Social activist Eva Hodgson has urged the Government to improve the plight of black Bermudians by “deliberately, consciously and publicly” tackling the island’s economic racial disparity.

Dr Hodgson, who frequently accused the previous Progressive Labour Party government of failing to do enough to help the black community, called for David Burt, the Premier, and his newly elected team to take affirmative action that will address the psychological, educational and social problems suffered disproportionately by blacks.

She implored the ruling party to acknowledge the island’s racially divided history and its long-term impact before taking “affirmative-action policies” to create economic opportunities specifically for black Bermudians, as well as establishing a living wage.

Schools should also make a conscious effort to give black children a sense of self-worth, she said, so that they will be less likely to grow up prepared to “kill themselves and each other”.

Acknowledging confidence in Mr Burt’s seemingly “strong sense of self-worth”, Dr Hodgson said she understands that his team will do things differently because they are younger than their predecessors. But she called for the PLP to express its deliberate intentions to use affirmative action so it may be held accountable if it does not.

“It has to be conscious because we have so many other issues and so many other problems that it’s very easy to give their attention to all kinds of other things without specifically addressing affirmative-action policies,” she said.

According to Dr Hodgson, the severe economic and psychological disparities that plague the black community today were the result of countless years of segregation based on the belief of white superiority. This exclusion not only kept job opportunities from black workers, but also raised them in a society that taught them that they were inferior. The long-term effects, she said, resulted in unequal levels of poverty and a sense of low self-worth that fuels black-on-black violence.

Explaining the need to acknowledge such a legacy, Dr Hodgson continued: “Our history tells us that we were both not only enslaved but we were segregated, and we were segregated on the thesis that we were too inferior to mix with whites.

“So the psychological aspect, where the society tells us that we’re inferior and have little or no worth, is still very much with us. Otherwise, you would not have young black mean thinking so little of themselves and having so little value for themselves and each other.”

In addition, Dr Hodgson believes that the island’s schools should have a proper focus on Bermuda’s racial history to show the youth how it still affects them.

“At one time when I was young and segregation was officially sponsored by the Government and by society, I had teachers that impressed upon me that I had to work harder and be better because this society was saying that I was inferior and opportunities were not going to be provided for me,” Dr Hodgson said.

“Today, when there’s not an official policy of segregation, very often educators and teachers are not even supposed to talk about it. So if we don’t do it at the educational level, you will continue to have young black men growing up and thinking they have no value and no worth, and are quite ready to kill themselves and each other — and that is the most destructive aspect of what our society has done to instil the disparity.”

Dr Hodgson believes that in the past the PLP lacked the self-conviction and integrity to push for effective change for the black community. Although it did propose the Workforce Equity Bill in 2007, which was intended to ensure blacks were fairly represented in businesses, the activist argues that the failure to pass the Bill reflected a level of intimidation.

She also grew frustrated that the PLP spent so much time talking about race, yet black Bermudians missed out as lucrative contracts were given to the likes of Portuguese firm Correia Construction and black American firm GlobalHue.

“People voted for them hoping they would do something positive in terms of economic disparity and they didn’t, except for individuals and themselves,” she said.

Reflecting on last month’s General Election, Dr Hodgson said that the One Bermuda Alliance ultimately paid the price for a refusal to acknowledge the idea of “two Bermudas” and to listen to the people’s concerns.

She referenced Charles Richardson’s op-ed that appeared in The Royal Gazette, titled “Why I voted for the PLP”, where he talked about the OBA’s controversial stances on the new airport, funding the America’s Cup and a seeming indifference in the wake of the Belvin double murder.

According to Dr Hodgson, indifference to the concerns of Bermudians towards the Pathways to Status initiative and the pepper-spraying of protesters on December 2 last year were significant factors in mobilising those who had abstained from voting in the 2012 General Election.