Smokescreen ... Bait & Switch ... call it what you'd like.

Standard Operating Procedure:  Table a proposed regulation/law with purposely built-in flaws that incite outrage & debate.  Bring it to the front-burner of everyone's concience.  Take great pains to say, "Oh you're absolutely right, lets change <this or that>" ... look how agreeable we are.

All the while the ACTUAL Law is sitting on someone's hard drive in it's almost final form, ready to go into Law.

Hrumph, hrumph.

Fantastic! Let's not penalize ALL workplace discrimination, but just discrimination against blacks. What a bunch of bullshit.

Just another ploy by the 'black head hunters' to boost moral prior to an election. Vote for us. You'll go to the top, we will beat down that Honkie man who has held you back since you landed here in 1609.

Detz rite.......Sir George Sommers was Black ann all dee crew..................gotta bee...dey caim frun Africa rite?

Um cunfoozed.................

Gotta run................chack mighy paypa vurk....nah um a Bermudian American from Africa...............

Vundar how dee Maxheekans tink.....................................................

Ps. Forgutt habowt doze Cannuks............................ann Polar Bears too. Dey muss be dee mose raysheal animals horn dee Plenatt. Nut ah Black vun hamongst dem.......racism.....no vundar day meltin dee plenatt.

White rooooooooool..........................

Gotta run.............................Penguins cummin...........doze lutt har kool. Dey dunt geeve ah sheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet.

PORT-A-GEE................some asshole det cuts ya lawhn, paints ya house, hinstalls plumhin, makes ya 'muthashadars', duz ya 'benkin', hooks hup ya kable, halps keep prices down in grocery stores, advertises qlq with no response.

Latest definition............................Resembles a "Porta Potty"........can be found in any neighbourhood or local.  One that is shit on, sat on, pissed on, farted on, and just gets flushed away with the rest of the crap.

No No...detz hallrite.........................vait too yoo neid ah goud Gee ...........

He'll/She'll bee hin dee baffroom waitin too moove horn hup......................under ah dark clowed.

Gotta run....................Just got dee call frum Ewart.....Morgans point will be renamed KINGS POINT (chack ya history)  one haygain..............................

Oh what a bootifull mahornin...................

A few times burned.........shy..............................we are of no use to the present Government anymore. They have their own agenda as can be seen by the lack of other members not posting at this time.

In a nutshell.........don't say I did'nt warn you. Overseas groups affiliated with the present Governemt will enlighten you in the months ahead.

Gota run.......................Nonsuch Island up for sale........................Dr. Wingate wants 800 million dullaz for it..........................................Gonna 'tirn' it hinto ah 'Lahongtaile' retreat ver yoo can feed and pet ya own 'cahows'..no milking required...................................................

hm.

i think i understand why y'all would be annoyed, since by definition this demands race-based preference; which on the surface feels like you're fighting fire with fire. instead of extinguishing anything, it could just blow the flames into the hands and heads of a new group.

that said, i'm not sure you really understand why actions like this are important. frankly, i wouldn't expect you to, the concept is...fundamentally separate from most of y'alls experiences, i suspect. in any event, this sort of thing is necessary to balance out the inherent preference for white people and as such the built in distaste for black people that exists, institutionally. if you look across the entire landscape of IB, it's obvious that the number of white bermudians in the sector is disproportionately higher than their black bermudian counterparts. this exists for a teeming clusterufck of reasons, which is why a whole mess of solutions need to be applied.

before you write the proposed legislation off totally, i think it's important to consider a couple questions:

a) do you believe there have ever been/are black people who've been turned down for an IB job/promotion solely because they were black?

b) do you believe there have ever been/are white people who've been given IB jobs/promotions instead of equally qualified black people simply because of race?

i'm asking these questions historically and in a contemporary sense.

if yes to both, then what's the problem?

if no to either, then you're not looking at the stats. obviously, there are easy arguments about causation vs correllation that can be floated. however, when the access split sits clearly and comfortably along racial lines, the ramifications are pretty undeniable. and accordingly, the necessary action.

i think, anyway.

*shrugs*

deuces and that.

hokay. fine, we'll do broad. which is equally appropriate, since in a broad sense, black bermudians have less opportunities/resources than white bermudians. again, this isn't rhetoric or anecdotal hysteria. just the facts.

re: your a) - those white bermudians are protected against that sort of discrimination under the umbrella of our existing human rights legislation. obviously, so are the black folk, who will now be doubly covered by the new act. but just as obviously, the systemic distaste for blacks goes further than any sort of nationalist preference.

re: your b) - that's annoying as hell, but(and i know you're gonna loathe this), comparatively, just a hole in the proverbial bucket. blacks were only allowed to actually work in the civil service around 50 years ago. let that roll around in your mouth for a while, like, really taste what that means in terms of precedent and expectation and preference and legacy.

sometimes, modern black empowerment does come at the expense of good white individuals. however(i know you're gonna loathe this too), in the big picture, that's acceptable collateral damage. the goal is to change the system, shifting the way the world interacts with itself. along the way, some of the world's residents are gonna be displaced by definition since so many borders that've needed moving for centuries are getting redrawn. that sucks, but this is the planet our parents made, y'know?

at this stage, there's no other way to get black folk level than to give them preferential treatment over white folk; most of whom are probably equally competent, nice, sensible people. it's horrible, but can you think of any other way to REALLY balance things out in a collective sense without...i dunno, tipping the scales?

if you can, i'm quite honestly all ears. it would be inherently better, on the most central level, to raise people without having to sacrifice anyone else. things being as they are though, i can't see how that would be possible.

By the way, I do stand corrected.  South Africa has an affirmative action program designed to protect the majority.