An advocate for black economic empowerment has come to the defence of UBP supporter Michael Winfields? comments about the United Bermuda Party?s reluctance to discuss race.

Rolfe Commissiong said yesterday that he supported Mr. Winfield in expressing puzzlement as to why the ?white leadership of the UBP? had not yet responded to the initiative recently announced by the Premier regarding black males.

Mr. Commissiong said Mr. Winfield did not say the UBP did not address the issue, the point he was making was that invariably, when it comes to the issue of race across the political divide, it is usually the blacks in the PLP having a discussion with blacks in the UBP ? as occurred on this issue in the House of Assembly recently.

?The whole troika of white leadership of the UBP, that being Grant Gibbons, Michael Dunkley and John Barritt, as has happened previously, were silent on the issue,? he said.

?Dr. Gibbons in particular, who deems himself to be the future leader of this country, in my view has been totally remiss on this occasion because he has failed to lend his voice and support to an issue of extreme importance to the country?s future.?

Mr. Commissiong commended Mr. Winfield for breaking the ?historical trend? by saying that Bermudians, particularly whites in the community, had to acknowledge the huge injustices of the past if ?we are to ensure that our future is free of any vestiges of that history and that we live in a land that is truly open, free and equal for all?.

He said Mr. David Dodwell?s response in Tuesday?s newspaper was a little ?disingenuous?.

?Mr. Dodwell spoke of the fact that the UBP had addressed the issues of economic empowerment and black males.?

?I used the term disingenuous because on the issue of economic empowerment, despite what Mr. Dodwell had said publicly, the motion that his party made before parliament makes no mention of the effected class that are in need of remedial action on the economic front ? that being black Bermudians,? he said.

Mr. Commissiong said as an advocate for black economic empowerment, he took that as a ?supreme insult?, adding: ?As did many black Bermudians and some right thinking whites in the community.?

He said the UBP can no longer ?have its cake and eat it too? on the issue of race in Bermuda.

On the issue of race, the President of the Bermuda Industrial Union (BIU) and politician, Derrick Burgess said many white Bermudians, including his friends, did not understand racism. ?Every day black Bermudians are reminded that they are black. If you go into a shop and they don?t serve you straight away you think ? ?oh, it?s because I?m black?. If you go into a bank you are already thinking to yourself ? ?I won?t get this loan because I?m black?,? Mr. Burgess said.

In response, UBP leader, Grant Gibbons said the issue of race went back to the very essence of why the UBP was founded in 1964 and was based on the principle of black and white Bermudians working together in equal partnership to build a better Bermuda.

He said as part of the UBP?s 40th anniversary they spent a lot of time talking about the issue of race and brought in a rising star and new voice for social and political change in the US, Cory Booker, to talk about race and diversity.

?Following the 2003 elections I set up a group in our caucus focusing on the issue of race and how we could put more emphasis on our responsibility as a political party in this community to break down racial barriers and advance both dialogue and substantial incentives to create more economic opportunity,? he said.

?After the election in 2003, I wrote to Premier Alex Scott suggesting we create a bipartisan group to address the issue of creating a code of principles dealing with race, particularly in the House. Unfortunately it didn?t get any real support from PLP members in moving it forward.?

He said the UBP was proud of its Economic Empowerment Bill, which is currently down for debate in the House of Assembly as a motion.

Dr. Gibbons said it was naive of Mr. Commissiong and others to think these UBP initiatives would be happening if he, as a white leader, was not committed to these and other initiatives to address race and economic opportunity, or if he did not have the support of other members of the UBP team. He said the UBP also has a senior member, Mr. Dodwell, who happens to be white, heading the UBP?s Shadow Ministry of Race Relations and Economic Opportunity.

As far as the issue of the study of black males is concerned, Dr. Gibbons said it was only part of a much larger picture of race in our community. He said comments were made at the time that it had taken the PLP a long time to notice that there was an issue with black males and that the PLP had been less than supportive when a former UBP premier raised the issue in the late 1980s.

?We as the diverse party believe that the issue of breaking down racial barriers is best done on an inclusive basis by working together and also trying to bring the community together rather than dividing and polarising the community along racial lines.?