply that he did not even know he was lost !

Interestingly Richardson who was jailed for a firearms shooting conviction and gained his law degree said this

"I came from a very loving home raised by grandmother, mother and aunt and sister but my father was not a significant part of my life and still isn't"

Are firearms readily available in Bermuda ?

Richardson YES.

Did drugs play a major part in your life ?

Richardson Yes drugs were an integral part of my life.

Why do gangs have such appeal ?

Richardson First of all I dont think it is fair to call them gangs, I call them " collectives" gangs have a more organised sophisticated infrastructure, these guys hang together for security in numbers which reflects their individual insecurities.

What is your one wish for Bermuda ?

Richardson that we step outside the island mentality and develop the ability to think more realistically to heal the many rifts and not argue over so much trivial crap as there are more significant issues to address.

That was from the RG mag of Aug/Sept 2005 interview.

[ice_cube on 25.04.06 at 17:13]

With the ever increasing price of drugs and unattended children that for the most part run the drug trade. It is easy to paint pictures of violent acts that will continue to become the norm. The whole of Bermuda is fucking nothing short of pathetic. All these cries for more education as if education will solve focks! Bermuda has some extremely well educated drug dealers in case you haven’t noticed. The fault is our own and it’s a shame that it’s only a certain part of Bermuda that has to bear the burden. Maybe when the level of kidnap, extortion and violent crime rises and reaches out to people in fairylands or tuckers town, people will look to alternative available actions. As well the cry for harder jail sentences means absolutely nothing to the mind of a man with a gun. We know how white people feel (toughen the laws and harden the sentences) or blame the household, blame the parents. Blame any and everything other than the fucked up way we’ve run this island.

If we know that most of these violent acts are tied in to drugs in some way shape or form. Then it’s obvious that it’s the way we allow drugs to be dealt that needs to be reformed. Everyday we choose to stay in denial on this the further we’ll slide into an abyss of shit.

While we stay undecided and unmotivated to bring about change that would allow people to rethink the shit they’re doing and change eventually on their own. Young kids are moving up from an ounce to a kilo. And everyday that passes is the less they wanna hear shit from you and could give two focks about emptying a clip in your face, believe that!.

When you can take $50.00 in the morning and turn it into a $1000.00 on a good Friday, how the fuck are you suppose to wanna work a nine to five and make enough to buy a thrift box of KFC at the end of the week? Huh? When you feel locked down in your own country what the fuck is the thought of jail supposed to do for you? Huh?

As long as heads are smoking and somebody has turners to turn, cats is gonna, get they turn.
More cash to earn mean more money to burn and that’s less concern over laws n germs.
People stay shook when confronted they start shaking. Take this shit for a joke thinking these kids is faking. They got capacity to murder you and bury you somewhere on a golf course, am I serious? Oh of course. And you ain’t heard the half of it! $125.00 for half of gram of coke kid, that’s the same prices of a new pair of nike, you think it’s a joke I need the crack heads to like me. White people spite me but, I still credit um rocks. five O on my shit but I don’t give two focks…

[SmokingGun on 25.04.06 at 17:42]

So what are suggesting be done? What is the best thing to do, first and foremost? Maybe we need to start by taking down the market. If that means IB big wigs or guest workers so be it. If it means any and all Bermudians so be it. From street sweepers to politicians and anyone in between so be it. If it means police officers or customs agents, let them be the first to get taken down. Then we can use the users evidence to go after the dealer network.

Court Street is just a small part of it. If they are going to knock down 17 crack houses that only means there is going to be a need for somewhere else to go. This is only going to get worse before it gets better. But if we do not do something we may certainly end up having to live in fear for our own safety and our kids safety or in a highly policed environment. Which would suck for all those who try to live decently.

It's time to speak up and start making some noise. It's time to put some teeth into the drop a dime program.

[myshreecents on 25.04.06 at 20:51]

The shooting incidence at Court Street is simply a symptom of a much deeper problem. Unfortunately to spend time pointing fingers at Government, parents, teachers and everyone else does nothing to address the problem. Likewise, useless irrevelant comparisons to L.A. Jamaica and other places does nothing to help either. Bermuda has long been steeped in social problems, many connected to inequities either real or preceived based mainly on race and maybe now more so on the size of one's bank account. As some one has already said not even a "good" education guarantees a good life in Bermuda. Incidents of violence, individual or collective are not new to Bermuda and they have been analayzed over and over again as to their causes and possible solutions. One simply has to read the reports following the last two major riots in Bermuda. The Pitt report, which I think anyone who is really serious about understanding the problem and possible solutions should read, spoke of the uneven Bermudian playing field and the anger it evokes in those and the bottom of the ladder. Dorothy Newman in her report Bermuda striving towards the 21st century repeated much of Sir Pitt's findings and recomendations. The fact that historically Bermuda has had one set of rules for Whites and another for Blacks cannot and must not be over looked. The people brandishing knives and guns have always been young black men, the group that have had to bear the brunt of the uneven playing field. Ms. Newman pointed out the very disturbing statistic that a black man with a college degree still made less money on average than a white man who did not finish high school. These realities we cannot overlook. The fact that presently 35% of the population, almost exclusively Black is spending more than 60% of their household income on rent cannot be overlooked. When a man or any one is unable to effectively provide for his family illegal activity and associated violence sadly becomes an option sometimes of last resort. The one comparison we can make between Jamaica, L.A. Bermuda and anywhere for that matter is that lack of equal opportunities and the resulting poverty often leads to crime and violence. When we talk about gangs and violence in L.A. we are not talking about Beverley Hills and Hollywood. Likewise violence doesn't fester in Tucker's Town as it might in Middletown.
If we are really gong to have a constructive conservation about this subject lest beging to first acknowledge that inequities exist and discuss how we might begin to even the score.

[Rev. Goat on 25.04.06 at 23:17]

myshreecents, I know this will piss you off and others, but the question must be asked.

Why the different sets of rules? Which came first the chicken or the egg? Is the division a result of behaviour?

[myshreecents on 26.04.06 at 00:11]

If I can assume you are talking about the two sets of rules for blacks and whites I referred to, then no I am not pissed. Why the two sets of rules? Dosen't really matter why, we can have a long historical debate about the past, slavery, segeration and all the evils of man against man which is really what we are talking about here. Young men continuing the cycle of evils against each other. Again the "whys" are not as important as the "hows". How to head off what might become a bad situation for us all Rev. Goat. So no Rev I am not pissed off, I am not the problem. The problem is the growing number of young men who are pissed off and now carrying guns. Violence has a way of spreading especially in a small island like ours. This behaviour if not addressed will affect us all. More like the statement the late Malcolm X made when asked to comment on the assination of then President Kennedy.......a case of the chicken coming home to roost. You Rev may have the privilige to simply ask questions and make statements that you think might piss off people I am more concerned with finding solution to stop people being pissed off. Any suggestions Rev.??

[stuart J Hayward on 26.04.06 at 00:34]

Onion writes:
I think the problem starts in the home, not in the schools. Too many households exist without a strong father around. The single mother, with all her good intentions, cannot do it all. These guys are not taught the proper values from day one.

Wait a minute! Just which of these guys wielding machettes or popping pistols or dare-deviling on bikes do you think is going to provide "strong fathers" teaching "proper values"? You may be correct that the problem starts in the home but wishing for good male role models isn't a solution, nor is belittling single mothers.

Serious intervention is needed because the "home" problems perpetuate themselves generation after generation.

[myshreecents on 26.04.06 at 00:46]

I can agree with you Mr. Hayward that these are issues that perpetuate generation after generation. Single mother and "father less" homes are not new to Bermuda however some of the levels of crime and violence we have seen in the last few years is. We really need to have honest open discussion on solutions....I am sick of the usual Bermudain way of placing blame and passing the buck. Limey and technology have provided us with a forum to brainstorm and really work toward solution let's make conctructive use of the opportunity

[Seán Pòl Ó Creachmhaoil on 26.04.06 at 08:11]

You might want to get comfortable, and take a quick nap before reading this one...Sure. Have a quick nip, while you're at it.

Ah the nostalgia... The voice of the angry young black man returns, from the ghetto, to rail again at the institutionalised racial oppression of Mister Charlie.

I grew up in Bermuda, Black, one of six boys, raised by a single mother with a step-father who was more harm than help. My mother never went to secondary school, yet fought and struggled not only to do a damned good job raising her six sons, if I may say so myself, but in getting ahead in Bermuda's white, foreign, male dominated financial sector.

I listen to my father, whose own life was stunted by racism (and, though he wouldn't admit it, by his own inflexibile will, which I may also possess, and which I'll not necessarily fault him for). Like all black men of his generation, however successful they’ve become, and however well they’ve acheived the Bermuda they fought to create, there will still be an unhealable wound, and a smouldering anger, deep inside. But, that’s my father’s wound, not mine. My father is not uneducated. My father does not drink (I do), and has never, to my knowledge, pursued self-destructive or sociopathic behaviour. Until last year, he was a small businessman (in America).

I still struggle, thanks to the legacy of our racist past. I don't think my life is harder because I'm black, although I suppose it would have been easier if I was white. Any time I'm feeling sorry for myself, though, I can nail myself high enough up on my cross to look back across everything my father and my grandfather and my uncles endured. None of them took their hardships and the inequity of it all as an excuse for failure, so they all struggled and worked to live lives as as full as they were able. I only hope my own life is ever so full. They certainly never took their hardships as a justification for murdering or assaulting other people, let alone other young, poor blacks. Though my father, being young, male, poor and Black in the 'Sixties, may still feel that the occasional flashes of violence then were justified, he's talking about violence THEN against the apparatus and apparatchicks of an inarguably racist and repressive state.

To speak of the behaviour of the current generation of thugs as in any way related to, or justified by, the struggle against institutional racism is an insult, an offence, to what earlier generations had to endure, and to their struggle for equality.

That repressive, racist state has long been extinct, despite the insistence of those politicians who have something to benefit from its supposed continued existence. In fact, those politicians, in their callous attempt to use a dead issue to gain votes must be held accountable not only for the divisions they’ve created, rather than healed, but at least in part for the behaviour of these youths who’s only education seems to be in the mythology of their oppression.

I suppose it’s a popular amusement in this day and age to dress oneself in the fashion and posturing of another age. But the past is like another country, and such amusement quickly blurs into caricature and ridicule. The fad for aping the sixties and early seventies should end with the afro wigs and flares on retro nights at the disco...and I know disco is dead, too.

I was born in the mid-'Sixties, and I certainly remember nights without enough to eat, but I grew up unconscious of the very concept of race. I was aware, at Gilbert Institute, that there were differences in how other children had been socialised and otherwise prepared for school, and that some of those paralleled complexion variances. The real division was between Portuguese Bermudian children, many of whom needed to spend their earliest educational years learning the rudiments of English while the rest of us forged ahead. I was also aware, from accretion of the images in advertising and popular media, that my curlyish hair and brownish complexion had a lower beauty value than fairer skin, and straighter, blonder hair. But I was only aware of that in the way large boned, or asymmetrically-faced, or fat, or red-headed children were aware that their physical characteristics were not the most coveted. It took me a long time to reach the epiphany of race, not having been raised in a family, or a school, where race was often a subject of conversation, at least around the little ones. In both my family, and my school, there wasn’t much to be gained from a racial identity or divisions, of course, being that both were and are relatively diverse. The worst elements of our society (not necessarily the most disadvantaged) I would not have believed existed, if I hadn't spent five years in the Bermuda Regiment - the one unequivocally good thing I can say about my time in the Regiment. I was absolutely stunned, there, as an NCO, to have to encounter conscripts who had not only left school (graduated, no less) ignorant and stupid, but illiterate as well (and already with two children living with the families of two different mothers).

I’m sure most of my Primary One (Infants One, actually) classmates at Gilbert already had some reading skills before they began school.

If I can't remember the Bermuda my father grew up in, it's safe to say that the young men afflicted, or rather, infected, by violence, ignorance, and a diseased mindset are their own worst enemies, not the outside forces they claim to suffer under.
You can only go so far blaming the ghosts of the past, especially when it’s a past you never lived through. Sooner or later you have to address those ghosts and put them behind you. The class system that still pervades England is rooted in the Norman conquest of that country. There's a reason why most of the aristocracy have French names. Yet, thousand years of poverty, draconian repression, and rigid social barriers to improving one’s condition have never been taken to excuse the behaviour of English hooligans, let alone to vindicate it.

As for the supposed poverty and hardship experienced by poor blacks, here, it is nothing by comparison to what is experienced by vastly greater numbers of blacks, whites, Asians, Native Americans and others in the vast majority of the world. There are a billion people out there who would eagerly trade places with the poorest and most disadvantaged Bermudian. No Mayan in Guatemala (if any remain, after the murder of 200,000 in the name of capitalist democracy during the 1980s), no Bosniac in Sarajevo, and no Irish-American sharecropper in West Virginia will want to hear a Bermudians tale of woe.
And oppressed peoples in the World who still suffer racial or ethnic or simple, unmasked economic-class oppression, and pogroms, don't resort to the kinds of meaningless violence perpetrated by its young men on others of its own that Bermuda's blacks suffer.

Let's make that, 'that some of Bermuda's blacks', because these people don't belong to my demographic grouping. Which is the point... they dress their problems and their behaviour up in their complexion (or others do it for them), but I'd rather they didn't. I, like dead generations of black Bermudians, are done a disservice and slandered whenever they say their behaviour is related to their (our) complexion. If you painted them all White, they’d still be as stupid, vulgar, violent, self-destructive, and unemployable.

Maybe we should send young black males who find themselves in difficulties with the law, not to counselling, or to Paget Island (I know that it's closed), or to Casemates (I know that it's closed, too), but to live for a year in Kosovo, or Armenia, or Jamaica, or the Bronx. It could be like a student exchange programme. The Bermudian youth gets to live for a year in the household of the poorest, blackest family in Harlem, or pre-Civil War Sharecropperville, Alabama. In exchange, theat family’s poor kid gets a year in Bermuda, at a Bermudian school with actual textbooks (though, as the idea is to benefit that kid, also, we’d better not host him with the Bermudian kids parents. A family with demonstrably greater ability to turn out well-developed citizens can do the hosting).

I think the Government has a part to play in addressing the imbalance that remains in Bermuda. But giving contracts to the businesses of ex-West Indian policemen cronies, and justifying it as giving Blacks a fair share in Bermuda’s wealth is not going to fix it. Who has what contract, and the complexion of the head of the Bank of Butterfield, isn’t going to make any meaningful difference to the lives of our rapidly expanding black underclass. The biggest problems faced by these young people is the culture thay are raised in, the lack of and useful learning skills, or values they are provided with by their families, and the failures of the educational system to provide for each according to his need. The government is not going to tackle this in the workplace. They must tackle it in the home. Education of parents, and encouraging them to be more responsible-both in their sexual practices (contraception) and in the results of their sexual practices (raising their kids). Standards need to be set for the care and the achievement of children. Schools already are responsible for testing and monitoring that, but the government, in looking at the statistics, holds only the teachers to account. If parents or families are determined to be a hindrance or a harm to children’s progress, the government needs to act, and act earlier. If fathers are useless non-entities in their children’s lives, and of such poor character that they could only be more destructive in them, they can still be held financially accountable for their childrens’ progress. If they’re unemployable, the threat of jail will motivate them to work on their character and their work skills (my suspicion is the character faults hold them back more than their lack of skills and experience). If the mothers also lack the character and material resources to raise them (and let’s not ennoble them - it is something you can be blamed for if you KNEW beforehand that you were poor, unemployed, and incapable of being a parent), put the kids into foster care, then collect both parents’ paycheques so that they are not spared accountability for their mistakes. There’s only one way to ensure they LEARN from them. It will discourage them from more careless childbirths, and encourage them to work, and maybe to better themselves - if only to earn enough money to have some left over for drink and partying. Maybe, in the process, they’ll find they’re simply too busy and too tired to go out to nightclubs, let alone kill anyone while they’re there. If a something like this is to work, it must be put to work early. If the government waits til kids are teenaged, and criminally-charged, its waited too late. Children would have to be monitored in schools. On the advise of educators, the families of problem children would be obliged to undergo a review by social officers, and, if found unfit, instructions need to be given, or actions need to be taken, before it becomes a problem. I expect that the order for a child to be taken into care would have to be made by a judge, on the advice of social officers.
It’s not a manifesto, or an action plan. It’s not even well-thought out…it’s an extemporaneous idea. Just an idea. But, it’s radical ideas like that the government and society at large are going to have to start considering, if we don’t want to be looking back ruefully upon when we still had a chance to do something about the problem, before all of Bermuda (which isn’t very much) was brought down by it.

I don’t see where the crux of the problem is drug use, heathenism (I’m an atheist, and take offence at that implication-especially as most of our troubled youth are avowed, and rather fundamentalist Christians), poverty, or any other perceived or actual social ill, that countless people endure without ever feeling inclined to hooliganism or senseless murder-let alone seeing their problems as either causing or justifying their actions. There may well be wealthy, advantaged, white drug dealers with doctorates, but they aren’t in Spinning Wheel shooting people. They’re not at football or cricket games assaulting people. They’re not even capping people, and carrying on ‘gang’ warfare on the docks of the yacht clubs (I guess RBYC is ‘Town’ and RHADC is ‘Country’?).

Trying to divert the blame for this situation from parents, or the hooligans themselves, onto a supposed oppressive government and larger society, even onto drug dealers is disengenious - we might as well blame the guy in Denmark who invented smokeless cartridges a century ago, or the Roman senator who dictated the first Roman Law to his enslaved scribe. However history served to make them so, it is the parents and their hooligan, unemployable, ignorant children who are the problem. Whatever the mistakes, or offences, of past governments, the mistake of this government will be in not addressing and tackling this problem. Although, I will concede that it won’t be the ONLY mistake of this government.

We have a part to play, also, in ensuring that the government remains (or becomes) our servant, and understands our wishes and acts on our will.

[Seán Pòl Ó Creachmhaoil on 26.04.06 at 09:14]

In light of Court Street being developed to attract tourists (I'd have concentrated on redeveloping it with office buildings and relieving pressure on Font Street and the Eastern and Western town lines)....

We could make Court Street, or THAT section of it, pedestrian only, like Water Street in St. George's (where, I recall in the 80s, business powners complained that the Square hogged all the tourists).

This would have to rresults...making it touristy, and tourist friendly, and also obliging the criminal element, much of which drives in, I assume, to walk in.
A) Bermudians don't like to walk anywhere (if you think they do, compare them to urbanites in Madrid, Manhattan, or London, most of whom don't own a vehicle...not even roller skates).

B) Carrying drugs and weapons hidden in vehicles would not be possible.

C) Having perpetrated a crime, a quick departure from the area will not be possible.

Brick the street. Clear derelict buildings and vacant lots. That would be a good start.

[myshreecents on 26.04.06 at 09:15]

I guess I should commend Sean Pol for being successful dispite his hardships as a black man. I too came from a broken home, was born in the late fifties and was aware of the pain many black people around me felt under a system that suppressed people because of the colour of their skin. I too have been relatively succesfull and moved on with my life, however it is important that we all realise that we are not all the same. One kid takes the constant teasing at school and turns it into a catalyst to achieve while another may internalize his pain and one day carry a gun to school and shoot his tormentors. I can clearly remember fifteen sixteen years ago when a white co worker and I both went to the same bank within two week of each other seaking a loan. We were the same age and I made considerable more money than he did, had land and was seeking a considerable smaller loan. I was rejected, he gleefully purchased land and began to build a house for his family putting him ahead in the race of life.These types of experiences can have profound effects on people. Now that was a bit of my personal experience although it really bears not revlevance to the discussion. The look at me "I'm Black and am doing ok" speech still does not address the issue at hand. There are still many who are not doing ok and we need to focus on them and how to get them on the right path if possible. Yes education has failed too many, the move by the former government away from technical training has especially negatively effected young men. The government is now attempting to reverse this however what do we do with the countless people who have not been given the tool to compete in today's world. Again let's talk solutions. One must be an ernest effort by all in position to provide affordable housing. Banks, developers, exempt companies and government must work together to at least provide affordable basic living accomodations.......this is a start.

[Adjustah on 26.04.06 at 09:31]

Sean Pol,

Still digesting your comments, but an interesting read. One thing that jumped out at me was you suggestion that we send our youth overseas. An excellent idea as we are a very insulated, small-town society here.

I recall vividly watching a busload of roughneck Regiment recruits suddenly go quiet when we drove through our first ville in Jamaica. You could see the penny finally drop for alot of them. All travel should be eye-opening. A shopping trip to New York or Atlanta is not it.

Keep up the comments, more later.

[Two Cents on 26.04.06 at 10:00]

"All travel should be eye-opening. A shopping trip to New York or Atlanta is not it".
- Adjustah

I totaly agree with you Adjustah, "travel" for alot of these guys consists of a week in NJ or ATL. If their eyes were opened to how bad the living conditions are in other parts of the world, the attitudes may change towards what they have here.

I know that my eyes have seen people /places in my travels that would make you gasp, whether it was a favella outside of Rio de Janerio, or tin roofed huts in Kingston. You left these places with your eyes opened without a doubt. If the youth weren't affected by these sights, in my opinion, they may be too far gone, I know this as these many years later, I still think about the people/places that I experienced on my trips.

[silencedogood on 26.04.06 at 10:26]

SPOC, great comments. Thanks.

schree cents,

You admit that both you and SPOC were successful despite difficult circumstances. I think it's totally valid to want to help others help themselves but where do you think personal responsibility comes in? You took opportunities, others did not.

Government, schools, community can do things to help encourage a person, but at the end of the day everyone has to choose to work, learn, etc.

What really bothers me is the fact that there are so many successful role models in bermuda, such as the two of you, who at-risk children could look up to. But instead of Bermuda considering itself a model for black success all we hear is how young bermudian kids, particularly black bermudian kids, can't succeed. It's eitehr blamed on race, nationality, class, etc. which I think is complete garbage.

Of course no one will succeed if they are constantly told they can't. Race then becomes an insulating blanket to blame failure on rather than learning from one's failures to have the skills to succeed the next time. It's alot harder to admit to yourself I tried my best and failed, now how can I learn from this. But that's exactly what successful people have to do.

Everyone fails at some point, what we need to be teaching these kids is how to overcome failure and how to have a proper attitude for success. Rather than filling these kids heads with reasons why they can't they need to be filled with reasons why they can and how they can. Those reasons are race-neutral.

[myshreecents on 26.04.06 at 11:27]

Silencedogood even though I have been relatively succesfull I still bear some resentment toward a system that treated me differently as a Black man and as I said I contuined to strive for more. We cannot over look race because as I said stastics show that Blacks are still at the bottom of the ladder economically in Bermuda. This is a complex problem with numerous factors involved. We live in a materialistic society where unfortunately a man's worth is often judged by his possessions and it is easier to make money selling drugs particularily if you do not have the skills required to make it in Bermuda. I would be interested to know from what perspectiuve you are viewing this. If you are white and or female it is impossible for you to understand some of what black men feel and to trivialize the effect of race does not help. I as a male can have empathy but I could never understand what a woman feels about how she has been treated because of her sex. We must also remember that my and Spoc'S experience as young men took place at least 20 years ago, the world is an entirely different place. 20 years ago the thought of someone going to school to kill his teachers and class mate simply did not exist. Violence amongst young men is not unique to Bermuda and in many places note even unique to Black men. Race is a component that we can't overlook any more than the influence of the media. Finding the solutions to help these "other people" will ultimately help us all.

[Bill Cook on 26.04.06 at 11:44]

Very interesting and thought provoking input.

In my experience the opinion others have of you is to a large extent a reflection of the opinion of how you feel about yourself which is somehow contagious.

If you are a self confident person, who feels you are a reasonably decent person who has tried your best to improve yourself and are committed to continue to do so, you will reflect self assurance not cockiness and most people at least those whose opinions are of any value will be more accepting of you and more relaxed in your company.

This will transcend most all diversity in my experience.

We all have a story to tell, most it seems start out with hard luck and hard times and when one is very young and often abused, regardless of which part of diversity you fall into, it has a deep affect on reducing your feeling of self worth and it really takes a big effort to overcome imposed conditions.

However the alternative is not a viable option in my opinion and one makes up their mind to either be the hammer or the nail first, but gravitates with knowledge to very positive means to adjust to a better and more positive methodology.

I never allowed anyone to define who I was as a person other than myself regardless of my social status and tried to instill the same philosophy in those under my care.

Regardless of the obstacles I always say have you done the very best with what you had to work with ?

In the final analysis success is truly measured not just by what you have accomplished but by the obstacles that you had to overcome to do so.

If we start with that premise we light a candle rather than scream at the dark.

[Uncle Elvis on 26.04.06 at 12:24]

I've got a few thoughts brewing that I'll put down in a bit, but I wanted to mention the story and pictures in the Sun today.

Shouldn't they have blurred out the profanities spraypainted on the wall in the picture on page 4? I don't have kids, but I have a gaggle of nieces and nephews and, well, I don't really want them to see the word "fuck" printed in the paper.
Thoughts?

[SmokingGun on 26.04.06 at 12:39]

SPOC - I was tempted to scroll to the bottom of your post just to see who wrote it. I held off and read everything word for word. Not only do I agree 100% but I am very impressed in the manner that you presented your thoughts. Who says there aren't any role models out there.

myshreecents - I agree that there cannot be a cookie cutter aproach to everything. But a standard must be set.

silencedogood - I agree entirely that we must have a mindset of creating positive environments and use opportunity as the carrot rather than simply jail as the stick.

I totally agree with sending kids to see the outside world. I was fortunate enough to spend 8 weeks in Kenya when I was 16. Although I was living with a relatively well off white family the father ran a safari company my friend and I spent much of the time travelling back and forth to camp-sites with the workers whilst the guests would fly back to Nairobi. To say that was a life altering trip would be an understatement. I had never seen such abject poverty in my life. Little kids with crippled legs who's only role in life was to sit in a pool of urine and beg for a few shiilings each day. To see their brothers and sisters drop them off and pick them up at the end of the day was something that has stayed with me since. It is why I have little time for wanna be thugs and gangsta's who claim to come from the slums of Bermuda.

[Uncle Elvis on 26.04.06 at 13:46]

exactly! Come with me to Zim next time and see REAL suppression and oppression. I'm not trying to diminish the struggles here, please don't think that... but, come on...

[Bermudian on 26.04.06 at 14:16]

"I'm not trying to diminish the struggles here, please don't think that... but, come on..."

I'm glad you said that because I think you can agree it can come across that way. It just depends on the lens that you are using to look at it.

I always thought the above argument was a dangerous one to make... it's so close to saying "you think you have it bad off? well stop complaining because you could be living in 'Poortonia'".

[silencedogood on 26.04.06 at 14:19]

Smoking Gun,

You sure do get around--who's your travel agent?

Screecents,

I hope I did not give the impression that I'm trying to trivialize race. If so I'm sorry, that was not my intent.

I recognize that race does play a role in everyday life, I just take issue with it being treated as if it were the only factor in success or failure. I think many bermudians are far to quick to assume race to be a motivator behind people's actions or behind outcomes. I believe there are many, many examples of this.

For instance, I was struck the portion by SPOC's post in which he talked about definitions of beauty and how they affected whites who did not conform to this model just as it did those of other races, an often debated issue here.

An example from everyday life might be going to a restaurant. You get terrible service from a rude waiter or waitress. Imagine in the first instance they are of the same race as you. One's first instinct may be to just assume they are bad at their job. Imagine in the second that everything happened exactly the same, the only difference is that your server was of the opposite race. How much more likely is it to assume race plays a role?

An example from my life is when I got married, my wife was not the same race as me, more than half the guests were not, and neither was the minister. The curious bit is that it wasn't until recently when I was accused of having no interactions with anyone not white that this came to conscious thought. I sat there trying to figure out, "is this really me?". It didn't take long to realize that it wasn't, I just was not operating in a racially conscious manner and that things like that just seemed normal.

As for my own perspective, the most important attribute is that I'm someone who cares about the future of this island and that my concern extends to the kids of all races here.

You would probably term me as "white" but my background is actually a mix of various sources some of which are and some of which are not "white". You don't have to go back too far in the family tree to find them either.

I would not presume to hold myself out as an expert on the black experience because I've never had that life, but I do feel qualified to speak to my own experiences and how the question of race impacts my life, and how I see it impacting this island.

On that basis I stand by my statements that the over-emphasis of race, however well intentioned (or in my opinion misguided), can actually impair a child's ability to succeed. Obviously I don't support putting our heads in the sand on the race issue, but neither do I want to be blaming all the ills of the world on it. As a white minority it would be all too easy to fall into this trap which I don't want to see happen either. I'm sure sometimes I catch hell at TCD because of my skin, but most of the time I put it down to the civil service. Last time I was there it was quick and easy (really!)so I try to leave myself open to change my opinions too.

I think telling a child "You know what? In your life some people won't like you, some will. Those that dislike you may do so because of race, class, your haircut, the clothes you wear, your sense of humor, or any number of other things, but you can still succeed dispite all that if you work hard and invest in yourself. Don't ever let anyone tell you you can't do achieve your goals. Plan for them, develop the skills that success requires, and work hard. You may fail along the way, but everyone does--learn from it and you will be that much more likely to succeed the next time." That's my perspective in a nutshell.

[Uncle Elvis on 26.04.06 at 14:33]

I agree with you to a point, Bermudian, but the point I, and I think others, are trying to make is that the rage and acting out because of how oppressed these young men are (and, again, I'm not saying that there aren't MAJOR problems here) is a reaction that is WAY out of proportion.
Yes, it IS bad here, but a) it's nowhere NEAR as bad... and I mean not even CLOSE... as most other places and b) Everyone here DOES have the opportunity. Yes, the obstacles are there. Yes, these obstacles suck and are unfair and should be done away with.
But if these kids who rail about "the man" (no, not P) keeping them down because they can't packrace and smoke pot, who go around fucking shooting people because some dude walked down the wrong street or whatever pathetic reason they have, if these little fucks WERE to go to Zimbabwe and hang out for ONE WEEK with some of my friends there.. just one week... they'd come back here a changed person. I GUARANTEE that spending 7 days in Chitungwiza would put them on the right track.

[SmokingGun on 26.04.06 at 15:12]

"I always thought the above argument was a dangerous one to make... it's so close to saying "you think you have it bad off? well stop complaining because you could be living in 'Poortonia'"."

Posted by Bermudian on 26.04.06 at 14:16

Bermudian - just to be clear, I have no problem with people complaining and in fact would encourage it if there is something being done that needs fixing. I just don't want to hear the first words of complaint coming out the mouth of a Beretta.

There are a ton of young Bermudians trying their damndest to do things right. It's not just the disadvantaged that need to see the real world once and a while. We all do.

silencedogood - it helps when you have friends in all the strangest places. Besides they all like the trade-off by getting to visit Bermuda. :)

[Ethiops on 26.04.06 at 23:19]

Why compare us to other counties when it’s never comparable. Trouble in paradise is still at the end of the day trouble in paradise. We can talk until where blue in the face and full of gas. Unless we start finding ways to decrease the levels of stress among our populous the continued trend will most certainly continue and like all sicknesses progress. Here is one solution I can think of. Legalize weed and take the industry of drugs out of the hands of our young. It will decrease the need to deal for thousands of Bermudians and just maybe get our young focusing on their future rather than a coil of momentary paper that flies out of their hands as fast as it comes in. The countless youths hustling and juggling through smuggling I think of as I type these words! How many lives lay in limbo dependent on if yah boy bubbles the package or not?

As many of you know, no matter how many police we can squeeze into this lil rock it will never deter the need to be a small time dealer for so many. Can you even imagine how many small petty dealers would fall back if the situation around weed was different. I can think of thousands of people that would do other things rather than sit up waiting to sell enough weed to break somewhat even. Then we have those that sell rocks to pay for their weed thirst, as they know if they only sold weed they’d dent any chance of seeing profits, they choose to sell something they don’t use. These are the ones that we truly lose in the war though imo, reason being once you taste coke money it’s pretty hard to shake it. Esp. in BDA coke heads are in no shortage and you can turn money so easy it’s sickening. People on coke have absolutely no problem buying coke from a, 14yrs old, infact many probably prefer it. I can’t help but think the situation is more desperate than ever. Sure its worst in other places but, that’s not an excuse to let things rot beyond repair though. Sure weed gets you high but, so focking what? I speak of weed because I find it has its place as something we can really do without having to talk our asses off that could take the industry completely out of the hands of our young. We always remember that its only thanks to the drug laws that the situation is as out of control as it is. (the ideal of love and tolerance can go far)

I think the idea of getting our young ones off the island in a student exchange program of some sort is a brilliant idea. Not just a trip down the islands either! A taste of Europe could benefit locals I know it did me. I always had a vision for some strange reason that there was no poverty in England when I was younger. Maybe it was because I misread ex-pats and took them for bourgeois when they were more than likely common. Anyhow the day I got in London and a bum asked me for 10p it was a sobering experience to say the least. I actually offered him 20 to say it again. *grin* To make a long story short it was by going to Europe notably England and France esp. France that I saw that all whites aren’t cut of the same cloth. Please don’t read into this as an issue of race. It’s just Europe has such a very long history while we have an odd 500yrs here further west. You can’t compare the two. Very quickly I started to see the humanness shine through and richness of the culture that existed as a result of such a long history.

[Uncle Elvis on 27.04.06 at 02:08]

Ethiops, mi hermano, I wasn't comparing *grin* I was doing what you did in your last paragraph. I was saying that taking some of these kids to someplace where it's REALLY bad, where friends of mine are having their houses and places of work bulldozed to the ground, would probably be the eye-opener they need.
Expose them to life threatening supression and the problems and difficulties they face here might seem a little more manageable, the priviledges they have here will become a little more precious. Take them to a place where the $1 that you make today is worth 50cents a month later and 10cents 3 months later and yet these people don't give up, and maybe they'll start working towards fixing the inequalities we have here instead of falling into stereotypes as a form of rebellion, making the problem worse for EVERYONE, not just themselves.
It's all about perspective, like you said.

[Seán Pòl Ó Creachmhaoil on 27.04.06 at 05:33]

My own successfulness is subjective. I've been successful at what is most important to me: developing independence, clarity, and quality of thought, and thinking about things.

I certainly haven't been materially successful, but I know that, even with the obstacles I've had, I could easily have been so. I'm not stupid, or lazy, and could easily have attained the things that most of my school mates have done, had I wanted them enough.

I've always argued against the logic of being GRATEFUL that I'm not murdered by the police, or an oppressive government, or mobs in the streets of some more oppressive place.

By the same token, I don't reckon it is any thing to be commended in me that I'm not a thug, a thief, or a murderer.

I reckon everyone else is entitled to expect a certain amount of humanity, responsibility and civility from, me, and I reckon I'm entitled to that from everyone else.

On English beggars...I remember January, 1991, a very jolly fellow, dressed in rags, with no shoes or socks on his feet...he must have been 6'4", and loomed over me. He was very polite and cheerful, as he crossed the street, despite the winter cold and asked me for money, and very grateful and thankful for the little I could spare.

Having worked five years in Bermuda in Front Street liquor shops, I was unable to avoid contrasting his demeanour with the surly, demanding...bullying, ungracious attitudes of the permanent beggars that blighted Front Street. I well remember one Bermudian beggar calling me from across the street..."hey! Hey buddy! Come here!"...he used that gesticulation that means get here quickly. I crossed the street and he said "Got any money?"

It's the quality of service in Bermuda...even the beggars have no pride how they perform their job...But, that's an aside.

I never give money to beggars in Bermuda, assuming they'll spend it on liquor. I give it to charities like the Salvation Army.

[silencedogood on 27.04.06 at 09:00]

It will decrease the need to deal for thousands of Bermudians and just maybe get our young focusing on their future rather than a coil of momentary paper that flies out of their hands as fast as it comes in.

Ethiops, I'm not against the legalization of weed per se, but I don't think it's as simple changing the law to rid the island of drug dealers. Legalization might make it harder to make a living off selling drugs, but it won't reduce the pressures to sell them.

As you said, there's more money in coke. We would still need to do alot of heavy lifting in education, police, etc. or I think it's safe to assume many weed dealers will discover those skills are transferrable to sales of harder drugs. (see the history of cocaine in America via George Jung)

Just like the drug dealers do, we've got to hook the kids young but on things like education, reading, sports, etc.

[Ethiops on 27.04.06 at 10:59]

Uncle - I agree totally with what you’re saying, I would just add that, I think they would benefit seeing those that have it better off (however we measure that) than them as well. Where an experience as you suggest produce gratitude and seeing those so said to better off could produce a healthy envy! Anyway we look at it culture exchange seems to be an enriching experience.

silencedogood - I wont argue with that, maybe a way to bring it about is by putting a wall in-between hard and soft drugs. Holland is the perfect example. As you say many will discover their skills are transferable to sales of harder drugs, I’d like to think many will also as a result in the price drop, find no need to sell at all. This is what happened in Holland for the most part. But, I am with you though and say yes to more education, policing, health care, prevention, intervention, treatment and community service.

[myshreecents on 27.04.06 at 19:35]

I think it's very, very optimistic to think that a trip to a less affulent country will really turn these young men around. Many of them travel to JA, and the Dominican Rep. now, many being on the stop list and unable to travel to more so called developed countries like the U.S. and Canada. Poverty or the perception of poverty if all relative. Sure opportunities abound here but the "poor" kid from the back of town who's family is just one pay check from being on the street really dosen't usually view life much differently from the ghetto kid from Kingston. Being at the bottom of the ladder or perceiving yourself at the bottom anywhere leads to frustration and desperation. Not having a family to buy the latest gear makes kids unable to compete with their peers who have it all. Some will argue that we are victims of our own influence. I have met kids from great homes who have been taken to poor countries by their parents in the hopes of turning them around to no avail. We live in a culture of materialism where thoes without deep pockets just don't count. U.S. media helps to solidify these feeling in us as well. Rappers, sports figures and "ganstas" are glorified. It doesn't matter how you make money as long as you make it and lots of it. Corporate exec's, Enron, Globing Crossing, American International shit even Martha Stewart all exemplify success. Greed is a major factor in many of the social issues we face in Bermuda. Greedy landlords, gready developers, greedy business men help to produce greedy young people. A poor man in a greedy world many times has little hope.

[googlybda on 29.08.06 at 07:52]

Court Street could be a great asset. Jazz Clubs, Saturday market in the street, street parties, Mardis Gras every saturday night but not New Orleans Style! More Caribean and wholesome. All local foods sold in restaurants or Caribean like Jamaica Grill.

[observor on 18.09.06 at 09:47]

Maybe the new Minister should consider adding these CCTV cameras to the police's electronic arsenal. Just be sure the officer says good morning before issuing a reprimand.