Rick Lowe
Mrs. Kelly had a very thought provoking piece in her column for The Punch, Between The Lines, yesterday as usual.
She raised the valid point that the PLP now have two "white" candidates in Ryan Pinder and Clay Sweeting as well as Dr. Andre Rollins who has a white mother and a black father and this might be upsetting for the PLP's racist faction.
I wonder if the political class believe the Bahamian people think no further than race when they are voting?
Surely the population thinks about public policy, and whether it is good or bad for the country, more now than ever before?
If the "PLP's racist faction" can upset their parties apple cart because they have two white candidates and one half white standard bearer, the party does not deserve to win the government until its leadership casts them out or at least has the guts to face them down and explain they now live in 2011 and there is no room for that in their organisation.
We are Bahamians first whether we're black or white.
I have a friend who told me that during the last American elections he got in a discussion with some of his black friends (you know how Bahamians like to discuss politics even when it is none of their business) about Mr. Obama, the democrats and whomever the Repbulican candidate might be ( it ended up being Sen. McCain). He was critical of the Democrats and their policy. Immediately his friends jumped on the fact that it was only because Mr. Obama was black and had no bearing on his party. My friend suddenly asked them to think about the candidates he had campaigned and voted for over the past 40 years. It was like a flashbulb went off in their heads when they realized most of the candidates had been black men.
I am happy that the American people voted in a black president, but I believe it was a terrible mistake that it was Mr. Obama a Democrat. Unfortunately there are those in the PLP who will never accept a candidate based on what he or she stands for rather than the colour of their skin.
I remember a prominent PLP who used to talk black but sleep white.
Recently Bahamas Press did a story on Mr.Sweeting from Spanish Wells, the emphasis was more on the fact that he was white than what the young man might stand for. I saw a comment recently regarding this that said something to the fact that the PLP’s race card had been trumped by “Salt & Pepper” in the FNM’s 2007 victory. We are ALL Bahamians and colour should not be the defining qualification.