{"id":124185,"date":"2021-02-18T08:13:40","date_gmt":"2021-02-18T12:13:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/anrupdate.com\/?p=124185"},"modified":"2021-02-18T08:16:26","modified_gmt":"2021-02-18T12:16:26","slug":"letter-hodges-bay-issue-not-about-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/letter-hodges-bay-issue-not-about-race\/","title":{"rendered":"LETTER: Hodges Bay issue not about race"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Dear Editor,<\/p>

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It is both sad and regrettable that the situation with Hodges Bay Club has become a white and black issue.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>

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This is very dangerous for the economy of Antigua which is so completely dependent on tourism. If this island becomes known as one that is racial, tourists will stop coming and then our country will starve and die.<\/p>

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 <\/p>\n

Akon is black and African and many of the folks that I saw in the video which has been widely circulated are not white.<\/p>

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 <\/p>\n

The issue therefore is a double policy \u2013 one for tourists and the other for locals and while I fully understand why this policy exists so that hotels can be opened so that our people could earn a living, this policy could have been better and more sensitively handled by the government.<\/p>

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 <\/p>

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I blame the Minister of Tourism who seemed hell bent on doing everything\u00a0to make himself look good. Even the award he got is a joke as we were the only country open for business so who was he being compared with?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It is time we understand that a tourist is not only caucasian. Black tourists also exist. In fact under the UPP with Harold Lovell as Tourism Minister, a big push was made to the African American communities in NY and Atlanta and to the diaspora, to visit Antigua on vacation.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Maybe the time has come, like in other countries, for local laws that deal with racial incitement. It is wrong. It is dangerous and Antiguans and Barbudans come in all colours.<\/p>\n

Regards,<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Dino Martin<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dear Editor, It is both sad and regrettable that the situation with Hodges Bay Club has become a white and black issue.   This is very dangerous for the economy of Antigua which is so completely dependent on tourism. If this island becomes known as one that is racial, tourists will stop coming and then […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":124155,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-124185","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nLETTER: Hodges Bay issue not about race - Antigua News Room<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/letter-hodges-bay-issue-not-about-race\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"LETTER: Hodges Bay issue not about race\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Dear Editor, It is both sad and regrettable that the situation with Hodges Bay Club has become a white and black issue.   This is very dangerous for the economy of Antigua which is so completely dependent on tourism. 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