A reader dissents:
With all respect, I disagree about the 'anachronism' statement. The Queen is still the Queen, still the head of state here (for now at least), and there is nothing anachronistic about having a holiday to celebrate it. The US has President's Day, after all. If we're only interested in having public holidays for recent things, let's do away with Cup Match (as emancipation was a long time ago), Veterans Day (as the world wars were a long time ago), Christmas Day, Boxing Day and Easter (...you get the point).I agree that swapping a day off in June for one in October is a daft move, but I also find it unappealing to cease a long-standing tradition in favour of celebrating the latest 'hero' (an overused adjective these days). That is, unless we can call it 'David Beckham Day' next year...
It's a fair point (except the Beckham bit), particularly the overuse of the word 'hero'. That is spot on.
Whether the holiday itself is an anachronism, the change was meant as a dig at the UK that's for sure. It's also part of the broader move that is constantly chipping away at any acknowledgment of the UK's formal role in Bermuda's life and formation.
I think most people see the holiday less as a celebration of the Queen herself, but more one of our history generally. The petition itself is has far too much of a Royalist tone for my liking, but I understand why people are signing it.
I think that we can celebrate both our distinct Bermuda heritage and our historic ties to the UK on Bermuda Day, rather than have a specific "Queen's Birthday" holiday, which is the celebration of a random event that doesn't actually occur on her birthday anyway.
I still think we should keep the June holiday date anyway. The days are longer and the weather's better.
I must say that I'm intrigued to see how the 400 year celebrations of Bermuda's founding are conducted next year, because they'll be very reluctant to give much recognition to the UK's role at all, not to mention that history goes against the political folklore being peddled with the use of terms like 'indigenous Bermudians'.
Of course Bermuda was colonised, and colonialism has a very ugly side, but there wasn't anyone here so it has to be viewed in a different light in our case.
Others have commented that the removal of the Queen's Birthday holiday threatens traditions like the Dinghy racing etc., but that argument isn't going to go far with the powers that be.
That's the wrong kind of heritage to be celebrating.
And finally, I, like my dissenter above, find the whole idea of a "Heroes Day" to be pretty silly really.
If we're honest, it's little more than a political ploy to profile partisan figures for short and long term indoctrination purposes, just as the naming of buildings etc. is both here and abroad. Wake me up when a building is named after someone in the UBP, or a non-PLP affiliated figure is honoured as part of National Heroes Day (throw in the "National" to drum up nationalistic sentiment to be exploited when the next inevitable push for independence occurs).
It's an exercise for politicians to adore their partisan predecessors and hope that the favour is returned later.
As if getting into politics is 'heroic'. It's a noble pursuit (or should be), and I strongly advocate more (and better) people spending part of their time in public life. But 'heroes'? In most cases, not.
Parties in power do this in the US all the time, and I find the idea of putting partisan political names on public facilities to be inherently distasteful.
