In today's Bermuda Sun, Dr. Eva Hodgson and Calvin Smith responded to Mr. Hayward's divisive column in last Wednesday's Bermuda Sun.

Dr. Hodgson set the record straight:

When the PLP was established during the days of rigid segregation, they went overboard trying to get whites to join. No PLP person was saying the kind of things that some blacks (like Dr. Brown?) are saying today.

They wanted whites so badly that they drove away a long time black politician (at a political price) in order to place a white Englishwoman in a "safe" constituency. I will confess that I, personally, never agreed with, nor approved of, their frantic efforts to get whites to join the PLP.

Does Mr. Hayward believe that whites, at that time, were being "set up in a no-win situation"? Was it "depraved" for the PLP to go to such lengths at that time to get whites to join? In any case they did not join the PLP. Even die-hard Labourites from England stopped being labour once they set foot in a segregated Bermuda.

They did not join because Bermuda was divided by a rigid policy of segregation imposed on the black community by the white power structure and wholeheartedly supported by 99.99% of the white population - despite the strenuous objection of most in the black community. Why was there a policy of segregation, Mr. Hayward, "from the cradle to the grave"?

She continued by talking about the strong ties between Bermuda's Portuguese community and the PLP:

As for the perceived "debt" that Portuguese do (or do not) owe the black community (and most blacks believe the former)... it is a historical fact that when white Bermudians would not teach little Portuguese children, black teachers taught them (and loved them). I know because I had several aunts who not only taught them but attempted to learn Portuguese in order to tutor them in English outside of school and to befriend them in other ways. They saw the tears that the children shed when their leaders became established enough to have segregated schools built for them so that they would not have to attend school with the despised blacks.

Then there is the more recent long term issue which the PLP pushed through, much to the resentment of many in their own constituency who saw them spending more time and effort on a Portuguese concern when so many of our own issues were not being addressed.

She closes by pointing out Mr. Hayward's hypocrisy.

Why is Mr. Hayward so understanding and forgiving for what white folks do or do not do politically and then end his piece on an idealistic discourse about what should be the basis for political decisions? It was apparently meant for blacks since he had already justified whites for their racial en bloc voting for the UBP.

He contends that it is divisive to suggest that race should determine partisan affiliation. That may be true but considering that we are already divided and Mr. Hayward seems so understanding of the whites voting en bloc for the UBP, he cannot expect blacks to be unduly impressed with the idealism that he is attempting to impose upon us.

Calvin Smith also addressed Mr. Hayward's attack by recalling the history.

I find it difficult to understand why Mr. Hayward seems determined to blame the black community for creating racial division in the community. Whites were never slaves; whites were never segregated; however they certainly instituted both practices. Why then does he accuse Mr. Commissiong and the PLP of creating racial division?

Surely, Mr. Hayward remembers the very real hardship that his family suffered when his blind father and his crippled uncle protested discrimination at the Eagles Nest (now Top Of The Town) when the management refused to serve a Puerto Rican at the Hotel Bar.

At the time, his Uncle and Father were directing an excellent choir called the Hayward and Hayward Ensemble. As a result of the action of the two brothers, they were unable to get employment in any of Bermuda's hotels. In fact, his father had to leave Bermuda to find employment in New York.

If Mr. Hayward has forgiven the movers and shakers in Bermuda for what they did to his father and uncle, he should at least remember that his father was prevented from getting work anywhere in Bermuda because the major hotels were owned and managed by white men who were governed by the wide spread white racism that existed.

The lesson here is that to have prejudice is one thing but to be able to give effect to that prejudice requires power, something that was possessed by white Bermudians in abundance, then and now.

He goes on to explain the true reason why the PLP is reaching out to Bermudians of all stripes to stand united for a better Bermuda.

Nobody in the PLP control structure is likely to tell whites to join the PLP to prove they are without prejudice. More likely they will be asking whites to join them in order to create something that is better than either race could create alone.

Dr. Brown believes this and so does his advisor on race relations, Rolfe Commissiong. Both are actively encouraging white Bermudians to join the PLP because they recognize that in order for Bermudians to survive in this Global community we need everyone doing the best they can.

If white Bermudians are encouraged not to join the PLP as seems to be the objective of Mr. Hayward, then his stated concern at the conclusion of his article is almost certain to be realized. That conclusion was: "Any suggestion that race or ethnicity should determine partisan affiliation or casting of votes is divisive and should not be entertained." Then why on earth is Mr. Hayward doing just that?