Black Bermudians must stop viewing themselves as victims in light of overwhelming evidence to the contrary, according to former PLP Senator Calvin Smith.

And Bermudians should not patronise businesses merely because they are black, but because they are “simply well-run businesses”, he added.

Speaking at a meeting held in the St. Paul's Church Hall last night, Mr. Smith was unabashed in his pride at black achievements, saying the belief that blacks are still as downtrodden as they have been in the past “defies common sense”.

Black Bermudians are still not economically equal to white Bermudians, he agreed, citing the 2000 Census - and there is still a belief in the existence of a white elite which is preventing black success.

“But we have come a long way, though some say we haven't... Much has changed in terms of economic opportunity and blacks have benefited as a result.”

Giving a brief lesson in black history, he talked about black people in university, in the trades, and within the formerly “white” institutions of banking and insurance.

However, with a past where the dominant white race viewed blacks as “inferior”, that belief has actually become part of the black psyche, he said - a theory which forms a large part of Palestinian exile and scholar Edward Said's explanation of colonialism in his famous post-colonialist book “Orientalism”.

Such a belief is simply not true, said Mr. Smith. “We must stop thinking we are victims. If we think that, we will be... Those of us who know better are ready to trumpet black success stories.”

However, the belief “not only guarantees that result (of black failure), but also discourages trying.”

The result? That stories within the black community are not about black success, but black failure.

Mr. Smith had a long list of black Bermudian achievements.

Blacks were especially successful in the formation of large, enduring non-profit organisations such as the churches and the trade unions, he said.

However, Mr. Smith noted, the same skills and ingenuity that are needed to run such enormous organisations as the Bermuda Industrial Union are needed to run the large companies dominating industries such as construction.

Even the business of renting out a home and being a landlord takes a great amount of ingenuity and business sense, he said.

The idea of blacks only patronising black businesses was “nonsense”, he added.

Using examples such as the People's Pharmacy, he said: “They never intimated we should buy from them because they are black; we should buy from them because... they are simply a well-run business.”

And the success of the Marketplace grocery stores did not come about because only those of Portuguese descent shopped there. “If so there must be a lot of black Portuguese,” he quipped.

“We are not victims,” he said, adding with a laugh: “and we are not playing up to the boss if we make it to work on time.”