“I am not white!” says Ag Commissioner of Police
The Acting Commissioner made this disclosure during an episode of the TV programme, Real Talk with hostess Karia J. Christopher, in a series titled ‘The 10 Most Fascinating People in the BVI’. The episode was aired on CBN channel 51 last evening, December 12, 2012. Responding to a direct question about how he classified himself, the Acting Commissioner Morris said, “I was born in Malaysia so my mother is Malaysian… my father is Welsh… I classify myself as mixed race British.” “I certainly don’t classify myself as white,” he added, “because I’m not white... and that’s obvious from the colour of my skin.”
Having said this however, he revealed that while he worked in the United Kingdom (UK) as a Police Officer, he served as the chair of the Black Police Association for South Wales and also a member of the National Black Police Association. He further disclosed that there was even a photo and mention of him in the Black History Month Magazine of the Force as the first black Chief Officer in South Wales. Black History Month is observed every October in the UK.
Mr Morris stated that an alternative claim in the online media surrounding the issue of his ethnicity is one of the things that “really gets [his] goat”. “I keep telling people, I’m not white.”
The Acting Commissioner further sought to refute claims by ‘bloggers’ that “UK Cops come over here and spend all their time on the beach drinking beer and all that sort of thing” as he expressed that even recently, he has had “officers out all weekend working” on cases such as the recent murders, which occurred in the Territory. Mr Morris identified the claims as a ‘misconception’ of what was actually taking place.
Diversification in the RVIPF
Speaking on the issue of diversification and representation in the RVIPF, the Ag Commissioner said that he felt that the composition of the Police Force should reflect the community that it polices. The necessity of this he explained was “for police officers to work within their communities, to understand their communities, to build trust and confidence with those communities…” “The BVI community,” he continued, “is a diverse community, there’s no getting away with it… they’re not all BVIslanders or Belongers.” He highlighted the various nationalities in the Territory and said “the Police Force needs to reflect that community in order to deliver the service within all those communities.”
“I’m not in favour of having a Royal Virgin Islands Police Force just made up of BVIslanders,” the Ag Commissioner stated, “because at the end of the day you don’t reflect the communities you police.”
He once more highlighted the challenge faced with engaging the Spanish speaking community and felt that it was necessary to have more Spanish Speaking Officers even as there is need for more locals in the force. “Yes, we want to have more BVIslanders recruited, and we are,” he added.
He further explained that there were special circumstances attached to the entry process for BVIslanders in the force, noting that they were encouraged to revisit areas of the process where they fell down to enhance their chances of entry while other applicants had to wait a year to re-apply.
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73 Responses to ““I am not white!” says Ag Commissioner of Police ”
You put skin colour as something important and you just a dumb racist whether you a black, white, yellow or blue racist.
The suggestion is that white is bad, so he must tell everyone he not one of those bad white people.
What does that tell us about our community? That many a we just racist.
Can the man do he job? If he doing good, we want him. If not, he need replacing.
That's the only issue in the equation. Unless you racist.
Lately everytime the man speaks it's about race.
There are in fact many white ppl here who are more african than any of us b/c they were born there. The race card is used when one feels that there is some form of inequality in justice.
Ignorance is the enemy.
Before condemning or judging anyone, please first learn about WHO they are and what they stand for. There are good and bad people of all races and ethnicities. We have plenty of both kinds right here in the BVI.
Look in the mirror and ask yourself if you hate people just because of their skin colour, where they are from, what their last name is, the colour of their hair or eyes, if they have a big nose, a flat nose, a pointed nose or WHATEVER. If any of those things actually matters to you, you are probably a bigot and a racist ~ not to mention a moron!
People should ONLY be judged based on who they are inside, their words and their actions. I often wish we could all be blind for a few weeks so that we might take the time to get to know people based on their inward qualities rather than their outward appearances, their last name, place of birth, religious beliefs, gender or financial status.
Look at the person next to you and try to get to know the real person. You would be amazed how two people from vastly different backgrounds can be kindred spirits. I have many, many friends from all walks of life, races, nationalities, ethnicities, ages, social standing, religions, etc. Each beings their own special mixture of humanity and each is as precious to me as the next.
It is those who HATE and DISTRUST based on nothing more than skin colour that I detest! YOU are the enemy ~ not the so called outsiders who live here peacefully amongst us. Our so called “leaders” would be well advised to learn this for themselves. There are people in very high places within our government who hold people in contempt because they are not born here. There are those who call themselves Christians, yet they PREACH against the very premise of Christianity and go off on racist rants! I won’t name names, we all know who they are ~ and so do they!
It is well past time that the good people amongst us stood up against all such nonsense and tell these people we won’t stand for it. THEY are the ones driving the wedges between us and promoting racism, bigotry and discontent! They should be ashamed of themselves. I know I am ashamed of them!
The commish is not white, but he spends most of his time here hanging out with whom?
He's not white but he pays the Kingdom-er officers more than the locals,, and he is ?
He's not white , but in the Kingdom he lived in the neighborhood next to whom?
And since he is a Kingdom-er and that place is all about race, caste and class, he has identified himself and his family with which cultural values?
I have a hard time following this dude.
But then again again all he is is a big Tom, small Paul!