Dear Editor,
The Queen of the Bay was held virtually for the first time, which is a testament to technological advancement. It was held on Saturday, August 29, 2020 at the Biltmore Plaza and was broadcast live without an audience. The tradition-rich pageant began in 1945 with Rita Lewis as first Queen. It was to be an emblem of our freedom, but it has become an emblem of our inferiority complex.

Belize will celebrate its 39th independence anniversary, yet we have not emancipated ourselves from mental slavery. Our British heritage is only one part of our heritage, and it is not more glorious than our African and Mayan heritage. Africans and Mayans have greater accomplishments than the British.

The Queen of the Bay Pageant needs to be upgraded to a heritage pageant that celebrates Belizean heritage. Heritage not just in culture and ethnicity, but in occupations like those of logwood cutters, chicle farmers, sugar cane farmers, fishermen, politicians, newspaper publishers, teachers etc. Workers in Belize build the nation and continue to build and must get recognition. We are not British, and I do not want to emulate them. Not even Queen Elizabeth does the “skirtsy” anymore. She is 94 and incapable, and that tradition is now outdated in the United Kingdom. I am a proud Belizean, and I want to build a great nation. What we hold in reverence, like our historical pageants, represents what we strive to be. Do we strive to be a British sycophant?

Yours truly,
Brian E. Plummer