Fed Up

A very good point, well made – at least BFP suspects that the Chinese imported to Barbados may be human too. This contrasts wildly with the recent Barbados Underground posts which have been explicitly anti-Guyanese, anti-Chinese and anti-White. Most recently they’ve gone homophobic. I like their coverage of corruption but their values appear to be all out of wack with modern life and I won’t be going to their site any more – I can’t handle this sort of bigotry in this day and age. A shame. Keep up the good, balanced work BFP !

 

The above comment was posted on the Barbados Free Press by someone using the dopplehanger Fed Up. Ever since we have started blogging we have had to tolerate the labels, and we understand that the cut and thrust of the Internet will lend itself to what our Prime Minister Arthur refers to as muscular engagements. After thinking about the comment posted by Fed up, although tempted to ignore, we feel that the accusation leveled is too serious to do so.

BU admit that like VOB92.9, the Nation Newspaper and others we have tried to articulate the fear of ordinary Barbadians as it confronts the large unregulated influx of Guyanese into Barbados. We make no apology for focussing on the lack of planning which seems to be evident by our government regarding the socio-economic impact the large migrant population will have on a small community like Barbados. We have also highlighted the passivity of black Barbadians who are happy to be employees and not employers, happy to be passive labor as oppose to be entrepreneurial, and those who are happy to be educated to become house slaves all over again.

We left the anti-Chinese issue for last because this accusation was the most upsetting. We have highlighted how the world is turning a blind eye to human right atrocities in China, but yet we continue to do business with China. We criticize but we are seized with the way how the world operates and we are resigned to the functional cooperation which we know will continue. We also published stories about the flagrant abuse of the immigration laws of Barbados by Mr. Pemberton. He is the principle investor behind Four Seasons Hotel who allowed 100 Chinese to start work on his hotel project without acquiring the green light from the Immigration Department. In our view, this was a flagrant flouting of our laws by a person who obviously feels that because they are injecting USD 500 million into a poor ass island, we are obliged to tolerate the arrogance of the man. Subsequent events have unfolded to confirm that the directorate of Barbados is prepared to wipe the ass of Mr. Pemberton.

BU reread all of our articles on the topics mentioned by Fed up, and we are at a lost that the pieces we published can even encourage the thought by anyone that we are bigots. Even as we write this rebuttal, we are following the atrocities in Darfur with a heavy heart. We wonder how many of our “fat cats” in Barbados care about what is happening in Africa. We are more connected to our North American and European roots, aren’t we? It always seems that when individuals are prepared to sound opinions of an alternative flavor, they must be subjected to these mercenary attacks. At BU we do not see ourselves as being thinned skinned; after months of being an avid readers of the BFP blog we take heart that they have suffered similar attacks, but have shrugged it off and stayed true to their goals.

In closing, BU reaffirms our commitment to blog on issues which we feel are of interest to Barbadians at home and abroad, first and foremost. It will not be our practice to respond to every criticism aimed at us; but when we feel that there are malicious commenters whose cowardice is displayed when they use the cloak of anonymity to try to strip us of our integrity, we will defend ourselves!